{"1": {"fulltext": "CI, \u00e2\u0080\u00a2\u00e2\u0096\u00a0C C-n\\ni^fe.\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a01: z: Z xi_\\n\u00c2\u00a3C\\n6 S.ii\\n^^*5:?Sfe-\u00c2\u00abc;^\\nf ^.-Ci: c: c^ c CSC\\nj Sc:^;Vsc:^\\nsx \u00c2\u00a3-^i?\u00c2\u00ab:^ ti\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2i t ^cii:::-^ c r:^ 2 i:\\ns:.", "height": "3602", "width": "2114", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "\u00c2\u00abr\u00c2\u00abr\\nK^ C\\nJ*\\nW^ ,(^f\\nC t,C\\ni\\nc\\na\\ng\\nox^\\nt^\\ntvr^\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0iC^\\nT-\\nCO\\ncc\\nGc\\ncd\\n^ciJitvtmcnt jcrf tlxc gntevlov.\\nBooks iV(^ I ^^noil tn nnrl ,.,.f n,.,-,o,l 1.,- ,...,.,1.\\nof 1 1 ii. m\\nTlie Li\\n4 p. 111.\\n|en tlie liourts\\n9 a. 111. till\\nClass.\\nBook.\\n6\\n1. Tliooi\\nl ond\\\\v Ikk.I\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2J. n-rfun\\ntlie Liliniii;\\noroftiir l!ll\\n3. X(. hn.\\nboirovvxT sli\\n4. Of wo\\nof two or m\\n.\u00e2\u0096\u00a0i. The \\\\i\\ninoliiliitcil J\\nDcJIMltlMI Ilt\\nC. Jioiro\\niiiav at tlic\\nwc. U.s.\\n7. The lo\\nf Books\\nwitli an (*i,\\n!i. Wlicil\\niimst I)(^ rc)!\\n10. Aii]ili(\\n.-M.s.-s (il sicl.\\n11. J .ooks\\nrcphiciMl iipi\\n1-J. W li.ii\\niciic-\\\\v:il. its\\nMii I I.Mln. t\\ni:t. Writii\\nultllrill. ilV\\nfVolu IllltllCl\\n1). Ill S(l( K,\u00e2\u0080\u009ev,n.-,x...ui ,11.^ .^lulNrrs, lill l- imi.-^l IM-TlMCIl 111 liandlillS f belli.\\nre|)laeinK tliose not diawn on the shelves from which they were taken the\\niiuiiihei- of the shelf may he ascertained iioni the lahel ahove.\\n1. Kniiili.yes. on (iiiittin;; the service of the Deiiaitinent, must return all\\nliooUs ill their pos.sessioii heliiiiyiim to the Lihrarv. Final avnieiit of their\\nsalaries will he withheld hy the Dishnrsinj; IHicer until he is satistictd that all\\nhooks cliarned amiiust llieni at the Library havi been returned.\\nl(i. For inlrinucuieuts of any of the above rules the Fibrariau is authorized\\nlo suspend or refuse the issue of book.s to the culpable jieisons.\\nJ!y order of the .Secietarv\\nCs\\nI anthoiized to\\nred to file with\\ne Department,\\nhe name of the\\n(wed of works\\nfrs are strictly\\nwhether of the\\nan two week.s.\\ndditioual two\\n;he Catalogue\\na borrower, it\\nsou, except in\\nexamined mid\\neeks without\\nnient,\\n1, ^eekswi\\ntY]C^ p r-e i^owC J Vi ^t-iL Depart!\\ni:tri!i9\u00e2\u0080\u0094 lOM.)\\n(iFO. M. FOCKWOOT),\\nVliicf Cli-rl:", "height": "3602", "width": "2114", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "s:\\nm-^^^\\nBE^\\nOE:e\\n-^f\\nm^\\ncrcc:\\ncroc\\nor\\nm\\nf\\nc.c\u00c2\u00abc. I\\nXMT atcc\\nTar- 1\\n^rc\\n^Qgr^\\n-^QjC Ore\\nr^\\n^f^\\n.:^i5S^^", "height": "3602", "width": "2114", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "(U^u.^ij^ ^^^^^^V\\nv^v/^^e^ c^iT^M.\\nU1\u00c2\u00abM tt^if.fi.\\\\^", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "1\\nw\\nf i\\n1", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "HISTORY\\nOF\\nOREGON AND CALIPOENIA", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "11\\nI\\nu", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "THE\\nHISTORY\\nOREGON AND CALIFORNIA,\\nAND THE\\nOTHER TERRITORIES\\nNOETH-WEST COAST OF NOETH AMERICA;\\nACCOMPANIED BY A\\nGEOGRAPHICAL VIEW AND MAP\\nOP THOSE COUNTRIES,\\nAND A NUMBER OF DOCUMENTS AS\\nPROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HISTORY.\\nROBERT GREENHOW,\\nTRANSLATOR AND LIBRARIAN TO THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUTHOR\\nOF A MEMOIR, HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL, ON THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA\\nPUBLISHED IN 1840. BT DIRECTION OF THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.\\nTHE POSSIBLE DESTINY OP THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AS A NATION OP\\nA HUNDRED MILLIONS OF FREEMEN, STRETCHING FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE\\nPACIFIC, LIATING UNDER THE LAWS OP ALFRED, AND SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE\\nOP SHAKSPEARE AND MILTON, IS AN AUGUST CONCEPTION.\\nCOLERIDQE S TABLE TALK.\\nSECOND EDITION,\\nREVISED, CORRECTED, AND ENLARGED.\\nBOSTON:\\nCHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN.\\nLONDON: JOHN MURRAY.\\n1845.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "psso\\nEntered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845,\\nBy Robert Greenhow,\\nin the Clerk s Office of the District Court of the District of Columbia.\\nBy transfer\\n5 JelflO?\\nBOSTON\\nPRINTED BY FREEMAN AND BOLLES,\\nWASHINGTON BTHEET.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "TO\\nMY VENERABLE AND EVER KIND FRIEND,\\nMAJOR-GENERAL MORGAN LEWIS,\\nI.ATE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK\\nTHIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED,\\nAS A MARK OF RESPECT AND GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE.\\nROBERT GREENHOW.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "PREFACE.\\nThe following pages are devoted, principally, to the de-\\nscription and history of the portion of North America bor-\\ndering on the Pacific Ocean, between the 40th and the 54th\\nparallels of latitude, which is traversed and in a great meas-\\nure drained, by the River Columbia, and to which the name\\nof OREGON is now usually applied. It has, however, been\\nfound necessary, for the objects of the work, to bestow\\nalmost equal attention on the regions embraced under the\\ngeneral appellation of California, extending southward\\nfrom the Columbia countries, to the arm of the Pacific,\\ncalled the Californian Gulf; and also to take into consid-\\neration the coasts and islands north and north-west of those\\ncountries, as far as the Arctic Sea.\\nThe vast division of America, comprehending these ter-\\nritories, remains, with the exception of a few isolated spots\\non the coasts and on the margins of the larger streams,\\nuncultivated and inhabited only by tribes of wandering sav-\\nages. Its shores and some of its rivers have been examined\\nwith care, and their course may be found delineated with\\nconsiderable minuteness on maps. Of its interior regions,\\nsome have never been explored, and are indeed apparently\\nimpenetrable by man others, which oflfer fewer obstacles\\nto the traveller, are only known through the vague and im-\\nperfect accounts of traders or missionaries and in those\\nwhich have been the most frequented by civilized persons,\\nmuch remains to be eflfected by the aid of scientific obser-\\nvations, in order to obtain satisfactory ideas of their geog-\\nraphy and physical characteristics.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "IV PREFACE.\\nThese territories, unoccupied, partially explored, and re-\\nmote from all civilized countries, nevertheless present much\\nthat is interesting in their political history, as well as in\\ntheir natural conformation and productions and events are\\nnow in progress which seem calculated, ere long, to attract\\ntowards them the views of the governments and people of\\nmany powerful nations.\\nEvery pajl of this division of America is in fact claimed\\nby some civilized state as its exclusive property, in virtue\\neither of discoveries or settlements made by its citizens or\\nsubjects, or of transfer or inheritance from some other state\\nclaiming on similar grounds, or of contiguity to its own ac-\\nknowledged territories. On these points, the principles of\\nnational law are by no means clearly defined nor is it easy\\nto apply such as are most generally admitted, to particular\\ncases nor are governments ordinarily found ready to relin-\\nquish claims merely because they prove to be unfounded,\\nagreeably to such principles and disputes have in conse-\\nquence arisen between different nations asserting the right of\\npossession to the same portion of Western America, which\\nhave more than once threatened to disturb the peace of the\\nworld. Attempts have been made to settle the questions at\\nissue by negotiation and certain lines of boundary have\\nbeen agreed on by treaties between one and another of the\\nclaimant powers but the arrangements thus made, can\\nscarcely in any instance be considered definitive, as they\\nhave not received, and will probably never receive, the as-\\nsent of the other parties interested.\\nIn the mean time these territories are daily becoming\\nmore important from the advancement of the population\\nof adjoining countries towards them, and from the con-\\nstant increase of the trade and navigation of several of the\\nclaimant powers in the Pacific, which would render the un-\\ndisputed possession of establishments on the coasts of that\\nOcean most desirable for each. The difficulty of effecting\\nan amicable partition of tlio territories thus becomes dailv", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "PREFACE. V\\ngreater, and more urgent therefore is the necessity of en-\\ndeavoring to attain that end without delay.\\nIt was principally with the object of showing the nature,\\norigin, and extent of these various claims, that the author\\nof the following pages composed his Memoir, Historical\\nand Political, on the North-West Coasts of North America\\nand the adjacent Territories, which was published by\\norder of the Senate of the United States in 1 840. He there\\nendeavored to present a complete, clear and impartial view\\nof all the discoveries and settlements, made or attempted,\\nin those countries by civilized nations, and of all the dis-\\nputes, negotiations and conventions, between different gov-\\nernments with respect to them, from the period when they\\nwere first visited by Europeans founding his statements,\\nas much as possible, upon original authorities. That Me-\\nmoir is the only work hitherto published, approaching in its\\ncharacter to a history of the western portion of North\\nAmerica. The History of California,! printed at Madrid,\\nin 1758, is devoted almost exclusively to descriptions of the\\nCalifornian Peninsula, and to accounts of the missionary\\nlabors of the Jesuits, in that desolate region. The Intro-\\nduction to the Journal of Marchand s Voyage, J which ap-\\npeared in 1799, and the Introduction to the Journal of\\nGaliano and Valdes,\u00c2\u00a7 published in 1802, are confined to\\nthe discoveries of European navigators on the North Pacific\\ncoasts of America, before 1793; upon which so many de-\\ntails have been made known, since the appearance of those\\nworks, that they are now entirely obsolete, and scarcely one\\nof their paragraphs can be cited as correct. The Journals\\nof Cook, La Perouse, Vancouver, Mackenzie, Krusenstern,\\nExtract from the Journal of the Senate of the United States. Monday, Feb.\\n10, 1840. On motion, by Mr. Linn Ordered, That a History of the North-West\\nCoast of Nortli America and the adjacent Territories, communicated to the Select\\nCommittee on the Oregon Territory, be printed, with the accompanying map: and\\ntwo thousand five hundred copies, in addition to the usual number, be printed for\\nthe use of the Senate.\\nt See page 105. f See page 223. See page 241.\\nB", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "Vi PREFACE.\\nLewis and Clarke, Kotzebue, Beechey, and Belcher, all\\ncontain important information as to the geography of the\\ncountries under consideration but as regards the events,\\nwhich lie within the province of the historian, we have only\\nthe accounts of the Astoria enterprise, by Franchere, Cox,\\nand Irving, all interesting, yet all limited to the occur-\\nrences of three or four years. In the most popular histo-\\nries of other countries, and especially of Great Britain, the I\\ncircumstances relating to North-West America, are, in\\nevery material point, misrepresented, either from neglect\\non the part of the authors, or from motives less excusable j\\nand these histories, being universally read and received as\\ntrue in England and in the United States, it is not astonish-\\ning, that erroneous ideas should be generally entertained\\nby the people of both nations, upon points, which have\\nbeen, and will continue to be, the subjects of discussion be-\\ntween their governments.\\nThe Memoir, above mentioned, contains the outlines of\\nthe History now presented for which the same authorities,\\nwith many others since collected, consisting of private and\\nofficial reports, letters and accounts, journals of expeditions\\nby sea and land, and histories and state papers of various\\ncivilized nations, have been carefully examined and com-\\npared. Many errors of fact as well as of reasoning in the\\nformer work, have by this means been corrected and\\nnew circumstances have been brought to light, and ne^y\\narguments have been founded upon them, calculated per-\\nhaps materially to modify the views of those to whom the\\nsettlement of questions relative to North-West America\\nmay be hereafter entrusted. The principal object of the\\nauthor has been to present the facts relative to the discov-\\nery and settlement of those countries, fairly and to investi-\\ngate the claims which have been deduced from them,\\nagreeably to the immutable principles of right, and the\\ngeneral understanding of civilized nations and although\\nhe fully appreciates, and endeavors in all cases to place in", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "PREFACE. Vll\\ntheir proper light, the merits of his own countrymen, and\\nthe pretensions of his own government, he is not conscious\\nthat his desire to do so, has in any case led him to the\\ncommission of injustice towards other individuals, or na-\\ntions, either by misstatements, or by suppressions of the\\ntruth. In order to unite the various parts into a regular\\nnarrative, and to preserve the remembrances of events\\nwhich may be interesting, if not important at future peri-\\nods, he has introduced circumstances not immediately tend-\\ning to the attainment of the principal objects proposed but\\nhe has omitted nothing voluntarily, which if made known\\nmight have led to conclusions different from those here\\npresented. Dates and references to authorities are gener-\\nally given, and always in cases where the circumstances\\nrelated are new or material, or in which his accounts differ\\nfrom those usually received and he has appended a num-\\nber of documents, extracts and original notices as Proofs\\nand Illustrations of the history. Among tfie latter, are\\nsome valuable papers never before published, others not\\ncommonly known, and others again which the reader will\\nprobably desire frequently to consult, including all the trea-\\nties and conventions hitherto concluded between civilized\\nnations, with respect to the countries forming the subjects\\nof the history.\\nIn the geographical view he has collected, compared,\\nand endeavored to arrange in order, what appeared to be\\nthe most exact and striking details, presented by the nu-\\nmerous travellers who have visited the countries in ques-\\ntion. The map has been composed, as far as possible,\\nfrom original authorities being intended for the illustration\\nof the history, it necessarily embraces a very large portion\\nof the surface of the globe, and will be found, perhaps, on\\nthe whole, more nearly correct than any other yet offered\\nto the public.\\nWashington, February, 1844.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.\\nCircumstance s which it is unnecessary here to mention,\\nprevented the pubhcation of the first edition of the work in\\nthe United States for more than a year, though it was issued\\nin London, by Mr. John Murray, in June, 1844. Con-\\ngress having by a recent Act most hberally ordered the\\npurchase of fifteen hundred copies for the use of the gen-\\neral government, and for distribution among the States and\\nin foreign countries, it has been necessary to print the new\\nedition now offered in which errors have been corrected,\\nmany portions, including the whole of thejGfeoffraphy, and\\nnearly the whole last chapter of the History, have been writ-\\nten anew, and an important document has been added to\\nthe Proofs and Illustrations.\\nThe first edition, thus published in Europe, has not re-\\nmained unnoticed it has been reviewed generally with ex-\\ntreme severity of language, and with corresponding looseness\\nof criticism, in London journals, and has afforded large\\nmaterials for another work on the same subject, published\\nin Paris, under the auspices of the French government.\\nThe author, however, observes with pleasure, that in all,\\neven the best of these articles, the reviewers carefully ab-\\nstain from the most important points touched in his work\\nwhile all his admissions are cited as definitive. On the\\naccounts and views here presented of Drake s Visit to the\\nNorth-West Coast, of the pretended British Settlement at\\nNootka, of the discovery and survey of the Columbia river,\\nof the character and duration of the Nootka Convention, of\\nthe alleged reservation on the part of the British govern-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "PREFACE. IX\\nment with regard to the restoration of Astoria on these\\nand other points, the London reviewers are silent, or care-\\nfully omit to notice the principal arguments adduced by the\\nauthor. The same observations apply to the answer writ-\\nten by Adam Thorn, Recorder of Rupert s Land, to the\\nMemoir on the North-West Coast above mentioned, which\\nwas published at London, in 1843, by direction of the Hud-\\nson s Bay Company, and has been liberally distributed by\\nits officers. The author, however, takes great pleasure in\\nexcepting the article on the same Memoir, in the British\\nand Foreign Review, for January, 1844 which, though not\\nless decided in its opposition to his views on the subject\\nthan the others, and far more able in every respect, is as\\nremarkable for its fairness as for the courteous and concili-\\natory language employed. With regard to the contradiction\\nin the Quarterly Review, (Sept., 1844, article on the Life\\nof Lord Malmesbury,) of the account in page 1 1 1 of this\\nhistory, of the engagement believed to have been made by\\nthe British government, in 1771, to withdraw its subjects\\nfrom the Falkland Islands, the reader is simply referred to\\nthat page as amended, and to the authorities there cited.\\nThe Memoir on the Discovery of the Mississippi, and\\non the South-western, Oregon and North-western bounda-\\nries of the United States, by Thomas Falconer, pub-\\nlished at London, in October, 1844, contains many stric-\\ntures on the present history, the justice of which the author\\ndenies in toto and he will, in defence, merely recommend\\nto Mr. Falconer, the observance in future, of a few simple\\nrules of historical composition, from which he has himself\\nnever deviated, and the propriety of which, he doubts not,\\nwill be immediately admitted. The first is never to cije\\nauthorities at second hand, but a]\\\\5[ays to examine the origi-\\nnal book, document ox-map cited. Had Mr. Falconer, for\\ninstance, examined the treaty of 1803, by which France\\nceded Louisiana to the United States, he would not have\\nfound in it the passage describing the limits of Louisiana,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "PREFACE.\\nwhich he has quoted (page 37,) as an important passage of\\nthat treaty from Bradford s History of the Federal Govern-\\nment nor would he have reprehended the author of this\\nhistory, for failing to notice that passage, nor would he\\nhave founded upon its supposed stipulations, many pages\\nof argument very logically drawn, but unfortunately vain,\\nto prove the premeditated bad faith of the American gov-\\nernment. Had he in hke manner examined the collection\\nof documents presented by the English and French com-\\nmissaries, appointed under the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle,\\nin 1748, to settle certain disputed questions of boundary in\\nAmerica, he would not have mistaken those commissaries,\\nas he has, for the plenipotentiaries who signed the Treaty\\nof Paris, in 1763 nor would he, on the faith of the inex-\\nplicable assertions of M. Duflot de Mofras, have triumph-\\nantly cited the map of Northern America, in the fourth\\nvolume of that Collection, as proving that Canada formerly\\nextended to the Pacific, and that the Columbia river was dis-\\ncovered by French officers and traders, early in the last cen-\\ntury. (See note at page 159 of this volume.) He should,\\nalso, in justice to those whose arguments he opposes, quote\\ntheir expressions correctly that is, quote their words, and not\\nomit important passages, which are indispensable to show\\ntheir true meaning, as he has done, (in his pages 65 to 68,)\\nwith regard to the views of the rights derived from discovery\\nand occupation, presented in pages 187 et seq. of this his-\\ntory. Lastly, he should not attempt to controvert precise\\nstatements, expressed in exact terms, by vague and general\\nassertions. Thus had he succeeded in proving that Can-\\nada extended to the Pacific which he has most signally\\nfailed to do he would still have been very far from re-\\ndeeming the pledge given in his page 85, to demonstrate\\nmost distinctly, that there is not the slightest foundation,\\nfor the statement in page 276 of this history, (misquoted\\nby him,) that at the beginning of the present century,\\nLouisiana stretched northward and north-westward to an", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "PREFACE. XI\\nundefined extent. The word undefined was there used to\\nshow that the boundaries of Louisiana, in those directions,\\nhad not been, as on the east, definitely settled by accord of\\nthe parties interested and this simple statement cannot be\\nimpugned, by the assertion that Louisiana was then bounded\\non the north by Canada, or the Hudson s Bay territories, the\\nlimits of which were equally undetermined.\\nMr. Falconer has displayed very httle fairness, in his\\nremarks on the part of this history, relating to the discovery\\nof the Columbia, in which he omits all notice of the prin-\\ncipal arguments in favor of the Americans, and against the\\nassertions of Vancouver and Broughton. With regard\\nto the bitterness which the author is said to evince to-\\nwards Vancouver, he confesses, that as an American, he\\nfelt deeply, but more in sorrow than in anger, the insults\\nheaped upon his fellow-citizens, in the journal of that dis-\\ntinguished navigator he has, however, in no instance ex-\\npressed those feelings, without showing the circumstances\\nwhich gave rise to them and he has produced distinct\\ncharges of invidiousness and want of good faith, on the\\npart of Vancouver, drawn entirely from his Journal, which\\nit will not be easy to controvert. It may be observed,\\nhowever, that Mr. Falconer rather apologizes for his coun-\\ntryman than defends him and that he does not seem dis-\\nposed to admit, that Gray never saw the Columbia or was\\nwithin five leagues of its entrance.\\nWith regard to the Exploration of the territories of Ore-\\ngon, Cahfornia, c. by M. Duflot de Mofras, published re-\\ncently at Paris, by order of the king, and under the auspices of\\nMarshal Soult and M. Guizot, the author conceives himself\\nwarranted in asserting, that although it professes to be the\\nresult of long and minute observations, during a mission in\\nthose countries, and of subsequent profound researches and\\nstudies, yet the greater portion of the work is extracted\\nfrom the present History and the preceding Memoir on the\\nsame subject, and it contains scarcely anything which might", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "Xll PREFACE.\\nnot have been produced by one who had never quitted the\\nbarriers of Paris. The errors and misstatements of M. de\\nMofras are indeed innumerable, particularly in all that re-\\nlates to the United States, towards which he appears to\\nentertain feehno-s of aversion even stronger than towards\\nGreat Britain. To their discredit, history and statistics are\\nmade equally subservient and from the facts as thus pre-\\nsented, always with extreme minuteness and precision of\\ndetail, conclusions are drawn, which have at least the merit\\nof novelty. Thus while pathetically lamenting the entire\\ndisorganization of all the American Republics, he finds con-\\nsolation in the fact, that they all exhibit a general return to\\nmonarchical predilections, even the United States, where\\nthe tendencies of the loyalist party are well known. He\\nresigns the hope that France will recover her former domin-\\nions on this continent, but he is assured that the Cana-\\ndians are at this day as French as in the times of the\\nDuquesnes and Beauharnais and he confidently pro-\\nnounces, that whensoever they may throw off the detested\\nyoke of Britain, a Franco-Canadian empire will be formed,\\nextending from the Saint Lawrence to the Pacific, and in-\\ncluding all the British possessions and Oregon, which will\\nbe bound to France by every tie, and will afford the most\\nimportant aid for the expansion of her establishments in the\\nPacific. This songe diplomatique seems to have aflfected\\nthe imagination of M. de Mofras most strongly, and traces\\nof its influence are to be found in every part of his work\\nof his care in citing authorities, and his ingenuity in draw-\\ning deductions suitable to these views, remarkable instances\\nwill be found in the note on page 159 of this volume.\\nWith these preliminary remarks and explanations, the\\nauthor presents his book to the public, trusting that it may\\nprove useful, in placing the difficult questions on which it\\ntreats, in a clearer light, and may thus contribute to their\\njust and peaceful determination.\\nWashington, March, 1845.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "TABLE OF CONTENTS.\\nGEOGRAPHY OF THE WESTERN SECTION OF NORTH\\nAMERICA.\\nGENERAL VIEW.\\nGreat Natural Divisions of N. America, 3 Coasts on the Pacific and the Arctic Seas,\\n4 Mountain Chains of the Pacific Section Far- West Mountains, 5 Rocky Moun-\\ntains Blue Mountains, 6 Climate of the Pacific Section Lakes, 7 Rivers, 8\\nCentral Regions of JN. America Animals and Vegetables of the Pacific Section Na-\\ntives, Establishments of civilized Nations, 10 Political Limits, IL\\nCALIFORNIA,\\nExtent and Divisions Gulf of California, 12 Pearl Fishery Sonora and Sinaloa, 1.3\\nPeninsula of California Its Climate, Soil, Productions, and Animals, 14 Aborigines^\\nPorts and Mexican Settlements, 15 Continental or New California Its Extent, Soil,\\nClimate, 16 Ports and Mexican Settlements San Diego, Santa Barbara Monterey,\\n17 San Francisco River Sacramento, 18 Bodega Cape Mendocino, 19 Interior\\nRegions River Colorado Utah Lake, 20.\\nOREGON.\\nNatural and assumed Boundaries, 21 Strait of Fuca, 22 Columbia River North\\nBranch, 23 South Branch Main Trunk, 24. Far- West Mountains, 25 Westernmost\\nRegion of Oregon, 26 Blue Mountains Middle Region Easternmost or Rocky\\nMountain Region, 27 New Caledonia, 28 North-West Archipelago, 29 Aborigines,\\n30\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Hudson s Bay Company s Establishments, 31 American Settlements, 33.\\nRUSSIAN AMERICA.\\nExtent and Limits Russian American Company, 36 District of Sitka Sitka or New\\nArchangel District of Kodiak, .37 Cook s Inlet Prince William s Sound Mount\\nSt. Elias Aliaska Aleutian Islands Michaelof District, 38 Kamtchatka Kurile\\nIslands, 39.\\nSandwich Islands, 39\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Marquesas Islands Society Islands, 40 Projects for Canals\\nunitmg the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, 41.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "XIV CONTENTS.\\nHISTORY OF OREGON AND CALIFORNIA, ETC.\\nCHAPTER 1.\\nTO 1543.\\nPreliminary Observations, 45 Efforts of the Spaniards to discover Western Passages to\\nIndia Successive Discoveries of the West Indies, the JNorth American Continent, the\\nEastern Passage to India, Brazil, and the Pacific Ocean, 4G Search for a navigable Pas-\\nsage connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans Supposed Discovery of such a Pas-\\nsage, called the Strait of Anian, 41 Discovery of Magellan s Strait and the Western\\nPassage to India, 48 Conquest of Mexico by Cortes, who endeavors to discover new\\ncountries farther north-west, 50 Voyages of Maldonado, Hurtado de Mendoza, Grijalva,\\nand Becerra, 54 Discovery of California Expedition of Cortes to California, 55 Pre-\\ntended Discoveries of i riar Marcos de Wiza, 69 Voyages of UUoa, Alarcon, and Cabrillo,\\n60 Expeditions of Coronado and Soto, Gl The Spaniards desist from their Efforts to\\nexplore the Worth-West Coasts of America, 65.\\nCHAPTER II.\\n1543 TO 1608.\\nThe Spaniards conquer the Philippine Islands, and establish a direct Trade across the Pacific,\\nbetween Asia and America, (i6 Measures of the Spanish Government to prevent other\\nEuropean Nations from settling or trading in America, 68 These Measures resisted by\\nthe English, the French, and the Dutch Free Traders and Freebooters infest the West\\nIndies, 70 First Voyages of the English in the Pacific, 72 Voyages of Drake and Cav-\\nendish, 73 Endeavors of the English to discover a North- West Passage from the Atlan-\\ntic to the Pacific, 77 False Reports of the Discovery of such Passages, 78 Supposed\\nVoyages of Urdaneta, Maldonado, and Fonte, 79 Voyage of Juan de Fuca, 86 Expedi-\\ntions of Sebastian Vizcaino, 90 Supposed Discovery of a great River in North- West\\nAmerica, 93.\\nCHAPTER III.\\n1608 TO 17C8.\\nThe North-West Coasts of North America remain nearly neglected during the whole of this\\nPeriod, 96 Efforts of the English and tlie Dutch to find new Passages into the Pacific\\nDiscovery of Hudson s Bay and Baffin s Bay, 97 Discovery of the Passage around Cape\\nHorn Establishment of the Hudson s Bay Trading Company Endeavors of the Span-\\niards to settle California unsuccessful, 98 The Jesuits undertake the Reduction of Cal-\\nifornia, 99 Establisiiments of the Jesuits in the Peninsula, 100, and their Expulsion from\\nthe Spanish Dominions, 106.\\nCHAPTER IV.\\n1769 TO 1779.\\nFirst Establishments on the West Coast of California founded by the Spaniards, 108 Dis-\\npute between Spain and (Jrcat Britain respecting the Falkland Islands, 111 Exploring\\nVoyages of the Spaniards under Perez, 111, Heceta and Bodega, 117, and Arteaga and Bo-\\ndega, 125 Discovery of Nootka Sound, Norfolk Sound, and the Mouth of the Columbia\\nRiver, 120 Importance of these Discoveries, 124,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS. XV\\nCHAPTER V\\n1711 TO 1779.\\nDiscoveries of the Russians from Kamtchatka Voyages of Bering and Tchirikof to the\\nArctic Sea and to the American Continent, 129 Establishments of the Russian Fur Tra-\\nders in the Aleutian Islands, 135 Voyages of Synd, Krenitzin, and Levashcf, 137 First\\nVoyage from Kamtchatka to China, made by Polish Exiles under Benyowsky, 138 General\\nInaccuracy of the Ideas of the Russians respecting the Geography of the northernmost\\nCoasts of the Pacific, before 177 J, 139.\\nCHAPTERVl.\\n1763 TO 1780.\\nGreat Britain obtains Possession of Canada, 1 10 Journey of Carver to the Upper Missis-\\nsippi, 14-1 First Mention of the Orcfron Kivcr, 1 12 Inaccuracy of Carver s Statements,\\n1 W Journeys of Hearne through tlie Refiions west of Hudson s Bay, 1 1.5 Voyage of\\nCaptain Cook to the North Pacific, 147 His important Discoveries in tliat Quarter, and\\nDeath, 157 Return of his Ships to Europe j Occurrences at Canton during their Stay in\\nthat Port, 158.\\nCHAPTER VII.\\n1780 TO 1789.\\nCommercial Results of Cook s Discoveries. IGO Settlements of the Russians in America,\\n161 Scheme of Ledyard for the Trade of the North Pacific, 1G2 Voyage of La Perouse,\\n163 Direct Trade between the American Coasts and Canton commenced, 165 Voyages\\nof the English Fur Traders Re-discovery of the Strait of Fuca, 171 Voyage of\\nMeares, who endeavors to find a great River described by the Spaniards, 17.5 First\\nVoyages from the United States to the South Pacific, and to Canton, 179 Voyage of the\\nColumbia and Washington, under Kcndrick and Gray, from Boston to the North Pa-\\ncific, 180.\\nCHAPTER VIII.\\n1788 AND 1789.\\nUneasiness of the Spanish Government at the Proceedings of the Fur Traders in the Nortli\\nPacific, 183 Voyages of Observation by Martinez and Haro to the Kussian American\\nSettlements, 185 Remonstrances of the Court of Madrid to that of St. Petersburg,\\nagainst the alleged Encroachments of the latter Power, 186 Martinez and Haro sent by the\\nViceroy of Mexico to take Possession of Nootka Sound, 187 (Claims of Spain examined,\\n\\\\^8 Seizure of British and other Vessels at Nootka by Martinez, 191 Captain Gray,\\nin the Washington, explores tlic East (^oast of Queen Charlotte s Island, and enters the\\nStrait of Fuca, 199 Kendrick. in the Washington, passes through the Strait of Fuca\\nReturn of the Columbia to the United States, 200.\\nCHAPTER IX.\\n1790.\\nControversy between Great Britain and Spain respecting the North-West Coasts of America\\nand the Navigation of the Pacific, 202 The Owners of the Vessels seized at Nootka\\napply for Redress to the British Government, which demands Satisfaction for the aliened\\nOutrages, 203 Spain resists the Demand, and calls on France for Aid, agreeably to the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "XVI CONTENTS.\\nFamily Compact, 207 Proceedings in the JNational Assembly of France on the Subject,\\n208 Spain engaifcs to indemnify the British for the Property seized, 203 Furtlier De-\\nmands of Great Britain Designs of Pitt against Spanish America, 20b Secret Mediation\\nof France, through which the Dispute is settled, 209 Convention of October, 1790,\\ncalled the iXootka Treaty, 210 Proceedings in Parliament, and Reflections on this Con-\\nvention, 211.\\nCHAPTER X\\n1790 TO 1792.\\nVancouver sent by the British Government to explore the Coasts of America, and receive\\nPossession of Lands and Buildings agreeably to the Convention with Spain, 21f) Passage\\nof the Washington, under Kendrick, through the Strait of Fuca, in 1789, 218 Nootka re-\\nocc\\\\ipied by the Spaniards, 220 Voyages of Fidalgo. Quimper, F.lisa, Billings, Marchand,\\nand Malaspina, 221 Voyages of the American Fur Traders, Gray, Ingraliam, and Ken-\\ndrick, 22-1 Discovery of the Washington Islands by Ingraham, 226.\\nCHAPTER XI.\\n1792 TO 1796.\\nVancouver and Broughton arrive on the American Coasts in 1792, and meet with Gray, who\\ninforms them of his Discovery of the Columbia River, 233 The Strait of Fuca surveyed\\nby Vancouver, Galiano, and Valdes, 238 Negotiations between Vancouver and Quadra\\nat Nootka, 21.3 Vancouver s Injustice to the Americans, 214, 248,256 Broughton s Ex-\\namination of the Lower Part of the Columbia River, 217 Vancouver s Proceedings at the\\nSandwich Islands, 249 He completes the Survey of the North-VV^est Coasts of America,\\nand returns to England, 233 The Spaniards abandon jNootka, 237 Conclusions with\\nRegard to the Dispute between Great Britain and Spain, and the Convention of 1790, 233.\\nCHAPTER XII.\\n1788 TO 1810.\\nEstablishment of the North-West Fur Trading Company of Montreal, in 1781, 261 Expedi-\\ntions of Mackenzie to the Arctic Sea and to the Pacific Coast, 2ii3 The Trade between\\nthe North Pacitic Coasts of America and Canton conducted almost exclusively by Vessels\\nof the United States from 1796 to 181+, 2(i6 Establi^hnicut of the Russian American\\nCompany, 269 Its Settlements and Factories on the American Coasts, 270 Expedition\\nof Krusenstern through the North Pacific, 272 Proposition of the Russian Govenmient\\nto that of the United States, with Regard to the Trade of the North Pacific, 273.\\nCHAPTER X I i I\\n1803 TO 1806.\\nCession of Louisiana by France to the United States, 276 Inquirii-s as to the true Extent\\nof Louisiana, 277 Erroneous Supposition that its Limits towards the North had been\\nfixed by Commissaries agreeably to the Treaty of 1 \u00e2\u0096\u00a0trerht.281 President .lefterson sends\\nLewis and (Clarke to examine the Missouri and Columbia, 231 Account of their Expedi-\\ntion from the Mississippi to the Pacific, 285.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS. XVii\\nCHAPTER XIV.\\n180G TO 1815.\\nFirst Establishments of the JVorth-West Company in the Countries north of the Columbia,\\n290 Taeific Fur Company formed at JS cvv York, 21)2 Plan of its i ounder, 293 First\\nExpedition from New York in the Tonquin, 293 Foundation of Astoria near the Pdouth\\nof the Columbia River, 29(j March of tlie Party under Hunt and Crooks across the\\nContinent, 298 Arrival of th.c Beaver in the Columbia, 299 Destruction of the Ton-\\nquin by the Savages, 300 War between the United States and Great Britain fatal to tlie\\nEnterprise, 301 Establishments of tlic Pacific Company sold to the JNorth-West Com-\\npany, 303 Astoria taken by the British, 30 1 Dissolution of the Pacific Company, 303.\\nCHAPTERXV.\\n1814 TO 1820.\\nRestitution of Astoria to the United States by Great Britain, agreeably to the Treaty of\\nGhent, 309 Alleged Reservation of Rights on the Part of Great Britain, 310 First Ne-\\ngotiation between the (Governments of Great Britain and the United States respecting the\\nTerritories west of the Rocky Mountains, and C^onvention for the joint Occupancy of\\nthose Territories, 311 Florida Treaty between Spain and the United States, by which\\nthe Latter acquires the Title of Spain to the North-VVest Coasts, 313 Colonel Long s\\nexploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, 322 Disputes between the British North-\\nWest and Hudson s Bay Companies, 321. Union of tliose Bodies Act of Parliament\\nextending the Jurisdiction of the Canada Courts to the Pacific Countries, 323 Russian\\nEstablishments on the North Pacific, 327 Expeditions in Search of Northern Passages\\nbetween tiie Atlantic and the Pacific, 320 Death of Tamahamaiia, and Introduction of\\nChristianity into the Sandwich Islands, 329.\\nCHAPTER XVI.\\n1820 TO 1828.\\nBill reported by a Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States, for the\\nOccupation of the Columbia River, 331 Ukase of the Emperor of Russia, with Regard to\\nthe North Pacific Coasts, 332 Negotiations between the Governments of Great Britain,\\nRussia, and the United States, 33.5 Conventions between the United States and Russia,\\nand between Great Britain and Russia, 341 Further Negotiations between the United\\nStates and Great Britain relative to the North-West Coasts, 344 Indefinite Extension of\\nthe Arrangement for the joint Occupancy of the Territories west of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, by the British and the Americans, 33k\\nCHAPTER XVll.\\n1823 TO 1843.\\nFew Citizens of the United States in the Countries west of the Rocky Mountains between\\niyi3 and 1823, .SSf) Trading F^xpeditions of Ashley, Sublette, Smitli, Pilcher, Pattie.\\nBonneville, and Wyeth, .337 Missionaries from the United States form Establishments\\non the(. olumbia, .360 First Printing Press set up in Oregon, ;5C1 Opposition of the Hud-\\nson s Bay Company to the Americans; how exerted, .339 Controversy between tlie\\nUnited States and Russia, 3(i2 Dispute between the Hudson s Bay and the Russian\\nAmerican oinpanies how terminated, .363 California, 365 Capture of Monterev by\\nCommodore ,Ioncs. 368 The Sandwich Ishinds. Ki Proceedings of the Missionaries,\\n370 Expulsion of the Catholic Priests, and their Reinstatement by a l rench Force,\\n372 The Sandwich Islands temporarily occupied by the British, 374 E.xploring Expe-\\ndition of the Americans under Wilkes, 375.\\nC", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "XVm CONTENTS.\\nCHAPTER XVII I.\\n1842 TO 1845.\\nExcitement in the United States respecting Oregon, 376 Bill in the Senate for the imme-\\ndiate Occupation of Oregon, 37y That Bill inconsistent with the Convention of 1827,\\nbetween the United States and (Jreat Britain, 388 Renewal of Negotiations betweea\\nthe United States and Great Britain Emigrations from the United States to Oregon,\\n391 State of the Hudson s Bay Company s Possessions, 393 Conclusion.\\nPROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.\\nOriginal Account of the Voyage of the Greek Pilot Juan de Fuca along the North-West\\nCoasts of America in 1592 407\\nB.\\nFurs and the Fur Trade 411\\nC.\\nCorrespondence between the Spanish Commandant at Nootka Sound, and the Masters of the\\nAmerican trading Vessels Columbia and Hope, respecting the Occurrences at that Place\\nin the Summer of 1789 413\\nD.\\nOriginal Documents relative to the Dispute between Great Britain and Spain, in 1790. 418\\nE.\\nOriginal Documents relative to the Discovery of the Columbia River, by the Spaniards and\\nthe Americans 430\\nShowing that the Forty-ninth Parallel of Latitude was not selected as the Line of Separation\\nbetween the French and the British Territories in North America, by Commissioners ap-\\npointed agreeably to the Treaty of Utrecht 43G\\nG.\\nPapers relative to the American Establishment of Astoria, on the Columbia River. 439\\nH.\\nStatements presented on each side in the course of the Conferences, held at London, in De-\\ncember 1826, between Messrs. Huskisson and Addington, the British Plenipotentiaries, and\\nMr. Gallatin, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States 446\\nI.\\nDocuments relating to the Hudson s Bay Company 466\\nK.\\nTreaties and Conventions relative to the North- West Territories of North America. 476", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY\\nWESTERN SECTION OF NORTH AMERICA.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY\\nOF THE\\nWESTERN SECTION OF NORTH AMERICA,\\nGENERAL VIEW.\\nNorth America borders upon three great divisions of the ocean the\\nAtlantic on tlie east the Arctic on the north and the Pacific on the\\nsouth and west each of which receives, either directly or through its\\ngulfs and bays, the superfluous waters from a corresponding great section\\nof the continent.\\nThese three great sections of North America are unequal in extent,\\nand different in the character of their surface. At least one half of the\\ncontinent is drained by streams entering the Atlantic and of that half,\\nthe waters from the larger, as well as the more fertile portion, are carried\\nby the Mississippi into the Mexican Gulf. Of the other two sections, that\\nwhich borders on the Arctic Sea is probably the more extensive. The\\nAtlantic and the Arctic sections present each a large proportion of sur-\\nface, nearly plane, and comparatively little elevated above the sea; and the\\nline of separation between them is so indistinctly marked as to be, in\\nmany places, imperceptible. The Pacific section, on the contrary, is\\ntraversed in every part by steep and lofty ridges of highland and it is\\ncompletely divided from the other portions by a chain of mountains,\\nextending, in continuation of the Andes of South America, from the\\nIsthmus of Panama, north-westward, to the utmost extremities of the con-\\ntinent in that direction.\\nOf the Atlantic coast of America it is unnecessary here to speak\\nparticularly. The irregularity of its outline, the numerous gulfs and bays\\nenclosed by its sinuosities, the great rivers flowing through it into the sea,\\nthe archipelagoes in its vicinity, and all its other characteristic features,\\nmay be found minutely described in many works. The only parts of this\\ncoast, to which reference will be hereafter made, are those surrounding\\nthe Gulf of Mexico and Hudson s Bay, as many of the most important\\ndiscoveries on the western side of the continent have been effected in\\nconsequence of the belief in the existence of a direct navigable communi-\\ncation between those portions of the Atlantic and the Pacific.\\nThe Pacific coast extends from Panama, near the 9th degree of latitude,*\\nwestward and northward, without any remarkable break in its outline, to\\nAll latitudes mentioned in the following pages are north latitudes, unless other-\\nwise specially stated.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "4 GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY.\\nthe 23d parallel, under which the Gulf of California, separating the pen-\\ninsula of California from the main continent on the east, joins the ocean.\\nFrom the southern extremity of this peninsula, called Cape San Lucas,\\nsituated near the entrance of the gulf, the American coast runs north-\\nwestward to the foot of Mount St. Elias, a stupendous volcanic peak,\\nrising from the shore, under the GOth parallel beyond which the con-\\ntinent stretches far westward, between the Pacific on the south and the\\nArctic Sea on the north, to its termination at Cape Prince of Wales,\\nnear the 64th degree.\\nCape Prince of Wales, the westernmost point of America, is the eastern\\npillar of Bering s Strait, a passage only fifty miles in width, separating that\\ncontinent from Asia, and forming tlie only direct communication between\\nthe Pacific and the Arctic Oceans. Beyond it, the shores of Asia and\\nEurope have been explored in their whole length on the Arctic Sea,\\nthough no vessel has hitherto made a voyage through that sea from the\\nAtlantic to the Pacific, or vice versa. The north coast of America has\\nbeen traced from Cape Prince of Wales, north-eastward, to Point Barrow,\\nnear the 71st degree of latitude, and thence, eastward, more than fifteen\\nhundred miles, though not continuously, to the Atlantic. The portion\\nnorth of Hudson s Bay is still imperfectly discovered; and the interesting\\nquestion whether the Arctic Sea there mingles its waters with those of the\\nAtlantic, or is separated from them by the extension of the continent to\\nthe north pole, remains undetermined. Many circumstances, however,\\ncombine to favor the belief that a communication will be found between\\nthe two oceans, either through Fox s Channel, the northernmost part of\\nHudson s Bay, or through Lancaster Sound, which joins Baffin s Bay,\\nunder the 74th parallel; though there is little reason to expect that anv\\nfacilities for commercial intercourse will be gained by the discovery.\\nThe Pacific coast, between the entrance of the Californian Gulf and the\\nStrait of Fuca, which joins the ocean under the 49th parallel, presents\\nfew remarkable indentations, and the islands in its vicinity are neither\\nnumerous nor large. North of the 49th parallel, on the contrary, the\\nmainland is every where penetrated by inlets and bays and many pen-\\ninsulas protrude from it into the sea. In its vicinity, moreover, are\\nthousands of islands, some of them very large, lying singly or in groups,\\nseparated from each other, and from the continent, by narrow, intricate\\nchannels. The most extensive of these collections of islands is the North-\\nWest Archipelago, nearly filling a great recess of the coast, between the\\n48th and the 58th parallels. Kodiak is the centre of another archipelago,\\non the east side of the peninsula of Aliaska; and a long line of islands,\\nforming the Aleutian Archipelago, stretches from the southern extremity\\nof Aliaska, westward, across the sea, in the course of the 54th parallel of\\nlatitude, to the vicinity of the opposite Asiatic peninsula of Kamtchatka.\\nThe part of the Pacific called the Sea of Kamtchatka, or Bering s Sea,\\nnorth of the Aleutian chain, likewise contains several islands, situated,\\nnearly all, close to the shores of one or the other continent.\\nThis coast, in its whole length, from the southern extremity of Cali-\\nfornia to Bering s Strait, is bordered by lofty mountains, which appear to\\nform a continuous cliain, partially broken, in a few places, by the passage\\nacross it of rivers from the interior. The mountains rise, for the most\\npart, immediately from the sea-shore, above which they may be se\u00c2\u00a7n\\ntowering one, two, and even three, miles in perj)cndicular elevati in", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY. 5\\nsome places, however, the main ridge is separated from the ocean by\\ntracts of lower country, as much as one hundred miles in breadth, trav-\\nersed by parallel lines of hills. This ridge, for which no general name\\nhas yet been adopted,* is almost entirely of volcanic formation being\\npart of the great line or system of volcanoes, which extends from Mexico to\\nthe East Indies, passing along the west coast of America, from the south-\\nernmost point of California to the south-west extreme of Aliaska, thence\\nthrough the Aleutian Islands to Kamtchatka, and thence southward\\nthrough the Kurile, the Japan, the Philippine, and the Molucca Islands.\\nThere are many elevated peaks, nearly all of them volcanoes, in every\\npart of the chain the most remarkable break, or gap, is that near the\\n4Gth degree of latitude, through which the Columbia rushes, at the dis-\\ntance of a hundred miles from the Pacific.\\nThe great chain of mountains wiiicli separates the streams emptying\\ninto the Pacific from those flowing into the other divisions of the ocean,\\nruns throuah the northern continent, as through the southern, in a line\\ngenerally parallel with the shore of the Pacific, and much nearer to that\\nsea than to the Atlantic. Under the -10th degree of latitude, where the\\nwestern section of America is widest, the distance across it, from the\\nsummit of the dividing chain to the Pacific, is about seven hundred miles,\\nwhicli is not more than one third of the distance from the same point of\\nthe mountains to the Atlantic, measured in the same latitude.\\nThe dividing chain south of the 40th degree of latitude has received\\nmany names, no one of which seems to have been universally adopted.\\nIt has been called, by some geographers, the Anahuac Mountains; and by\\nthat name, though entirely unknown to the people of the adjacent country,\\nit will be distinguished whenever reference is made to it in the fol-\\nlowing pages.\\nThe portion of the great ridge north of the 40th parallel is generally\\nknown as the Rocky or Stony Mountains. From that latitude, its course\\nis nearly due north-westward, and gradually approaching the line of the\\nPacific coast, to the 54th degree, where the main chain turns more west-\\nward, and continues in that direction so far as it has been traced, prob-\\nably to Bering s Strait. Another ridge, called the Chipewyan Moun-\u00c2\u00ab\\ntains, indeed, extends, as if in prolongation of the Rocky Mountains, from\\nthe 53d parallel, north-westward, to the Arctic Sea, where it ends near the\\n70th degree of latitude; but the territory on its western side is drained\\nby streams entering that sea either directly, or passing through the ridge\\ninto the Mackenzie River, which flows along its eastern base.\\nThe Rocky Mountains, so far as their geological structure has been\\nascertained, consist of primary formations, principally of granite. Though\\nrising, in many places, from eight to sixteen thousand feet above the\\nocean level, they do not, in general, appear very high to the beholder, on\\naccount of the great elevation of the country at their bases. On the east-\\nern side, within a hundred and fifty miles of the great chain, and running\\nnearly parallel to it, are several ridges, from which the surface gradually\\ndeclines, becoming more nearly plane as it approaches the Mississippi,\\nthe Red River, and Hudson s Bay. The part of the continent west of the\\nRocky Mountains is, as already stated, traversed, in its whole extent, by\\nThe author of tliis work ventures to propose, for the great ridge here mentioned,\\nthe name of Far-West Mountains, which seems to be more definite, and in every\\nrespect more appropriate, than any other v. hioh could be adopted.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "6 GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY.\\nlofty ridges, separated only by narrow valleys, or plains of moderate width.\\nThe country at the base of the chain, on the Atlantic side, is probably\\nnowhere less than four thousand feet above the level of the sea and that\\non the Pacific side is doubtless much higher.\\nThe most elevated portion of the Rocky Mountains is about the 54th\\ndegree of latitude, where the chain turns towards the west; several peaks\\nin that vicinity have been ascertained to rise more than sixteen thousand\\nfeet above the ocean level. Many points, which are undoubtedly more\\nthan ten thousand feet hi height, have been found in the portion of the\\ndividing ridge called the Wind River Mountains, near the 42d degree of\\nlatitude, and farther south, in Long s Range, where the sources of the\\nArkansas River are situated.\\nAmong these mountains, nearly all the greatest rivers in North America\\nhave their sources. Within a hundred miles of the point where the chain\\nis crossed liy the 41st parallel, rise on the eastern side the Missouri,\\nthe Yellowstone, the Platte, and the Arkansas, the waters of all which are\\ncarried through the Mississippi into the Mexican Gulf, and the River\\nBravo del Norte, which falls into the same arm of the Atlantic while on\\nthe western side are found the springs of the Lewis, or Snake, the princi-\\npal southern branch of the Columbia which enters the Pacific, and those\\nof the Colorado, which terminates in the head or northern extremhy of\\nthe Californiau Gulf. The sources of the Platte, and those of the Green\\nRiver, the largest head-water of the Colorado, are situated at opposite ends\\nof a cleft, or transverse valley, in the Rocky Mountains, called the South\\nPass, in latitude of 42 degrees 20 minutes, which seems destined to be\\nthe gate of communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific regions\\nof the continent. In another great cleft, called by the British traders\\nthe Punch Bowl, near the 53d parallel, overhung by the highest peaks\\nof the chain, the northern branch of the Columbia issues from a lake,\\nsituated within a few feet of another lake, from which runs the west\\nbranch of the Athabasca, one of the affluents to the Mackenzie and at a\\nshort distance south rises the Saskatchawine, which takes its course east-\\nward to Lake Winnipeg, and contributes to the supply of Hudson s Bay.\\nIn many places between the 42d and the 50th degrees of latitude, the\\nupper streams of the Missouri lie very near to those of the Columbia but\\nno gap or depression, which appears to offer facilities for travelling or\\ntransportation of merchandise, has been discovered in that part of the\\ndividing chain.\\nThe ridges between the Rocky Mountains and the great westernmost\\nchain which borders the Pacific coast, appear to be all united with one or\\nboth of those chains, and to run, for the most part, in the same general\\ndirection, from south-east to north-west. The most extensive of these\\nintermediate ridges, called the Snowy Mountains, is believed to stretch\\nuninterruptedly from the Rocky Mountains to the westernmost range, and\\neven to the Pacific, nearly in the course of the 41st parallel of latitude,\\ndividing the regions drained by the Columbia, on the north, from Cali-\\nfornia, on the south. Another ridge, called the Blue Mountains, extends\\nnorthward from the Snowy Mountains to the 47th parallel, bounding the\\nvalley of the Snake or Lewis River, the southern branch of the Columbia,\\non the west. A lofty ridge also runs from the westernmost chain, near\\nthe 48th degree of latitude, northward, to the Rocky Mountains, which it\\njoins near the 54th degree, separating the waters of the northern branch", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY. 7\\nof the Columbia from those of Frascr s River on the west, and constituting\\nanother natural boundary to the territory drained by the former stream.\\nOf the interior of California, little is known with certainty it is, however,\\nprobable that a ridge extends from the Snowy Mountains, near their\\njunction with the Rocky Mountains, about the 4 2d degree of latitude,\\nsouthward, to the great westernmost chain, near the 32d degree, where the\\nCalifornian peninsula joins the continent, forming the western wall of the\\nvalley of the Colorado River.\\nThe territories west of the Rocky Mountains abound in lakes, several\\nof which present surfaces of great extent some of them communicate\\nwith rivers others have no outlet, and their waters are consequently salt.*\\nThe largest, called the Timpanogos, or Utah Lake, among the Snowy\\nMountains, between the 40tli and the 42d degrees of latitude, belongs to\\nthe latter class, and is probably not less than two thousand miles in area.\\nThe most extensive of the fresh-water lakes is the Kullispelm, or Clarke s\\nLake, formed by the expansion of the Clarke River, in a valley surrounded\\nby high mountains, under the 48th parallel.\\nThe countries on the Pacific side of North America differ materially in\\nclimate from those east of the great dividing range of mountains situated\\nin the same latitudes, and at equal distances from and elevations above the\\nocean. These differences are less within the torrid zone, and beyond the\\n60th parallel; but in the intermediate space, every part of the Pacific sec-\\ntion is much warmer and much drier than places in the Atlantic or the\\nArctic sections under the same conditions as above expressed. Thus the\\nnorth-westernmost regions of America appear to be as cold, and to receive as\\nmuch rain and snow from the heavens, as those surrounding Baffin s Bay,\\nor those in their own immediate vicinity in Asia; but in the countries on\\nthe Pacific side corresponding in latitude and other respects with Wis-\\nconsin, Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, the ground is rarely\\ncovered with snow for more than three or four weeks in each year, and it\\noften remains unfrozen throughout the winter. In the countries on the\\nwest coast, opposite to Virginia and Carolina, the winter is merely a wet\\nseason, no rain falling at any other time; and in the Californian peninsula,\\nwhich is included between the same parallels of latitude as Georgia and\\nFlorida, the temperature is as high as in any tropical region, and many\\nyears in succession pass by without a shower or even a cloud. It is\\nlikewise observed, especially between the 30th and the 50tb parallels, that\\nthe interior portions of the Pacific section are much more dry, and the\\nWherever water runs on or passes through the earth, it meets with salts, in\\nquantities greater or less, according to the structure of the soil, and the space passed\\nover or through these salts it dissolves, and carries to its final recipient, thither the\\nocean, or some lake or marsh, or sandy region, having no communication, ntlier above\\nor below the surface, with any lower recipient; and, as the water car only escape\\nnaturally from this recipient, by evaporation, which cannot abstract single saline\\nparticle, it follows, as a necessary consequence, that the salt must aJ ^ys be accumu-\\nlating there. Thus the Dead Sea, which has no outlet, is saturate* with salts, while\\nthe Lake of Tiberias, from which it receives its waters through ^he Jordan, is per-\\nfectly fresh; and innumerable other instances may be cited, in like manner, the\\nground in countries from which the water is not regularly cpfried otF by streams or\\nmfiltration, is generally impregnated with salt of which e.T.tmples are offered in the\\n-high plains of Mexico, in some valleys west of the Rc^ky Mountains, and in many\\nparts of the United States. The reverse may not be always true but the saltness of\\na large body of water, or a large extent of ground, affords strong reasons for suspect-\\ning the want of a drain from it into a lower recipient.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "8 GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY.\\ndifference in temperature between the day and the succeeding night is,\\nat all seasons, but particularly in summer, greater than in the countries\\nnearer to the ocean. It is scarcely necessary to add, that, in territories\\nso scantily and irregularly supplied with water, the surface must be, in\\ngeneral, bare and destitute of vegetation and such is the character of\\nthe greater portion of the continent west of the dividing range of\\nmountains.\\nThe central regions of the continent east of the Rocky Mountains\\nexhibit, though in a less degree, the same peculiarities of climate with\\nthose adjoining, in the Pacific section. The vast plains, extending from\\nthe vicinity of the dividing chain towards the Mississippi, south of the\\n50th parallel of latitude, are almost as arid and barren as the countries on\\nthe other side of the ridge the rains are neither frequent nor heavy\\nduring the warm months, and the surface, except in a few spots near the\\nrivers, consists of sand and sandstone strongly impregnated with salt,\\nand affords support only to stiff grass and shrubs. Descending towards\\nthe Mississippi, the climate and soil become more favorable to vegetable\\nlife, and the country gradually assumes the characters of the other Atlan-\\ntic regions. North of the 50th parallel, there is more rain or snow, at all\\nseasons, on each side of the ridge, though less on the west than on the\\neast; the intensity of the cold, and its long duration, particularly on the\\neastern side, render those territories almost all uninhabitable by those\\nwho depend on agriculture for subsistence.\\nIn consequence of this greater aridity of the climate on the western side\\nof America, the irregularity of the surface, and the proximity of the\\ndividing chain of mountains to the coast, the rivers on that side are\\ngenerally neither so long, nor so abundant in water, nor navigable to\\nsuch distances from their mouths, as those which fall into the Atlantic.\\nThe Columbia and the Colorado are the only streams known to flow from\\nAmerica into the Pacific, which can be compared, in any of these\\nrespects, with several in the other sections of the continent yet they\\nare each certainly inferior to the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, the\\nOrinoco, the Amazon, and the Plate, and probably, also, to the Macken-\\nzie. These and the other rivers of Western America run, in nearly their\\nwhole course, through deep ravines, among stony mountains and they\\nare, for the most part, crossed at short intervals by ledges of rock, pro-\\nducing falls and rapids, which render all navigation on them impossible,\\nand to overcome which, all the resources of art would be unavailing.\\nIn the territory east of the dividing chain, and south of the 50th paral-\\nlel of latitude, are many rivers flowing from the mountains to the Missis-\\nsippi hut none of them seem calculated to serve as channels for commu-\\nnication between the Atlantic and the Pacific regions. The Missouri and\\nthe Yellowitone each take a devious course so that, after ascending\\neither of theu to the head of its navigation, the distance to the habitable\\ncountries on th;; Pacific is almost as great as from a point on the Missouri,\\nmore than fiftce. hundred miles below. The Platte flows nearly, under\\nthe 42d parallel ol latitude, from its source in the South Pass, the princi-\\npal cleft of the RocVy Mountains, to the Missouri, precisely in the direc-\\ntion most favorable for intercourse between the Mississippi and the\\nColumbia countries; but u is the most shallow of all large rivers: travers-\\ning a surface nearly plain, the increase of its waters, produced annually\\nby the rains and melting of the snows, only serves to render it wider,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY. 9\\nwithout any considerable increase of its depth, which is every where too\\nsmall for the passage of the lightest boats. Nature has, however, pro-\\nvided a road along its banks, over which heavy wagons now annually roll\\nbetween Missouri and Oregon; and, with a little assistance from art in\\nsome places, this road may be rendered one of the best in the world.\\nThe territory farther north, extending from the Rocky Mountains to\\nHudson s Bay and the Arctic Sea, is traversed by innumerable rivers\\nfalling into those parts of the ocean. Of these, the principal are the Red\\nRiver, of the north, the Assinaboin, and the Saskatchavvine, emptying into\\nLake Winnipeg, which communicates by several channels with Hudson s\\nBay, and the Missinippi or Churchill s River, falling directly into that\\nbay while the Arctic Sea receives, nearly under the 69th parallel of\\nlatitude. Back s or the Great Fish River, the Coppermine, and the\\nMackenzie, the latter draining a territory scarcely less extensive than\\ntiiat of the Columbia. The regions crossed by these rivers are, in gen-\\neral, so nearly level, that it is, in many places, difficult to trace the limits\\nof the tracts from which the waters flow into their respective channels or\\nbasins. They contain numerous lakes, some very large, and nearly all\\nconnected with each other, and with the Arctic Sea on the north, and\\nHudson s Bay on the east and the head-waters of the rivers supplying\\nthese reservoirs are situated in the vicinity of the sources of the Missis-\\nsippi, or of the Missouri, or of the Columbia, or of the streams falling\\ninto Lake Superior, The rivers above named are all navigable for great\\ndistances by boats, and they thus afford considerable advantages for com-\\nmercial intercourse goods being now transported across the continent,\\nfrom the mouth of the Columbia to Hudson s Bay or to Montreal, and\\nvice versa, almost entirely by water.\\nUnder circumstances of climate, soil, and conformation of surface, so\\ndifferent, it may be supposed that considerable differences should exist\\nbetween the productions of the great divisions of America here men-\\ntioned. It has been, accordingly, found that few species of plants or of\\nanimals are common to them all, and that many which abound in one arc\\nrare, if not entirely wanting, in the others. Some plants, especially the\\npines and cedars, acquire a greater development in the regions near the\\nPacific than in any other country but a large portion of those territories\\nis, from reasons already shown, entirely and irretrievably barren. In\\nrecompense for this sterility of the soil, the rivers of the Pacific section\\nabound in fish, particularly in salmon, which ascend them to great dis-\\ntances from the sea, and form the principal support of the inhabitants.\\nWith respect to the aborigines of these countries, the Arctic coasts\\nof America are occupied by a race called Esquimaux, distinguished by\\npeculiar marks from all others, who are likewise found on the northern-\\nmost shores of the Pacific, and particularly in the islands between the\\ntwo continents, intermingled with the Tchukski, the aborigines of north-\\nernmost Asia. The remainder of the Pacific section, and, indeed, of the\\nwhole American continent, except, perhaps, Patagonia, appears to have\\nbeen inhabited, before the entrance of the Europeans, by one and the\\nsame race the natives of the different portions differing btit slightly, con-\\nsidering the varieties of climate, soil, and situation, and the consequent\\nvarieties in modes of life. That some admixture with the races of Soutl.\\neastern Asia may have taken place, is not improbable, from the fact that\\nJapanese vessels have more than once been thrown on the north-west\\n2", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "10 GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY.\\ncoasts of America since the beginning of the present century but no\\nevidence or strong ground of supposition of such admixture has been\\ndiscovered in the appearance of any part of the population of those\\ncoasts.\\nThe settlements of civilized nations in the Pacific section of North\\nAmerica are inconsiderable in extent. Those of the Russians are scat-\\ntered along the coasts and islands north of the latitude of 54 degrees 40\\nminutes; they are all under the direction of the Russian American\\nTrading Company, and are devoted entirely to the collection of the\\nfurs and skins of the land and sea animals abounding in that quarter, of\\nwhich large quantities are transported for sale to Asia and Europe. Those\\nof the British and of citizens of the United States are intermingled\\nthroughout the regions south and east of the Russian territory, to Cali-\\nfornia the British, in general, occupying the parts north, and the\\nAmericans those south, of the Columbia River, which enters the Pacific\\nnear the 46th degree of latitude. The people of both the last-mentioned\\nnations have hitherto, likewise, been employed principally in the fur trade\\nbut, that business having become less profitable of late years, from the\\ndiminution of the animals, agricultural establishments have been formed,\\nespecially by the citizens of the United States, in the vicinity of the\\nColumbia. The British are all under the control of the Hudson s Bay\\nCompany, which possesses, in virtue of a royal grant, the privilege, in\\nexclusion of other British subjects, of trading in all the Indian countries\\nof North America belonging to, or claimed by, that power; and they\\nare protected and restrained by British laws, under an act of Parliament\\nextending the jurisdiction of the Canada courts over those countries, so\\nfar as relates to subjects of that nation. The citizens of the United States,\\non the contrary, are deprived of all protection, and are independent of\\nall control; as they are not subject to British laws, and their own govern-\\nment exercises no authority whatsoever over any part of America west of\\nthe Rocky Mountains. In California, south of the 3Sth degree of lati-\\ntude, are many colonies, garrisons, and missionary stations, founded by\\nthe Spaniards during the last century, and now maintained by the Mexi-\\ncans, who succeeded to the rights of Spain in 1821. They are all situ-\\nated in the immediate vicinity of the coasts, the interior regions being, as\\nyet, almost unknown. It is worthy of remark, that California, though\\nthinly inhabited by a wretched, indolent population, is the only part of\\nthe Pacific section of North America which can be considered as regularly\\nsettled, which possesses an organized civil and social system, and where\\nindividuals hold a property in the soil secured to them by law.\\nEach of these four nations claims the exclusive possession of a portion\\nof the territory on the Pacific side of America, north of the Californian\\nGulf; and each of them is a party to some treaty with another, for the\\ntemporary use, or definitive sovereignty, of such portion. Thus it has\\nbeen agreed, by treaty, in 1819, between the United States and Spain,\\nrenewed, iu 1828, between the United States and Mexico, that a line,\\ndrawn from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, in the course of the\\n42d parallel of latitude, should separate the dominions of the former\\npower on the north from those of Mexico on the south. It was, in like\\nmanner, agreed, in 1824, by convention between the United States and\\nRussia, that the former nation should make no establishments on the\\ncoasts north of the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, and that the latter", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "GENERAL VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY. 11\\nshould make none south of the same line; but this convention was neu-\\ntralized, and, in fact, abrogated, by a treaty concluded between Russia\\nand Great Britain in the following year, by which all the territories of the\\nmain land and islands, north and west of a line drawn from the latitude\\nof 54 detrrees 40 minutes, north-westward, alons the highlands borderino-\\nthe Pacific coasts, to Mount St. Elias, and thence due north to the Arctic\\nSea, were to belong to Russia, while all east and south of that line were\\nto be the property of Great Britain.\\nThus, on the western side of North America, two lines of distinct\\nboundary, or partition, each traversing the whole breadth of the Pacific\\nsection, have been recognised; the one between two powers. Great Britain\\nand Russia, the other between two different powers, the United States and\\nMexico, neither of which is, however, admitted by the third power, claim-\\ning, also, the possession of territodes contiguous to it. Of the vast di-\\nvision of the continent and the adjacent islands between these two lines,\\nno spot has yet been assigned, by mutual agreement, to any civilized\\nnation. The United States claim the territories northward from the 42d\\nparallel, and Great Britain claims those extending south and east from the\\nother line, each to a distance undefined, but so fiir as to secure for itself\\nthe whole, or nearly the whole, of the regions traversed by the Columbia\\nRiver. The American government has more than once proposed to\\nadopt the forty-ninth parallel of latitude as the dividing line; the British\\nhave, however, constantly refused to assent to that or any other arrange-\\nment which should deprive them of the coasts and territories north of\\nthe Columbia River and neither nation being willing to recede from\\nits pretensions, all the countries claimed by both, west of the Rocky\\nMountains, remain, by convention between the two governments, con-\\ncluded in 1827, free and open to the citizens or subjects of both.\\nSuch is the present political condition of the Pacific regions of North\\nAmerica. This anomalous state of things cannot, however, endure much\\nlonger. The people of the United States are rapidly colonizing the fertile\\nportions of the territory on the lower Columbia and no one acquainted\\nwith their character can suppose that they will submit to be deprived of\\ntheir political birthright in those countries, while they have the slightest\\nprospect of vindicating it.\\nHaving presented this concise general view of the western section of\\nNorth America, its divisions will now be described in detail, beginning\\nwith the most southern, under the heads of California, Oregon, and Rus-\\nsian America.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "CALIFORNIA.\\nThe name California was first assigned, by the Spaniards, in 153G, to\\nthe great peninsula which extends on the western side of North America,\\nfrom the 3 ^d degree of latitude, southwardly, to and within the limits of\\nthe torrid zone and it was afterwards made to comprehend the whole\\ndivision of the continent north-west of Mexico, just as that of Florida\\nwas applied to the opposite portion on the Atlantic side. At the present\\nday, California is usually considered as includiug the peninsula, and the\\nterritory extending from it, on the Pacific, northward, as far as the limits\\nof Oregon, or the country of the Columbia River Cape Mendocino, in\\nthe latitude of 40 degrees 19 minutes, being assumed as the point of\\nseparation of the two coasts. The Mexican government, however, re-\\ngards the 42d parallel of latitude as the northern limit of California,\\nagreeably to the treaty concluded between that republic and the United\\nStates of America in 1828.\\nCalifornia is naturally divided into two portions the peninsular, called\\nOld or Lower California and the continental, or New, or Upper Califor-\\nnia, the line of separation between which runs nearly along the 32d\\nparallel of latitude, from the head or northern extremity of the Californian\\nGulf, westward to the Pacific.\\nThe Gulf of California will be first considered. This Gulf, called by\\nthe Spaniards the Sea of Cortes, but more commonly the Vermilion Sea,\\n(Mar Vermejo,) is a great arm of the Pacific, which joins that ocean\\nunder the 23d parallel of latitude, and thence extends north-eastward, be-\\ntween the American continent on the east and the Californian peninsula on\\nthe west, to its head or termination, near the 32d parallel, where it receives\\nthe waters of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Its length is about seven\\nhundred miles its breadth, at its junction with the Pacific, is one hundred\\nmiles farther north, it is somewhat wider, and, still farther, its shores\\ngradually approach each other, until they become the banks of the Colo-\\nrado. It contains many islands, of which the largest are Carmen, near\\nthe 25th degree of latitude, Tiburon and Santa Ines, near the 29th, and\\nsome others at the northern extremity. The western or peninsular coasts\\nof the gulf are high, steep, and rocky, offering very few places of security\\nfor vessels; and not a single stream which deserves the name of a river\\nenters it on that side. The eastern or continental shores are generally\\nlow, and the sea in their vicinity is so shallow as to render the navigation\\nalong them dangerous.\\nThe peninsular coast of the gulf has long been celebrated for the great\\nsize and beauty of the pearls contained in the oysters which abound in\\nthe sea on that side and the search for those precious stones has always\\nformed the principal employment of people of civilized nations in that\\nquarter. The pearls are procured, with much danger and difficulty, by", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA. 13\\nIndians, who dive for them to tlie depth of twenty or more feet, and of\\nwhom a large proportion are annually drowned or devoured by sharks.\\nA company, formed at London in 1825, sent Lieutenant Hardy to the\\nCalifornian coast, with two vessels, carrying diving-bells, by the aid of\\nwhich it was expected that the pearl fishery might be conducted more\\nsafely, as well as profitably, than by the ordinary means; but, unfortu-\\nnately, it proved that the oysters always lie in crevices of the rocks, to\\nwhich no access can be had by persons in the diving-bell, and the enter-\\nprise was, in consequence, abandoned. The value of the pearls obtained\\nappears to be trifling when compared with the time and labor employed in\\nthe search for them. In 1825, eight vessels engaged in the business col-\\nlected together five pounds of pearls, which were worth about ten thousand\\ndollars. Occasionally, however, a single stone is found of value sufficient\\nto afford compensation for years of fruitless labor; and some of the rich-\\nest pearls in the regalia of Spain are the produce of the fishery in the\\nCalifornian Gulf.\\nThe territory extending east from the Californian Gulf to the summit\\nof the great dividing chain of the Anahuac Mountains, forms two politi-\\ncal divisions of the Mexican republic, of which the northern is called\\nSonora, (a corruption of Senora,) and the southern Sinaloa. These\\ncountries are, as yet, thinly inhabited from the general productive-\\nness of their soil, the salubrity of their climate, and the number and rich-\\nness of their mines of gold and silver, they seem calculated for the support\\nof a large population, for which the gulf, and the many rivers flowing\\ninto it from the mountains on the east, will afford the means of communi-\\ncating with other lands. The port of Guaymas, in Sonora, in latitude of\\n27 degrees 40 minutes, is said to be one of the best on the Pacific side\\nof America. Mazatlan, in Sonora, at the entrance of the Californian\\nGulf, has been, hitherto, more generally frequented but it is neither so\\nsecure as Guaymas, nor is the territory in its vicinity so productive or\\nhealthy. South-east of Mazatlan, in latitude of 27 degrees 29 minutes,\\nis San Bias, the principal commercial port of Mexico on the Pacific, one\\nof the hottest and most unhealthy spots on the globe and still farther, in\\nthe same direction, are Navidad, Acapulco, and the harbor of Tehuante-\\npec, all celebrated, in former times, as places of trade, but now decaying\\nand deserted.\\nThe peninsula of California is about one hundred and thirty miles in\\nbreadth where it joins the continent, under the 32d parallel, that is to say,\\nnearly in the same latitude with the city of Savannah, in Georgia.\\nThence it extends south-eastward, varying, but generally diminishing, in\\nbreadth between the Pacific on the west and the Californian Gulf on the\\neast, to its termination in two points Cape San Lucas, the south-\\nwesternmost, in latitude of 22 degrees .52 minutes, corresponding nearly\\nwith that of the city of Havanna, in Cuba and Cape Palmo, (50 miles\\neast by north of the other, at the entrance of the Californian Gulf\\nContinental California extends, upon the Pacific, from the 32d parallel of\\nlatitude, where it joins the peninsula, about seven hundred miles north-west-\\nward to Oregon, from which it is divided, nearly in the course of the 42d\\nparallel, that is, nearly in the latitude of Boston, by a chain of highlands\\ncalled the Snowy Mountains, the Sierra Nevada of the Spaniards. Its\\nboundaries on the west are not, as yet, determined politically by the\\nMexican government nor do geographers agree with regard to it3", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "14 GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORMA.\\nnatural limits in that direction. By some, it is considered as embracinor,\\nlike Chili, only the territory between the Pacific and the summit of the\\ngreat mountain chain, which borders the western side of the continent\\nothers extend its limits to the Colorado; while others include in it, and\\nothers again exclude from it, the entire regions drained by that river.\\nThe only portion occupied by the Mexicans, or of which any distinct ac-\\ncounts have been obtained, is that between the great chain of mountains\\nand the ocean the country east of that ridge to the Colorado appears to\\nbe an uninhabitable desert.\\nThe Californian peninsula is merely the southern portion of the great\\nwesternmost chain of mountains, prolonged through the Pacific. It\\nconsists eutirely of high, stony ridges, separated by narrow, sandy val-\\nleys, and contains no tracts of level ground of any extent. At its\\nsouthern extremity, the earth is sometimes visited by showers in the sum-\\nmer, but never at any other period of the year near its junction with\\nthe continent, rain is seen only in winter and in the intermediate por-\\ntion, many years in succession pass by without the appearance of a\\ndrop of water from the heavens, or indeed of a single cloud, while the\\nrays of the sun, thus uninterrupted in their passage, produce a heat as\\nintense as that in any other region of the world. Under such circum-\\nstances, as might be supposed, the springs of water are few and slender,\\nand the surface is almost every where destitute of vegetation. The\\npeninsula is, on the whole, an irreclaimable desert: yet, wherever irri-\\ngation is practicable, the productiveness of the soil is extraordinary and\\nthe little oases formed by the passage of a slender rivulet through a\\nnarrow, sandy defile, may thus be made to yield all the fruits of tropical\\nclimes in abundance, and of the finest quality.\\nThe southern portion of the peninsula contains several mines of gold,\\nwhich have been worked, though not extensively. The only mine as yet\\ndiscovered in continental California is one of gold, situated at the foot\\nof the great westernmost range of mountains, on the west, at the dis-\\ntance of twenty-five miles from Angeles, the largest town in the country.\\nIt is said to be of extraordinary richness.\\nThe animals originally found in California were buffaloes, though in\\nsmall numbers, compared with those east of the Rocky Mountains, deer,\\nelk, bears, wild hogs, wild sheep, ocelotes, beavers, foxes, and many others,\\ngenerally of species different from those in the Atlantic regions of the\\ncontinent. Sea otters were very abundant on the northern parts of the\\ncoasts, but they have disappeared. Cattle and horses were introduced by\\nthe Spaniards from Mexico, and have increased in an extraordinary de-\\ngree, particularly the cattle, with which the valleys near the coast of the\\ncontinental portion are covered. One of the scourges of this country is\\nthe chapul, a kind of grasshopper, which appears in summer, especially\\nafter a mild winter, in clouds resembling the locusts of Southern Asia,\\ndestroying every vegetable substance in their way.\\nThe aborigines of California are placed, by those who have had the\\nbest opportunity of studying their character and disposition, with the\\nHottentots, the Patagonians, and the Australians, among the lowest of the\\nhuman race those of the continental portion being considered less fero-\\ncious, but more indolent and vicious, than the natives of the peninsula.\\nThe Spaniards made many attempts, during the sixteenth and seventeenth\\ncenturies, to found settlements in the country, all of which proved", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA. 15\\nabortive; until, at length, in 1699, the Jesuits, by permission of the king\\nof Spain, undertook to convert the natives to Christianity, and to initiate\\nthem into the usages and arts of civilized life. With this view, they\\nformed a number of missions, near the east coasts of the peninsula, and,\\nby untiring assiduity, they had succeeded partly in their objects before\\n176S, when the Jesuits were, in execution of a decree issued at Madrid,\\nexpelled from the Spanish dominions their establishments were then\\nconfided to the Dominicans, under whose charge they have since re-\\nmained with little advantage in any way.\\nThe number of persons in the peninsula at present has been variously\\nestimated from the best accounts, it does not exceed five thousand, of\\nwhom a small proportion only are Mexicans, and very few are of European\\norigin. The principal places now occupied by the Mexicans are Loreto,\\nformerly the principal mission of the Jesuits, and now the capital of Old\\nCalifornia, a miserable village of about two hundred persons, situated\\nnear the gulf, opposite the Island of Carmen, in latitude of 25 degrees 14\\nminutes La Paz, on the Bay of Pichilingue, a little farther south, the\\nport of communication with Mexico and Port San Jose, near Cape San\\nLucas, where an establishment has been recently formed in a plain, watered\\nby a slender rill. From these places, small quantities of tortoise shells, dried\\nmeat, cheese, and dried fruits, the latter said to be excellent, are sent to\\nSan Bias, in Mexico, or sold to trading vessels which occasionally enter\\nthe gulf during their tour along the coasts. There are several other\\nspots on the gulf offering good harbors for vessels, though they present no\\nfacilities for settlements among which the principal is the BayofMulege,\\nnear the latitude of 27i degrees.\\nOn the west, or Pacific, side of the peninsula no settlement has ever\\nbeen formed or attempted by a civilized nation. This coast offers many\\nexcellent harbors, but the want of fresh water in their vicinity must ever\\nprove an effectual obstacle to their occupation. The principal harborg\\nare, the Bay of La Magdalena, in latitude of 25 degrees, which is separated\\nfrom the ocean by the long island of Santa Margarita, and appears to\\nstretch much farther inland than had been supposed the Bay of Sebas-\\ntian Vizcaino, under the 2Sth parallel, east of the Isle of Cedars; Port\\nSan Bartolome, called Turtle Bay by the British and American traders\\nand Port San duintin, an excellent harbor, with fresh water near it, in lat-\\nitude of 30 degrees 20 minutes, called by the old Spanish navigators the\\nPort of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, which was rediscovered in 1800 by\\nCaptain O Kean, a fur-trader from Boston. At the distance of a hundred\\nand twenty miles from this coast, under the parallel of 28 degrees 45.\\nminutes, is the small, rocky island of Guadelupe, the existence of which,\\nafter it had been denied by many navigators, has been ascertained.\\nNorthward from the peninsula, the great westernmost chain of moun-\\ntains continues nearly parallel with the Pacific coast, to the 34th degree\\nof latitude, under which rises Mount San Bernardin, one of the highest\\npeaks in California, about forty miles from the ocean. Farther north,\\nthe coast turns more to the west, and the space between it and the sum-\\nmit line of the mountains becomes wider, so as to exceed eighty miles in\\nsome places; the intermediate region being traversed by lines of hills, or\\nsmaller mountains, connected with the main range. The principal of\\nthese inferior ridges extends from Mount San Bernardin north-westward\\nto its termination on the south side of the entrance of the great Bay of", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "16 GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.\\nSan Francisco, near the 33th degree of latitude, where it is called the\\nSan Bruno Mountains. Between this range and the coast run the\\nSanta Barbara Mountains, terminating in the north at the Cape of\\nPines, on the south-west side of the Bay of Monterey, near the latitude\\nof 36i degrees.\\nNorth of the San Bruno Mountains is the Bolbones ridge, bordering\\nthe Bay of San Francisco on the east; and still farther in the same\\ndirection are other and much higher lines of highlands, stretching from\\nthe great chain, and terminating in capes on the Pacific.\\nThe southernmost of these regions of continental California, between\\nthe Pacific and the great westernmost chain of mountains, resembles the\\nadjacent portion of the peninsula in climate being very hot and dry,\\nexcept during a short time in the winter. Farther north, the wet season\\nincreases in length, and about the Bay of San Francisco the rains are\\nalmost constant from November to April, the earth being moistened dur-\\ning the remainder of the year by heavy dews and fogs. Snow and ice are\\nsometimes seen in the winter on the shores of this bay, but never farther\\nsouth, except on the mountain-tops. The whole of California is, however,\\nsubject to long droughts thus little or no rain fell in any part of the\\ncountry during 1840 and 1841, in which years the inhabitants were\\nreduced to the greatest distress.\\nAmong the valleys in this part of California are many streams, some\\nof which discharge large quantities of water in the rainy season; but no\\nriver is known to flow through the maritime ridge of mountains from the\\ninterior to the Pacific, except perhaps the Sacramento, falling into the\\nBay of San Francisco, though several are thus represented on the maps.\\nThe valleys thus watered afford abundant pasturage for cattle, with which\\nthey are covered: California, however, contains but two tracts of country\\ncapable of supporting large numbers of inhabitants, which are, that west\\nof Mount San Bernardin, about the 34th degree of latitude, and that sur-\\nrounding the Bay of San Francisco and the lower part of the Sacramento;\\nand even in these, artificial irrigation would be indispensable to insure\\nsuccess in agriculture.\\nThe earliest settlements in continental California were made by the\\nSpaniards, in 1769, immediately after the expulsion of the Jesuits from the\\npeninsula. These establishments were at first missionary and military\\nthe charge of converting the natives being committed to the Franciscans,\\nwhile forts and garrisons were placed at various points, for the occupation\\nand defence of the country. Towns were subsequently laid out and\\nsettled, and farms were cultivated, for the most part by natives, under the\\ndirection of the friars and officers. All these establishments declined\\nconsiderably after the overthrow of the Spanish power, in consequence of\\nwant of funds, and the diminution of the authority of the priesthood; but,\\non the other hand, the commerce of the country has increased, and many\\nvessels, principally from the United States, resort to its ports, bringing\\nmanufactured articles, in return for which they receive hides, tallow,\\nand other raw productions. In 1835, the number of missions was twenty-\\none, and of the towns seven, to which were attached about twenty-three\\nthousand persons, mostly of the pure aboriginal race, and many of mixed\\nbreed. Since that time several missions have been abandoned, while the\\ntowns have increased in number and population.\\nThe most southern settlement on the Pacific side of California, and the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA. 17\\nfirst established by the Spaniards, is San Diego, a small town of three hun-\\ndred inhabitants, situated about a mile from the north shore of a bay which\\ncommunicates with the ocean, in the latitude of 32 degrees 41 minutes.\\nThe bay runs about ten miles eastward into the land, being separated from\\nthe ocean, in its whole length, by a ridge of sand, and affords entrance to\\nvessels of any size, which may anchor safe from all winds within a mile\\nof the northern shore. The passage leading into it is defended by for-\\ntifications which, if properly armed and manned, might render the harbor\\ncompletely secure from all attacks by sea. The mission stands .about\\nseven miles from the town, in a valley, through which a torrent rushes in\\nthe rainy season. About sixty miles farther north-west is San Juan, a small\\nplace on an unsafe and inconvenient harbor, in latitude of 33 degrees 27\\nminutes; and somewhat farther in the same direction is San Pedro, on a\\nbay open to the south-west winds, but sheltered from the north-west. The\\ncountry in the immediate vicinity of these places is sandy and barren,\\nyielding little besides grass for cattle; in the interior, however, on the\\nnorth-east, is the wide tract already mentioned, extending to Mount San\\nBernardin, which is said to be of great fertility wherever it is properly\\nirrigated, producing wheat, vines, olives, and fruits of various kinds. In\\nthis tract, at the distance of thirty miles north from San Pedro, stands\\nPueblo de los Angeles, the largest town in California, containing a thou-\\nsand inhabitants and near it the mission of San Gabriel, the vineyards\\nof which formerly yielded a large supply of good wine.\\nFrom Port San Pedro the Californian coast runs westward, more than a\\nhundred miles, to Cape Conception, a point situated in latitude of 34 de-\\ngrees 22 minutes, as much dreaded by navigators, on account of the\\nviolence and frequency of the storms in its vicinity, as Cape Hatteras,\\nnear the same parallel on the eastern side of the continent. Opposite this\\npart of the coast are the Islands of Santa Barbara, eight in number, of\\nwhich four, called Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina, and San\\nClemente, contain from twenty to fifty square miles of surface each the\\nothers being mere rocks. Between the Island of Santa Cruz and the\\nmain land on the north is the channel of Santa Barbara, on the north\\nside of which, the town, fort, and mission of Santa Barbara are situated,\\nin a sandy plain, stretching from the coast to the Santa Barbara range of\\nmountains. The harbor is an open roadstead, sheltered from the north\\nand west winds, which there prevail from November to March, but\\naffording no protection against the south-westerly storms, which are so vio-\\nlent and frequent during the remainder of the year.\\nAt the distance of a hundred miles north of Cape Conception, the Santa\\nBarbara Mountains end, as already said, in a point called the Cape of\\nPines, (Punta de Pinos,) in latitude of 36 degrees 37 minutes; between\\nwhich and another point, twenty-four miles farther north, called Cape\\nNew Year, (Punta de Nuevo Ano,) is included the extensive Bay of Mon-\\nterey. This bay lies in an indentation of the coast, almost semi-circular;\\nits southernmost part is, however, separated from the ocean by the point\\nof land ending at the Cape of Pines, and thus forms a cove, near the\\nsouthernmost part of which stands the town of Monterey, or San Carlos\\nde Monterey, the seat of government of California. The town is a\\nwretched collection of mud-built houses, containing about two hundred\\ninhabitants; the castle, as it is termed, and the fort on the Cape of Pines,\\nare merely mud walls, behind which are a few old guns, all ineffective.\\n3", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "18 GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.\\nThe mission, situated three miles south of the town, in a valley, through\\nwhich runs the torrent of San Carmelo, embraces extensive buildings,\\nbut is in a ruinous state, and nearly deserted.\\nThe surrounding country possesses a good soil and a delightful cli-\\nmate, and might be rendered very productive by irrigation, for which two\\nsmall rivers, flowing from the mountains, offer abundant supplies of water\\nat all times it, however, remains uncultivated, and scarcely any article of\\nfood is obtained from it, except the meat of the cattle covering the valleys.\\nFrom.the eastern shore of the bay, a sandy plain extends eastward to the\\nfoot of the San Bruno Mountains, traversed by a river called the Buena-\\nventura, which is erroneously represented, on some maps, as flowing\\nthrough the great ridge from the interior countries. North of the bay, at\\na little distance from Cape New Year, is the mission of Santa Cruz, to\\nwhich vessels commonly resort for water and provisions; and farther in\\nthe interior, beyond the San Bruno range, is the town of Branciforte, one\\nof the largest in California.\\nThe next remarkable headland on the coast north of the Bay of Mon-\\nterey is that called Punta de los Reyes, or the Cape of Kings, composed of\\nhigh white cliffs, projecting into the Pacific, under the 38th degree of lat-\\nitude when seen from the north or the south, it presents the appearance\\nof an island, being connected with the main land on the east by low\\nground. A few miles south of this point are two clusters of rocky islets,\\ncalled Farellones, immediately east of which.\\nThe Bay of San Francisco joins the Pacific by a passage or channel\\ntwo miles wide, and three in length, under the parallel of 37 degrees\\n55 minutes, nearly in the same latitude with the entrance of Chesapeake\\nBay, and the Straits of Gibraltar. From this passage the bay extends\\nnorthward and southward, surrounded by ranges of high hills, and con-\\ntaining some of the most convenient, beautiful, and secure harbors, on\\nthe Pacific, and, indeed, in the world.\\nThe southern branch of the bay extends south-eastward about thirty miles,\\nterminating in that direction in a number of small arms, receiving streams\\nfrom the hills. Its average breadth is about twelve miles and it may be\\nconsidered as occupying the bottom, or northern extremity of a long\\nvalley, included between the San Bruno Mountains on the west and the\\nBolbones ridge on the east. Farther up this valley, in the south, are\\nthe large Lakes of Tule, which communicate with each other and with\\nthe bay during the rainy season, and are said to be surrounded by a\\ndelightful country, containing a numerous population of natives.\\nThe northern branch of the bay becomes contracted, near the entrance,\\ninto a strait, beyond which is a basin, ten miles in diameter, called the\\nBay of vSan Pablo. A second passage, called the Strait of Carquines,\\nconnects this basin with another, containing many islands, into which\\nempty the Sacramento, and one or two smaller streams. The Sacramento\\nrises among the mountains of the great westernmost chain, near the 41st\\ndegree of latitude, and is said to receive a branch flowing through those\\nmountains from the east. Thence it flows, in a very tortuous course, about\\nthree hundred miles, southward, to its entrance in the Bay of San Fran-\\ncisco, being navigable by small vessels to the distance of more than one\\nhundred miles from the bay. The lower part of the country traversed by\\nit is an alluvial plain, parts of which are prairies, while others are cov-\\nered with forests of noble trees, principally oaks, and the whole appears to", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA. 19\\nbe well adapted for the support of a large population. The other rivers\\nfallino into this basin are the San Joaquin from the south, and the Jesus\\nMaria from the north, both inconsiderable streams.\\nIn the country around this bay, settlements and cultivation have ad-\\nvanced more than in any other part of California. Near its southern ex-\\ntremity are the town of San Jose and the mission of Santa Clara, in a\\ndelightful region, producing grains and fruits of various kinds in pro-\\nfusion, and affording pasture to numerous herds of cattle. On the\\nnorthern branch are the missions of San Raefael, and San Francisco\\nSolano; and many small establishments for farming or grazing have been\\nformed at other points. The town, mission, and fort of San Francisco,\\nare all situated near the south side of the passage connecting the bay\\nwith the Pacific, on a plain at the termination of the San Bruno Moun-\\ntains. The principal anchorage for vessels is a cove a few miles south\\nof the entrance-passage, between the western shore of the bay and the\\nIsland of Yerba Buena, where a settlement has been commenced by the\\nEnglish and Americans, who conduct nearly all the trade of that part\\nof California.\\nNear Cape de los Reyes, on the north, is the entrance of the Bay of\\nBodega, which thence extends northward and southward, a few miles in\\neach direction. On the shore of the northern branch, the Russians, in\\nISI 2, formed an establishment, chiedy with the view of supplying their\\nsettlements farther north with grain and meat; and some years after-\\nwards, another, called Ross, was made by the same nation, on the coast\\nof the Pacific, thirty miles north of Bodega, in latitude of 38 degrees 33\\nminutes, near the mouth of a small stream, named by them the Slavinka\\nRoss. In 1838, each place contained a stockaded fort, enclosing maga-\\nzines and dwellings for the officers, and surrounded by other buildings,\\namong which were mills, shops for smiths and carpenters, and stables for\\ncattle and in the neighborhood of Bodega, farms were worked, from\\nwhich several thousand bushels of wheat, besides pease, and other\\nvegetables, butter, and cheese, were annually sent to the trading posts\\nin the north. These establishments proved constant sources of annoy-\\nance to the Spaniards, and to their Mexican successors, who did not,\\nhowever, venture to attempt to remove them by force; in 1841, they\\nwere abandoned by the Russians, who transferred all their interests in\\nthat quarter to a company or party composed of citizens of the United\\nStates, and others, equally determined to resist the authority of Mexico.\\nCape Mendocino, which appears to be the natural point of junction of\\nthe coasts of California and Oregon, is the most elevated land near the\\nPacific in that quarter. It consists of two high promontories, situated\\nabout ten miles apart, of which the southern and the most elevated is\\nsituated under the parallel of 40 degrees 19 minutes, nearly in the same\\nlatitude with Sandy Hook, at the entrance of the bay of New York\\nand is believed to be the western termination of the great chain of the\\nSnowy Mountains, which forms the southern barrier of the regions\\ndrained by the Columbia. This cape was formerly much dreaded by\\nthe Spanish navigators, on account of the storms usually prevailing in\\nits vicinity but, those fears having passed away, the cape has lost much\\nof the respect w ith which it was regarded by mariners.\\nThe interior of California, east of the mountains which border the\\ncoast, is imperfectly known. According to the vague reports of the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "20 GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.\\nCatholic missionaries and American traders, who have traversed it in\\nvarious directions, the northern portion is a wilderness of lofty mountains,\\napparently forming a continuous chain, from the range which borders the\\nPacific coast to the Rocky Mountains; and the southern division is a\\ndesert of sandy plains, and rocky hills, and lakes and marshes, having no\\noutlet to the sea. The heat of the sun in the plains is described, by all\\nwho have experienced it, as most intense and from their accounts it\\nseems to be certain that this region, with the exception, perhaps, of the\\nportion immediately adjacent to the Colorado River, must ever remain\\nuninhabited.\\nThe Colorado seems to be the only outlet of the waters of these terri-\\ntories. It is formed near the 41st degree of latitude, by the junction of\\nseveral streams, rising among the Rocky Mountains, of which the prin-\\ncipal are the Sids-kadee, or Green River, and the Sandy River thence\\nflowiiicr south-westward, it passes through a range of mountains where its\\ncourse is broken by numerous ledges of rocks, producing falls and rapids\\nafter which it receives the Nabaho, the Jaquesila, the Gila, and other large\\nstreams from the east, and enters the Gulf of California, under the parallel\\nof 32 degrees. The country in the vicinity of this river, for some distance\\nfrom its mouth, is flat, and is overflowed during the rainy season, when\\nthe quantity of water discharged is very great and high embankments\\nare thus made by the deposit of the mud on each side, similar to those on\\nthe Lower Mississippi. How far the Colorado may be ascended by vessels\\nfrom the gulf, is not known from some accounts, it seems to be navigable\\nfor three or four hundred miles; while, according to others, on which\\nmore reliance may be placed, obstacles to the passage of vessels occur\\nmuch nearer to the sea.\\nWest of the Colorado, between the 40th and the 42d degrees of lati-\\ntude, is a great collection of salt water, called the Utah Lake, probably\\nthe same which appears on the old Spanish maps, under the names of\\nLake Timpanogos and Lake Tegayo. It is fed by several streams, the\\nprincipal of which is the Bear River, entering on the north-east, after a\\nlong and tortuous course through the mountains. Near the northern-\\nmost part of this river is an extensive plain of white calcareous earth, on\\nthe borders of which are several springs of water, called the Soda or\\nBeer Springs, highly charged with carbonic acid gas, and one, the temper-\\nature of which is but little below the boiling point.\\nAround the Utah Lake are other collections of water, some salt, and\\nhaving no outlet others fresh, and communicating either with the great\\nlake, or with the Colorado. The principal of these is Ashley s Lake,\\nsituated about a hundred miles south of the Utah Lake, on the bunks of\\nwhich a fur-trading establishment, called Fort Ashley, was founded by the\\nAmericans, in 1827; but it has since been abandoned.\\nHaving thus presented the most remarkable features of California,\\nthose of Oregon, or the country of the Columbia next adjoining on the\\nnorth, will be described.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "ORE GON.\\nOregon is the name usually applied to the part of the western section\\nof America, which is traversed and principally drained by the Columbia\\nfrom the supposition, no doubt erroneous, that this river was called\\nOregon by the aborigines in its vicinity.\\nThe political boundaries of Oregon have not as yet been fixed by\\nagreement between the parties claiming possession of it. The govern-\\nment of the United States considers them as embracing the whole territory\\nwest of the Rocky Mountains, from the latitude of 42 degrees to that of\\n54 degrees 40 minutes the British have, however, refused to acknowl-\\nedge the right of the Americans to any portion north of the Columbia\\nRiver. Leaving this political question to be determined hereafter, a view\\nwill first be presented of\\nTHE COUNTRY OF THE COLUMBIA.\\nThis country extends on the Pacific from the vicinity of Cape Mendo-\\ncino, five hundred miles, to Cape Flattery, at the entrance of the Strait of\\nFuca from the eastern extremity of which strait, distant one hundred\\nmiles from the ocean, a range of mountains stretches north-eastward,\\nabout four hundred miles, to the Rocky Mountains, near the 54th degree\\nof latitude, separating the waters of the Columbia from those of Frazer s\\nRiver. The Rocky Mountains form the eastern boundary of the Colum-\\nbia regions, for about twelve hundred miles, from the 54th to the 42d\\nparallels and those regions are separated from California, on the south,\\nby the Snowy Mountains, which appear to extend continuously from\\nthe Rocky Mountains, nearly in the course of the 41st parallel, about\\nseven hundred miles westward, to the vicinity of the Pacific. It is not easy\\nto define these boundaries more exactly, as the directions of the mountain\\nchains are not accurately ascertained. The territory included within these\\nlimits, and drained almost entirely by the Columbia, is not less than four\\nhundred thousand square miles in superficial extent; which is more than\\ndouble that of France, and nearly half that of all the states of the Federal\\nUnion. Its southernmost points are in the same latitudes with Boston\\nand with Florence while its northernmost correspond with the north-\\nern extremities of Newfoundland, and with the southern shores of the\\nBaltic Sea.\\nThe Pacific coast of this territory extends in a line nearly due north\\nfrom Cape Mendocino to Cape Flattery; in which whole distance there is\\nbut one harbor, or place of refuge for ships, namely, the mouth of the\\nColumbia River, near the 4Gth degree of latitude, and that harbor is very\\nfrequently inaccessible.\\nThe shores south of the Columbia are most perilous to navigators at all\\ntimes as they are every where steep and rocky, and bordered by shoals", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "22 GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON.\\nand reefs, on which the waves of the Pacific are driven with fury by the\\nprevailing north-west winds. Vessels not drawing more than eight feet\\nmay, however, enter the Umqua, a small stream falling into the Pacific,\\nin the latitude of 42 degrees 51 minutes, immediately north of a remark-\\nable promontory called Cape Orford, probably the Cape Blanco of the old\\nSpanish navigators. Small vessels may also find anchorage in a cove or\\nrecess of the coast, named by the Spaniards Port Trinidad, under the\\nparallel of 41 degrees 3 minutes, about forty miles north of Cape Mendo-\\ncino, and in some other spots; but no place on this coast can be said to\\noffer protection to vessels against winds or waves.\\nNorth of the Columbia, the coast is less beset by dangers and it offers,\\nimmediately under the 47th parallel, one good port, for small vessels,\\nwhich was discovered in May, 1792, by Captain Gray, of Boston, and\\nnamed by him Bulfincli s Harbor, though it is more commonly called\\nGray s Harbor, and is frequently represented on English maps as Whid-\\nbey s Bay. The only other spot worthy of particular notice on this part\\nof the coast is Destruction Island, near the continent, in latitude of 47^\\ndegrees, so called by the captain of an Austrian trading ship in 1787,\\nin consequence of the murder of some of his men by the natives of\\nthe adjacent country.\\nThe Strait of Fuca is an arm of the sea separating a great island from\\nthe continent on the south and east, to which much interest was for some\\ntime attached, from the supposition that it might be a channel connecting\\nthe Atlantic with the Pacific north of America. It extends from the\\nocean eastward about one hundred miles, varying in breadth from ten to\\nthirty miles, between the 48th and the 49th parallels of latitude thence\\nit turns to the north-west, in which direction it runs, first expanding into\\na long, wide bay, and then contracting into narrow and intricate passages\\namong islands, three hundred miles farther, to its reunion with the Pacific,\\nunder tlie 51st parallel. From its south-eastern extremity, a great gulf,\\ncalled Admiralty Inlet, stretches southward into the continent more than\\none hundred miles, dividing into many branches, of which the principal\\nare Hood s Canal, on the west, and Puget s Sound, the southernmost,\\nextending nearly to the 47th parallel. This inlet possesses many excel-\\nlent harbors; and the country adjacent, being delightful and productive,\\nwill, there is every reason to believe, in time become valuable, agricul-\\nturally, as well as commercially. There are many other harbors on the\\nStrait of Fuca, of which the principal are Port Discovery, near the\\nentrance of Admiralty Inlet, said by Vancouver to be one of the best in\\nthe Pacific, and Poverty Cove, called Port Nunez Gaona by the Span-\\niards, situated a few miles east of Cape Flattery. That cape, so named\\nby Cook, is a conspicuous promontory in the latitude of 48 degrees 27\\nminutes, near which is a large rock, called Tatooche s Island, united to the\\npromontory by a rocky ledge, at times partially covered by water. The\\nshore between the cape and Admiralty Inlet is composed of sandy cliffs\\noverhanging a beach of sand and stones from it the land gradually rises\\nto a chain of mountains, stretching southwardly along the Pacific to the\\nvicinity of the Columbia, the highest point of which received, in 1788, the\\nname of Mount Olympus.\\nThe interior of this part of America is, as already said, traversed by\\nmany great ranges of mountains, running generally almost parallel with\\neach other, and with the coast before describing them, however, it will", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON. 23\\nbe convenient to present a general view of the Columbia River and its\\nbranches.\\nThe Columbia enters the Pacific Ocean between two points of land,\\nseven miles apart Cape Disappointment on the north, and Cape Adams\\non the south, of which the former is in the latitude of 46 degrees 19\\nminutes, (corresponding nearly with Quebec, in Canada, and Geneva, in\\nSwitzerland,) and in longitude of 47 degrees west from Washington, or\\n124 degrees west from Greenwich. The main river is formed, at the\\ndistance of two hundred and fifty miles from its mouth, by the union of\\ntwo large streams, one from the north, which is usually considered as the\\nprincipal branch, and the other, called the Sahaptin, or Snake, or Lewis s\\nRiver, from the south-east. JMiese two great confluents receive, in their\\ncourse, many other streams, and they thus collect together all the waters\\nflowing from the western sides of the Rocky Mountains, between the 42d\\nand the 54th parallels of latitude.\\nThe northern branch of the Columbia rises in the Rocky Mountains,\\nnear the 53d degree of latitude. One of its head-waters, the Canoe\\nRiver, runs from a small lake, situated in a remarkable cleft of the great\\nchain, called the Punch Bowl, at the distance of only a few feet from\\nanother lake, whence flows the westernmost stream of the Athabasca\\nRiver, a tributary to the Mackenzie, emptying into the Arctic Sea. This\\ncleft appears to be the only practicable pass in the mountains north of the\\n49th degree of latitude, and through it is conducted all the trade of\\nBritish subjects between the territories on either side of the ridge. It ia\\ndescribed, by those who have visited it, as presenting scenes of the most\\nterrific grandeur, being overhung by the highest peaks in the dividing\\nrange, of which one, called Mount Brown, is not less than sixteen thousand\\nfeet, and another. Mount Hooker, exceeds fifteen thousand feet, above the\\nocean level.\\nAt a place called Boat Encampment, near the 52d degree of latitude.\\nCanoe River joins two other streams, the one from the north, the other,\\nthe largest of the three, running along the base of the Rocky Mountains,\\nfrom the south. The river thus formed, considered as the main Colum-\\nbia, takes its course nearly due south, through defiles, between lofty\\nmountains, being generally a third of a mile in width, but, in some\\nplaces, spreading out into broad lakes, for about three hundred miles, to the\\nlatitude of 48i degrees, where it receives the Flatbow or M Gillivray s\\nRiver, a large branch, flowing, also, from the Rocky Mountains on the\\neast. A little farther south, the northern branch unites with the Clarke\\nor Flathead River scarcely inferior, in the quantity of water supplied, to\\nthe other. The sources of the Clarke are situated in the dividing rano-e,\\nnear those of the Missouri and the Yellowstone, whence it runs north-\\nward, along the base of the mountains, and then westward, forming, under\\nthe 48th parallel, an extensive sheet of water, called the KullerspelmLake,\\nsurrounded by rich tracts of land, and lofty mountains, covered with noble\\ntrees; from this lake the river issues, a large and rapid stream, and, after\\nrunning about seventy miles westward, it fails into the north branch of\\nthe Columbia, over a ledge of rocks. From the point of union of these\\ntwo rivers, the Columbia turns towards the west, and rushes through a\\nridge of mountains, where it forms a cataract called the Chaudiere or\\nKettle Falls. Continuing in the same direction eighty miles, between the\\n48th and the 49th parallels, it receives, in succession, the Spokan from", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "24 GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON.\\nthe south, and the Okinagan from the north, and, from the mouth of the\\nlatter, it pursues a southward course for one hundred and sixty miles, to\\nits junction with the great southern branch, near the 47th degree of\\nlatitude.\\nOf the Sahaptin, or Lewis, or Snake River, the great southern branch\\nof the Columbia, the farthermost sources are situated in the deep valleys\\nor holes of the Rocky Mountains, near the 42d degree of latitude, within\\nshort distances of those of the Yellowstone, the Platte, and the Colorado.\\nThe most eastern of these head-waters, considered as the main river,\\nissues from Pierre s Hole, between the Rocky Mountains and a parallel\\nrange called the Tetons, from three remarkable peaks, resembling teats,\\nwhich rise to a great height above the others. Running westward, this\\nstream unites successively with Henry s Fork from the north, and the\\nPortneuf from the south. Some distance below its junction with the\\nlatter, the Lewis enters the defile between the Blue Mountains on the\\nwest, and another rocky chain, called the Salmon River Mountains, on the\\neast, and takes its course north-westward, for about six hundred miles, to\\nits union with the northern branch, receiving many large streams from\\neach side. The principal of these influent streams are the Malade or\\nSickly River, the Boise or Reed s River, the Salmon River, and the\\nKooskooskee, from the east, and the Malheur and Powder River, from the\\nBlue Mountains, on the west.\\nOf these two great branches of the Columbia, and the streams which\\nfall into them, scarcely any portion is navigable by the smallest vessels for\\nmore than thirty or forty miles continuously. The northern branch is\\nmuch used by the British traders for the conveyance of their furs and\\nmerchandise, by means of light canoes, which, as well as their cargoes,\\nare carried by the boatmen around the falls and rapids so frequently inter-\\nrupting their voyage. The Lewis River and its streams offer kw ad-\\nvantages in this way as they nearly all rush, in their whole course, through\\ndeep and narrow chasms, between perpendicular rocks, against which a\\nboat would be momentarily in danger of being dashed by the current.\\nFrom the point of junction of these two great branches, the course of\\nthe Columbia is generally westward to the ocean. A little below that\\npoint, it receives the Walla-Walla, and then, in succession, the Umatalla,\\nJohn Day s River, and the Chutes or Falls River, all flowing from the\\nsouth, and some others, of less size, from the north. Near the mouth of\\nthe Falls River, eighty miles below the Walla-Walla, are situated the\\nFalls, or Chutes, as they are called, of the Columbia, where the great\\nstream enters a gap in the Far-West range of mountains. Four miles\\nfarther down are the Dalles, or rapids formed by the passage, of the\\nwaters between vast masses of rock and thirty miles below these are the\\nCascades, a series of falls and rapids extending more than half a mile,\\nat the foot of which the tides are observable at the distance of a hundred\\nand twenty miles from the Pacific.\\nA few miles below the Cascades, a large river, called the Willamet,\\n(the Multonomah of Lewis and Clarke,) enters the Columbia from the\\nsouth, by two branches, between which is an extensive island, named\\nWappatoo Island, from an edible root, so called, found growing in abun-\\ndance upon it. Twenty-five miles from the mouth of this river are its\\nfalls, where all its waters are precipitated over a ledge of rocks more\\nthan forty feet in height. Beyond this point, the Willamet has been", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON. ii5\\ntraced about two hundred miles, in a tortuous course, through a narrow\\nbut generally fertile valley, to its sources in the Far-West chain of\\nmountains, near the 43d degree of latitude. In this valley were formed\\nthe earliest agricultural settlements by citizens of the United States west\\nof the Rocky Mountains and, from all accounts, it appears to present\\ngreater advantages of soil and climate than any other part of the country\\ndrained by the Columbia.\\nDescending the Columbia forty miles from the lower mouth of the Wil-\\nlamet, we find a small stream, called the Cowelitz, entering it from the\\nnorth and, thirty miles lower down, the great river, which is nowhere\\nabove more than a mile wide, expands to the breadth of four, and, in\\nsome places, of seven, miles, before mingling its waters with those of the\\nPacific it, however, preserves its character as a river, being rapid in its\\ncurrent, and perfectly fresh and potable, to within a league of the ocean,\\nexcept during very dry seasons and the prevalence of violent westerly\\nwinds.\\nThe Columbia may generally be ascended, by ships of three or four\\nhundred tons, nearly to the foot of its cascades the navigation, especially\\nof the lower part, is, however, at all times, diflicult and dangerous, in\\nconsequence of the number and the variability of the shoals; and it is\\nonly in fine weather that vessels can with safety enter or leave its mouth,\\nwhicli is guarded by a line of breakers, extending across from each of the\\ncapes.\\nThe other rivers which drain the parts of this territory near the sea\\nare numerous, but generally small, the majority being merely brooks,\\nwhich disappear during the dry season. The Umqua, near the 43d degree\\nof latitude, and the Chekelis, which empties into Bulfinch s Harbor, are\\nthe principal of those streams; but neither of them offers any facilities for\\ncommercial communication.\\nOf the chains of mountains traversing Oregon from north to south,\\nthe most remarkable is the westernmost, for which the name of Far-West\\nMountains has been here proposed, running northward from California\\nat the distance of eighty or a hundred miles from the Pacific coast.\\nUnder the 49th parallel, where the base of the chain is washed by the\\neasternmost waters of the Strait of Fuca, it is divided into three\\ndistinct ridges, one of which stretches north-east, to the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, separating the waters of the Columbia from those of Fraser s\\nRiver another overhangs the sea-coast north-westward and the islands of\\nthe North-West Archipelago, which mask the shore of the continent from the\\n49th to the 5Sth parallels, may be considered as a third ridge, extending\\nthrough the sea. The principal peaks of this chain, in Oregon, are Mount\\nBaker, near the 49th parallel. Mount Rainier, under the 47th, and Mount\\nSt. Helen s, the highest of the range, which rises, probably, not less than\\nfifteen thousand feet above the ocean level, due east of the mouth of the\\nColumbia. South of that river are Mount Hood, near the 45th parallel\\nMount Jeiferson, so named by Lewis and Clarke, under the 44th Mount\\nShasty, near the 43d and Mount Jackson, a stupendous pinnacle, in the\\nlatitude of 41 degrees 40 minutes, which has been also called Mount Pitt\\nby the British traders. Some of these peaks are visible from the ocean,\\nparticularly Mount St. Helen s, which serves as a mark for vessels entering\\nthe Columbia when seen from the highlands farther east, they present\\none of the grandest spectacles in nature. This chain is entirely of vol-\\n4", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "26 GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON.\\ncanic formation and it must contain active volcanoes, as there are no\\nother means of accounting for the showers of ashes which occasionally\\nfall in many parts of Oregon, particularly in the vicinity of Mount St.\\nHelen s. The latest of these supposed eruptions took place in 1834.\\nThe country between the Pacific coast and this westernmost chain\\nconsists, like the part of California similarly situated, of ranges of lower\\nmountains, separated by narrow valleys, generally running parallel to the\\ngreat chain, and to the coast. Its superficial extent may be estimated at\\nabout forty-five thousand square miles,* of which a small proportion only,\\nnot exceeding an eighth, is fit for cultivation. The climate, like that of\\nCalifornia, is warm and dry in summer very little rain falling between\\nApril and November, though it is violent, and almost constant, during the\\nremainder of the year. Snow is rarely seen in the valleys, in which the\\nground frequently continues soft and unfrozen throughout the winter.\\nThe soil, in some of these valleys, is said to be excellent for wheat, rye,\\noats, peas, potatoes, and apples fifteen bushels of wheat being sometimes\\nyielded by a single acre. Indian corn, which requires both heat and\\nmoisture, does not succeed in any part of Oregon. Hogs live and mul-\\ntiply in the woods, where an abundance of acorns is to be found the\\ncattle also increase, and it is not generally necessary for them to be\\nhoused or fed in the winter. The hills and the flanks of the great moun-\\ntains are covered with timber, which grows to an immense size. A fir,\\nnear Astoria, measured forty-six feet in circumference at ten feet from the\\nearth the length of its trunk, before giving off a branch, was one hun-\\ndred and fifty-three feet, and its whole height not less than three hundred\\nfeet. Another tree, of the same species, on the banks of the Umqua\\nRiver, is fifty-seven feet in girth of trunk, and two hundred and sixteen\\nfeet in length below its branches. Prime sound pines, says Cox,\\nfrom two hundred to two hundred and eighty feet in height, and from\\ntwenty to forty feet in circumference, are by no means uncommon. The\\nland on which these large trees grow is good but the labor of clearing\\nit would be such as to prevent any one from undertaking the task, until\\nall the other spots, capable of cultivation, should have been occupied.\\nFrom the peculiarities of climate above mentioned, it is probable that this\\ncountry cannot be rendered very productive without artificial irrigation,\\nwhich appears to be practicable only in a few places and that conse-\\nquently the progress of settlement in it will be much slower than in the\\nAtlantic regions of the continent, where this want of moisture does not\\nexist.\\nAbout one hundred and fifty miles east of the Far-West Mountains is\\nanother chain, called the Blue Mountains, stretching from the Snowy\\nMountains northward to the 47th degree of latitude, and forming the\\nThe Strait of Fuea, which bounds this region on the north, is in latitude of 48^\\ndegrees and, assuming the 42d parallel as the southern limit of the territory, its\\nextreme length is 6;^ degrees, or less than four hundred and fifty miles English. Its\\nbreadth that is, the distance between the Pacific shore and the great chain of\\nmountains which forms the eastern boundary of this region does not average\\na hundred miles and, by multiplying these two numbers, forty-five thousand square\\nEnglish miles appears as the superficial extent of the westernmost region of Oregon.\\nIt has, however, been gravely asserted and repeated on the floor of the Congress of\\nthe United States, that the valley of the Willamet, which is but an inconsiderable\\nportion of this region, contains not less than sixty thousand square miles of the finest\\nLand and many other assertions, equally extravagant, have been made, and are be-\\nlieved, respecting the vast extent of land in the country of the Columbia, superior in\\nquality to any in the United States.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON. 27\\nwestern wall of the valley of the Lewis, the great southern branch of the\\nColumbia. North of the 47th degree are other ridges, which appear\\nto be continuations of the Blue Mountains but they are less dehned,\\nand are distinguished by other names. The region between the Blue and\\nthe Far-West Mountains embraces several tracts of country comparatively\\nlevel, and some valleys wider than those of the Pacific region the soil is,\\nhowever, less productive, and the climate less favorable for agriculture,\\nthan in the places similarly situated nearer the ocean. The most exten-\\nsive valleys are those traversed by the streams flowing into the Columbia\\nfrom the south, between the Far-West range and the Blue Mountains,\\nparticularly the Walla-Walla, and the Falls or Chutes Rivers: the plains,\\nas they are called, though they are rather tracts of undulating country,\\nare on both sides of the northern branch of the Columbia, between the\\n46th and the 49th parallels of latitude. The surface of the plains consists\\ngenerally of a yellow, sandy clay, covered with grass, small shrubs, and\\nprickly pears in the valleys farther south, the soil is somewhat better,\\ncontaining less of sand and more of vegetable mould, and they give sup-\\nport to a few trees, chiefly sumach, cotton-wood, and other soft and use-\\nless woods. The climate of this whole region is more dry than that of\\nthe country nearer the Pacific the days are warm, and the nights cool\\nbut the want of moisture in the air prevents the contrast of temperature\\nfrom being injurious to health, and the country is represented, by all who\\nhave had the opportunity of judging by experience, as being of extraordi-\\nnary salubrity. The wet season extends from November to April but\\nthe rains are neither frequent nor abundant, and they never occur at any\\nother period of the year. In the southern valleys there is little snow\\nfarther north it is more common, but it seldom lies long, except on the\\nheights. Under such circumstances, it will be seen that little encourage-\\nment is offered for the cultivation of this part of Oregon. On the other\\nhand, the plains and valleys appear to be admirably adapted for the\\nsupport of cattle, as grass, either green or dry, may be found at all times,\\nwithin a short distance, on the bottom lands or on the hill sides. The\\nwant of wood must also prove a great obstacle to settlement, as this indis-\\npensable article can only be procured from a great distance up the north\\nbranch of the Columbia, or from the Pacific region, with which the\\npassages of communication through the mountains are few and difficult.\\nThe country farther east, between the Blue Mountains and the Rocky\\nMountains, appears to be, except in a very few small detached spots, ab-\\nsolutely uninhabitable by those who depend on agriculture for subsistence.\\nIt is, in fact, a collection of bare, rocky mountain chains, separated by\\ndeep gorges, through which flow the streams produced by the melting of\\nthe snows on the summits; for in the lower grounds rain seldom falls at\\nany time. On the borders of the Lewis, and of some of the streams\\nfalling into it, are valleys and prairies, producing grass for cattle but all\\nthe attempts to cultivate the esculent vegetables have failed, chiefly, as it\\nis believed, from the great difference in the temperature between the day\\nand the succeeding night, especially in the summer, which is commonly\\nnot less than thirty, and often exceeds fifty, degrees of Fahrenheit s ther-\\nmometer.* North of the 48th parallel, the climate is less dry, and the\\nThe thermometer was seen by Wyeth, at Fort Hall, on the Lewis, near the 43d\\nparallel of latitude, at the freezing point in the morning, and at ninety-two degrees of\\nFahrenheit, in tiie middle of a day in August. Frosts occur at this place in nearly\\nevery montli in the year.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "28 GEOGKAPHY OF OKEGON.\\nbases of the mountains are covered with wood; but the temperature in\\nmost places is too cold for the production of any of the useful grains or\\ngarden vegetables. The parts of this region which appear to be the most\\nfavorable for agriculture, are those adjacent to the Clarke River, and\\nparticularly around the Kullerspelm, or Flathead Lake, where the hills\\nare well clothed with oaks, elms, cedars, and pines, and the soil of the\\nlow grounds is of good quality.\\nNew Caledonia is the name given by the British traders to the country\\nextending north and west of the Columbia regions, to the 56th parallel of\\nlatitude. It is a sterile land of snow-clad mountains, tortuous rivers, and\\nlakes frozen over nearly two thirds of the year presenting scarcely a\\nsingle spot in which any of the vegetables used as food by civilized people\\ncan be produced. The waters, like those of the country farther south,\\nhowever, abound in fish, which, with berries, form the principal support\\nof the native population. The largest lakes are the Babine, comnmni-\\ncating with the ocean by Simpson s River, and Stuart s, Q,uesnel s, and\\nEraser s Lakes, the outlet of all which is Eraser s River, a long but shal-\\nlow stream, emptying into the Strait of Fuca at its eastern extremity.\\nThe coast of this country is very irregular in outline, being penetrated by\\nmany bays and inlets, running up from the sea among the mountains\\nwhich border that side of the continent between it and the open Pa-\\ncific lie the islands of the North-West Archipelago, which will be here\\ndescribed.\\nThe North-West Archipelago is a remarkable collection of islands,\\nsituated in, and nearly filling a recess of the American coast, about seven\\nhundred miles in length, and eighty or one hundred in breadth, which ex-\\ntends between the 48th and the 5Sth parallels of latitude; that is to say,\\nbetween the same parallels as Great Britain. These islands are in number\\nmany thousands, presenting together a surface of not less than fifty thou-\\nsand square miles; they are, however, with the exception of nine or ten,\\nvery small, and the greater part of them are mere rocks. The largest\\nislands are all traversed, in their longest direction, from south-east to north-\\nwest, by mountain ridges; and the whole archipelago may be considered\\nas a range connecting the Far-West mountains of Oregon with the great\\nchain farther north, of which Mounts Fairweather and St. Elias are the\\nmost prominent peaks.\\nThe coasts of these islands are, like those of the continent in their\\nvicinity, very irregular in outline, including numerous bays and inlets\\nand the channels between them are, with one exception, narrow and\\ntortuous. These coasts and channels were minutely surveyed, during the\\nperiod from 1785 to 1795, by navigators of various nations, chiefly with\\nthe view of discovering some northern passage of communication between\\nthe Pacific and the Atlantic and the true geographical character of the\\nislands, which had previously been regarded as parts of the continent,\\nwas thus ascertained. The British, under Vancouver, made the most\\ncomplete examination of the archipelago, and bestowed on the islands,\\nchannels, capes, and bays, a number of names, nearly all drawn from the\\nlists of the British royal family, peerage, and parliament, some of which\\nstill retain their places on maps, though few of them will probably be used\\nwhen those parts of America are occupied by a civilized population.\\nOf the interior of the islands little is known but from all accounts,\\nthey are generally rocky and barren. The climate of the southernmost", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON. 29\\nislands appears to resemble that of the western region of Oregon, except\\nthat it is less dry in summer farther north, the rainy season increases in\\nlength, but the accompanying increase in the coldness of the atmosphere\\nneutralizes any advantages for cultivation which might be derived from\\nthe more constant supply of moisture. Wood, however, seems to be\\nevery where abundant near the coasts and this may prove important, as\\nthe channels of the archipelago offer great facilities for communication\\nby steam vessels.\\nIt has been already said that Russia claims all the coasts and islands\\nnorth of the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes. The islands south of that\\nline which are here considered as attached to Oregon, lie in three groups.\\nThe southernmost group embraces one large island and an infinite\\nnumber of smaller ones, extending from the 49th parallel to the 51st, and\\nseparated from the continent, on the south and east, by the channel called\\nthe Strait of Fuca. The main island received, in 1792, the long and\\ninconvenient appellation of Island of Quadra and Vancouver, in virtue of a\\ncompromise between a British and a Sjjanish commander, each claim-\\ning the merit of having ascertained its insulation. It is the largest in\\nthe archipelago, and, indeed, on the whole west coast of America, being\\nabout two hundred and fifty miles in length, by an average breadth of\\nforty-five miles. On its south-western side are several large bays contain-\\ning islands, among which are some good ports, formerly much frequented\\nby fur traders. The principal of these places is Nootka or King George s\\nSound, opening to the Pacific in the latitude of 49^ degrees, between\\nWoody Point, on the north, and Point Breakers, on the south; and offer-\\ning a safe harbor for vessels in Friendly Cove, about eight miles from the\\nocean. Near Nootka, on the west, is another bay, called Clyoquot; far-\\nther in the same direction, at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, is Nitti-\\nnat; and within the strait are several other harbors, generally protected\\nby small islands. Nootka Sound was, in 1789, the scene of occurrences\\nwhich gave to it much celebrity, as they first rendered the north-west\\ncoasts of America the subject of dispute and convention between the\\ngovernments of European nations.\\nOueen Charlotte s Island, so called by the British, or Washington s\\nIsland, as it was named by the Americans in 1789, forms the centre of\\nanother group, situated between the latitudes of 52 and 54 degrees, at a\\nconsiderable distance from the continent. The principal island is of tri-\\nangular form, and is rather smaller in superficial extent than the Island\\nof Q,uadra and Vancouver, though larger than any other in the archipelago.\\nIts north-western extremity received from the Spanish navigator Perez,\\nwho discovered it in 1774, the name of Cape Santa Margarita, but is\\nnow generally known as Cape North; the north-east end was called by\\nthe Americans Sandy Point, and afterward, by the Spaniards, Cape Invisi-\\nble; the southern extremity is Cape St. James. The island presents a\\nnumber of bays, affording good harbors, which were first examined, sur-\\nveyed, and named, by the American fur traders and afterwards received\\nfrom British and Spanish navigators the appellations usually assigned to\\nthem on maps. The principal of these bays are, on the northern side,\\nHancock s River, the Port Estrada of the Spaniards, near Sandy Point,\\nand Craft s Sound, or Port Mazarredo, a little farther w^est on. the\\nPacific coast are Port Ingraham, near North Cape, and Magee s Sound,\\nin the latitude of 52i^ degrees; on the eastern side of the island are", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "30 GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON.\\nSkitikis, in latitude of 53 degrees 20 minutes, Cummashawa, a few miles\\nfarther south, and still farther in the same direction. Port Ucah and Port\\nSturges. Tlie country around some of these places, especially Hancock s\\nRiver and Magee s Sound, is described by the American fur traders as\\nfertile and beautiful, and enjoying a milder climate than any other parts\\nof the north-west coasts.\\nThe Princess Royal s, Burke s, and Pitt s Islands form a third division\\nof the North- West Archipelago, lying near to each other and to the con-\\ntinent, immediately east of Q,ueen Charlotte s Island. They are all small\\nand rocky, and nothing worthy of note appears in the accounts of them.\\nTo the aboriginal inhabitants of Oregon it would be inconsistent with\\nthe plan of this work to devote much attention. They are all savages;\\nand they make no figure in the history of the country, over the destinies\\nof which they have not exerted, and probably never will exert, any influ-\\nence. The principal tribes are the Clatsops and Chenooks, occupying\\nthe country on each side of the Columbia, near its mouth the Klamets\\nand Killamucks, of the Umqua; the Classets, on the Strait of Fuca;\\nthe Kootanies, and the Salish or Flatheads, of the country about the\\nnorthern branches of the Columbia, and the Shoshones, the Sahaptins\\nor Nez-perces, the Kayouses, Walla-Wallas, and Chopunnish, who rove\\nthrough the regions of the Lewis branch. These tribes differ in habits\\nand disposition only so far as they are affected by the mode of life which\\nthe nature of the country occupied by them respectively compels them to\\nadopt the people of the sea-coasts, who venture out upon the ocean, and\\nattack the whale, being generally much bolder and more ferocious than\\nthose of the middle country, who derive their subsistence by the quiet\\nand unexciting employments of fishing in the river and digging for roots.\\nAmong the peculiar habits of some of the tribes should be mentioned\\nthat of compressing the heads of their infants by boards and bandages, so\\nas materially to alter their shape which induced the discoverers of the\\ncountry to apply to those people the name of Flathead Indians. This\\ncustom appears to have prevailed chiefly among the tribes of the lower\\nColumbia, and but little among those dwelling on the northern branches\\nof the river, to whom the appellation of Flatheads is, however, at present\\nconfined. The Blackfeet, so much dreaded by travellers in the middle\\nregion, chiefly inhabit the country east of the Rocky Mountains, on the\\nYellowstone, and the Missouri above its falls, and annually make in-\\nroads upon the Shoshones and the Chopunnish, whom they rob of their\\nhorses, their only wealth. The principal tribes in the country north of the\\nColumbia regions, are the Chilcotins and the Talcotins, between whom\\nthe most deadly hostility subsists. The natives of the North-West Ar-\\nchipelago are the most cunning and ferocious of all these savages; par-\\nticularly those of the vicinity of Nootka, who appear also to be the most\\nintelligent. The number of the aborigines of all those territories cannot\\nbe ascertained, but it is supposed not to exceed thirty thousand, and is\\nevery where diminishing.\\nAmong these people, missionaries of various Christian sects have long\\nbeen laboring with assiduity, though, as it would seem, from all accounts,\\nwith little advatitage. The Roman Catholics have made the greatest\\nnumber of converts, if we assume the reception of baptism as the test\\nof conversion; whole tribes submitting at once, on the first summons, to\\nthe rite. The Methodists and Presbyterians employ themselves chiefly ia", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OP OREGON, 31\\nimparting a knowledge of tlie simplest and most nseful arts, and have\\nthus induced some of the natives to engage regularly in agricultural pur-\\nsuits; but the poverty of the soil generally renders their efforts in this\\nway unavailing. The last-mentioned missionaries also endeavor to con-\\nvey religious and literary instruction to the Indians through the medium\\nof their own languages, into which books have been translated and\\nprinted in the country. Perhaps it would be better to teach the natives\\nto speak and read English but the other system has been generally\\nadopted by American missionaries in all parts of the world.\\nThe civilized inhabitants of Oregon are, as already mentioned in the\\nGeneral View, either citizens of the IJnited States or servants of the\\nBritish Hudson s Bay Company the latter body enjoying, by special\\ngrant from the government, the use of all the territories claimed by Great\\nBritain west of the Rocky Mountains, as well as the protection of British\\nlaws, in virtue of an act of Parliament; whilst the citizens of the United/\\nStates remain independent of all authority and jurisdiction whatever.\\nThe establishments of the Hudson s Bay Company have been, until\\nrecently, devoted exclusively to the purposes of the fur trade: but, within\\na few years past, several farms have been laid out and worked, under the\\ndirection of the agents of the company and large quantities of timber\\nare cut, and salmon are taken and cured, for exportation to the Russian\\npossessions, to Mexico, and to the Sandwich Islands. The furs are ob-\\ntained partly by hunters and trappers, in the regular service of the com-\\npany, but chielly by trade with the Indians of tlie surrounding country\\nand they are transported from the different establishments in the interior,\\neither to Montreal or to York Factory on Hudson s Bay, or to Fort Van-\\ncouver on the Columbia, whence they are sent in the company s vessels\\nto London. The goods for the trade, and the supply of the establish-\\nments, are received in the same manner the interior transportation being\\nperformed almost entirely in boats, on the rivers and lakes, between\\nwhich the articles are carried on the backs of the voyagcurs or boatmen.\\nThe regular servants of the company, in the territories west of the Rocky\\nMountains, are, a chief factor, two chief traders, and about four hundred\\nclerks, traders, voi/oge2i7 s, c. besides whom, nearly as many laborers\\nfrom Canada and from Europe are employed on the farms, and Indians\\nare occasionally engaged when wanted. The factors, traders, and clerks,\\nare, for the most part, Scotchmen or Canadians the hunters and other\\nregular servants are nearly all half-breeds. The company maintains on\\nthe Pacific coasts one steamer and six or eight sail vessels, all armed,\\nand three large ships conduct the communications between the Columbia\\nand London.\\nThe establishments of the Hudson s Bay Company are generally called\\nforts, and are sufficiently fortified to resist any attacks which might be\\nexpected. Those beyond the Rocky Mountains are in number about\\ntwenty-two, of which several, including all the largest, are near the coasts.\\nFort Vancouver, the principal of these establishments west of the\\nRocky Mountains, is situated near the north bank of the Columbia, at the\\ndistance of eighty-two miles in a direct line from its mouth, and about\\none hundred and twenty miles following the course of the stream. The\\nfort is simply a large, square, picketed enclosure, containing houses for\\nthe residence of the factor, traders, clerks, and upper servants of the\\ncompany, magazines for the furs and goods, and workshops of various", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "32 GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON.\\nkinds; immediately behind it are a garden and orchard, and behind these\\nis the farm, of about six hundred acres, with barns and all other necessary\\nbuiidincrs. West of the fort are the hospital and houses for the voyageurs\\nand Indians about two miles lower down the river are the dairy and\\npiggery, with numerous herds of cattle, hogs, c. and about three miles\\nabove the fort are water-mills for grinding corn and sawing plank, and\\nsheds for curino- salmon. The number of persons usually attached to the\\npost is not less than seven hundred, of whom more than half are Indians\\nof the country, the others being natives of Great Britain, Canadians, and\\nhalf-breeds. The whole establishment is governed nearly on the plan of\\none of the small towns of Central Europe during the middle ages; the\\nstockade fort representing the baronial castle, in which the great digni-\\ntaries of the company exercise almost absolute authority.\\nFort George, at the distance of ten miles from the Pacific, on the\\nsouth bank of the Columbia, occupies the site of a trading establishment\\ncalled Astoria, formed by the Americans in 1811, which was taken by\\nthe British during the war in 1813, and, though subsequently restored in\\nvirtue of the treaty of Ghent, has never since been re-occupied by citizens\\nof the United States. The first buildings were destroyed by fire in 1820\\nafter which, some small houses were erected by the Hudson s Bay Com-\\npany on the same spot, where a trader and three or four other persons\\ngenerally reside. Fort Umqua is near the mouth of the Umqua River,\\nwhich enters the Pacific about a hundred and eighty miles south of\\nthe Columbia, and affords a harbor for small vessels. Fort Nasqually is\\nat the mouth of a little river emptying into Puget s Sound, the southern-\\nmost part of the great bay called Admiralty Inlet, which extends south-\\nwardly into the continent from the Strait of Fuca near it the Hudson s\\nBay Company has large farms, which are said to be in a prosperous\\ncondition this place is also the seat of a Roman Catholic mission,\\nunder the direction of a bishop in partibus, (the bishop of Juliopolis,)\\nwhose influence is, no doubt, important to the company, as the majority\\nof its servants are of that religion. Fort Langley is at the entrance of\\nFraser s River into the eastern extremity of the Strait of Fuca, in lati-\\ntude of 49 degrees 2.5 minutes farther north is Fort M Loughlin, on\\nMil bank Sound, and Fort Simpson, on Douglas Island, in the North-\\nWest Archipelago, in latitude 54^ degrees. The company has moreover\\nmade an agreement with the Russians, who claim the coasts and islands\\nnorth of the parallel of .54 degrees 40 minutes, by which the British\\ntraders enjoy the exclusive use of the coasts of the continent, extending\\nfrom that parallel to Cape Spenser, near the .58th degree; and a post has\\nbeen in consequence established near the mouth of the Stikine, a large\\nriver emptying into the channel called Prince Frederick s Sound, in the\\nlatitude of .56 degrees 50 minutes.\\nIn the interior of the continent, the Hudson s Bay Company has on the\\nColumbia, above its falls, Fort Walla-Walla, or Nez-Perce, on the east\\nside of the northern branch, near its confluence with the southern Fort\\nOkinagan, at the entrance of the Okinagan River into the north or main\\nbranch; Fort Colville, near the Kettle Falls; and some others, of less\\nconsequence. On the Lewis, or great southern branch, are Fort Boise,\\nat the mouth of the Boiss, or Reed s River, and Fort Hall, at the en-\\ntrance of the Portneuf North of the Columbia country are Fort Al-\\nexandria, on Fraser s River, and others on the lakes, which abound in", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON. 33\\nthat part of the continent. All these are, however, on a very small scale,\\nand seldom contain more th:in two or three clerks or traders, and a few\\nIndians or half-breed hunters.\\nThe citizens of the United States in Oregon, previous to 1843, did not\\nprobably exceed four hundred in number, nearly all of whom were estab-\\nlished as farmers, graziers, or mechanics, in the valley of the Willamet,\\nand on the Walla-Walla; very few being engaged in any commercial\\npursuit. Their condition appears to have been prosperous, in conse-\\nquence, there is reason to believe, of their industry, economy, and\\nmorality, rather than of any particular advantages offered by the country.\\nThe Protestant missionaries reside on the Willamet, at the Falls of the\\nColumbia, near Walla-Walla, in the Spokan and Kotanie countries, and\\nin some other places, where they labor for their own support, as well as\\nfor the improvement and conversion of the natives. The first printing\\npress, west of the Rocky Mountains, was set up at the Walla-Walla\\nmission, in 1839; on it books are now printed from types set up by na-\\ntive compositors. The Roman Catholics, from Missouri, have also\\nseveral stations, principally in the regions of the Clarke River, in which\\nthey appear to be laboring diligently for the advancement of their own\\nreligion.\\nThe number of American citizens in Oregon was, however, nearly\\nquadrupled, in the latter part of 1843, by the arrival of more than a thou-\\nsand persons men, women, and children from the Mississippi val-\\nley;* and a still greater mimber went thither in the following year.\\nThese emigrants will, most probably, likewise establish themselves in\\nthe Willamet valley, or on the Umqua, in which regions there is a\\nsufficiency of good land for the support of more than a hundred thou-\\nsand persons; and they will be able at once to obtain the means of\\nsubsistence, as the majority of them have been doubtless accustomed\\nfrom their childhood to the labors and privations incident to the settle-\\nment of a new country. Few of them will be disposed to fix their\\nresidence in the territory north of the Columbia, which is claimed by\\nGreat Britain, until the question of right between that power and the\\nUnited States shall have been definitively determined.\\nThe trappers and hunters from the United States have been compelled,\\nin consequence of the exclusive measures adopted by the Hudson s Bay\\nCompany, to quit the regions of the Columbia, and confine themselves\\nto the north-western part of California, about the head-waters of the\\nColorado River and the Utah Lake. In the sunnner of each year, they\\nrepair, with the produce of their labors, to certain places of rendezvous,\\nwhere they meet the traders, bringing clothes, hardware, arms, ammu-\\nnition, groceries, and other articles, from Missouri and an exchange of\\nmerchandise is effected to the benefit of both parties. The principal ren-\\ndezvous is on the banks of the Sidskadee or Green River, one of the con-\\nfluents of the Colorado, situated near the western extremity of the great\\ngap in the Rocky Mountains, called the South Pass, through which all\\nthe communications between the regions of the Mississippi on the one\\nside, and Oregon and California on the other, are conducted.\\nAccording to an enumeration made at their encampment on the Big Blue River,\\nsoon afler their departure from the Missouri, the numi)ers of the emigrants in 1843,\\nwere 558 males and 442 females, of all ages, making a total of 1000. Thej^ car-\\nried with them 121 wagons, 296 horses, 6!)8 oxen in draught, and 973 loose cattle.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "34 GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON.\\nThese communications are effected entirely by land; for, although the\\nunoccupied territories of the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains,\\nare traversed by the Missouri, and its great tributaries the Yellow Stone,\\nthe Platte, the Kanzas, and the Osage, and further south, by the Arkan-\\nsas and Red rivers emptying into the Mississippi, these streams afford\\nfew facilities, either for travel, or for the transportation of goods. The\\nMissouri river is useful for communication with Oregon, no farther up\\nthan the mouth of the Platte and the latter river, though its position and\\ncourse are precisely such as could be desired, is so shallow, and presents\\nso many impediments to navigation, that the lightest boat cannot ascend,\\nor descend it, without much difficulty, even when its waters are highest.\\nTo what distance the Arkansas and Red rivers may be ascended by\\nboats, is not yet determined; but, it is probable, that the head of naviga-\\ntion, of the Arkansas, is nearer to the best passes in the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, than the mouths of the Kanzas, or the Platte.\\nThe town of Independence, in the State of Missouri, near the conflu-\\nence of the Kanzas with the Missouri, is now the usual place of departure,\\nand arrival, to and from Oregon, and New Mexico. The route to Ore-\\ngon, extends along the Kanzas and its northern branch, called the Re-\\npublican Fork, towards the Platte then along the main Platte and its\\nnorthern branch, to Fort Laramie, a private fur-trading post, situated at\\nthe junction of the north branch, with a small stream from the south,\\ncalled Laramie s Fork, seven hundred and fifty miles from Independence.\\nFrom this place, the road, or trail, continues along the Platte, and\\nthrough the Black Hills, an irregular range skirting the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, to the south pass in the latter chain, where lie the sources of the\\nPlatte, distant two hundred and fifty miles from Fort Laramie. A march\\nof a few hours through this pass, brings the traveller to the Sandy River,\\na branch of the Green, or Sidskadee River, the main stream of the Colo-\\nrado crossing the Green River, and ascending one of its western tribu-\\ntaries called Ham s Fork, he thence passes over a small ridge to the Bear\\nRiver, the principal feeder of the Utah Salt Lake this he follows, north-\\nwestward, to the Soda or Beer Springs, and thence, crossing another\\nridge, he reaches the valley of the Portneuf, down which, he makes his\\nway to Fort Hall, a trading post of the Hudson s Bay Company, at the\\nconfluence of the Lewis with the Portneuf, two hundred and fifty miles\\nfrom the South Pass, and one thousand two hundred and fifty miles from\\nIndependence.\\nAnother route from Independence to the Colorado, has been surveyed\\nin 1844, by Lieutenant Fremont during his long and laborious expedition,\\nthrough Oregon and California, of which a Report will soon be published.\\nFrom the manner in which this accomplished officer conducted his sur-\\nvey of the valley of the Platte, there is every reason to expect that he will\\nthrow much light on the geography of those countries, particularly of the\\nregion between the Utah Lake, and the Bay of San Francisco.\\nThe route to Fort Hall, presents comparatively few difficulties, and is\\ntraversed, every summer, by hundreds of wagons. The remainder of the\\njourney is attended with many inconveniences some, arising from the na-\\nture of the ground, which may, however, be lessened or removed, by the\\napplication of labor, at certain points and others, from the want of\\nwater and food, for cattle. Travellers, with wagons, generally follow the\\nLewis, from Fort Hall, down to the vicinity of the entrance of the river", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF OREGON. 35\\ninto the Blue Mountains, and thence, go northward, to the upper part of\\nthe Boise or Reed s River, through tlie valley of which, they regain the\\nLewis, at the Hudson s Bay Company s post of Fort Boise there they\\ncross the Lewis, and thence, strike over the country, through the beauti-\\nful valley called the Grand Round, to the confluence of the Walla-Walla\\nwith the main Columbia, five hundred miles from Fort Hall. Those on\\nfoot, or on horseback, find more direct lines of communication between\\nthese two places.\\nBelow the Walla-Walla, the obstacles to the passage of wheel carriages,\\nare, at present, such as to preclude the use of them almost entirely; and\\nthe numerous rapids and whirlpools in the Columbia, render the voyage\\ndown to the Falls of that river, exceedingly dangerous. Near the termi-\\nnation of the cascades, or lowest falls, is Fort Vancouver, distant two\\nhundred and fifty miles from the Walla-Walla, and one hundred and\\ntwenty-five from the Pacific: and six miles below that Fort, is the mouth\\nof the Willamet, in the upper part of the valley of which river, the\\nAmerican settlements are mostly situated.\\nThe passage across the Continent, through the British territories, is\\nmuch longer, and more circuitous it is effected, as already said, chiefly\\nin canoes on the rivers and lakes the rest of the journey being performed\\non foot, or in some places, on horseback. The traders of the Hudson s\\nBay Company, leaving Fort Vancouver, ascend the Columbia and its\\nnorthern branch, alternately on the river, and along its banks, about eight\\nhundred miles, to the Pass in the Rocky Mountains, near the 52d degree\\nof latitude. Thence, they cross, by land, five hundred miles, to Edmon-\\nton, on the north branch of the Saskatchawine, which river they descend,\\nto Norway House, near the northern extremity of Lake Winnipeg, distant\\nnot less than twelve hundred miles from Edmonton. From Norway\\nHouse, they go, either to York Factory, on Hudson s Bay, distant about\\neiorht hundred miles, or through Lake Winnipeg, the Lake of the Woods,\\nRainy Lake, Savannah River, and other connecting waters, to J*ort Wil-\\nliam, the great depository of the Company, at the north-west extremity of\\nLake Superior, about eight hundred miles from Norway House, and nine\\nhundred from Montreal. Another route from the Rocky Mountain gap,\\nto Fort William, passes along the south branch of the Saskatchawine, the\\nAssinaboin, and the Red River country; but the portages are so much\\nlonger, that it is little used for transportation of articles across the conti-\\nnent.\\nThus it appears that the distance to the Lower Columbia, from the\\nfrontiers of Canada, is about twelve hundred miles greater than from the\\nwesternmost point in the States of the American Union. The journey\\nthrough the British territories, is indeed performed at present, in less\\ntime, by the servants of the Hudson s Bay Company, than the caravans\\nof men, women and children, from the United States, employ in their\\npassage along the Platte, and the Lewis but the road for the latter will\\nbe constantly improving, and the journey must annually become less in\\nactual distance, and much less laborious and tedious whilst the more\\nnorthern route will forever remain in its present condition, scarcely pass-\\nable by any, except the hardy and experienced traders, and voyageurs of\\ntlie British Company.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "RUSSIAN AMERICA.\\nRussia claims, as already said, in virtue of the discoveries and settle-\\nments of her subjects, and of treaties with the United States and Great\\nBritain, the whole division of the American continent, and the adjacent\\nislands, north of the latitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes, and west of a\\nline drawn from that latitude, northward, along the highlands bordering\\nthe Pacific Ocean to Mount St. Eiias, and thence due north to the\\nArctic Sea. This power also claims the whole of Asia, extending on the\\nPacific north of the 51st parallel, all the Aleutian Islands, and all the\\nKurile Islands, north of the latitude of 45 degrees 40 minutes.\\nOf the parts of America thus claimed by Russia, the islands and the\\ncoasts of the continent have been explored, and some have been surveyed\\nwith care; several rivers, also, have been traced to considerable distances\\nfrom their mouths the interior regions are, however, but little known,\\nand, from all accounts, they do not seem to merit the labor and expense\\nwhich would be required for their complete examination. Only small\\nportions of the islands are fit for agriculture, or for any purpose useful to\\nman, except fishing and hunting the remaining territories present to the\\neye nothing but rocks, snow, and ice.\\nThe exclusive use and government of all the islands and ports of\\nAmerica above mentioned are granted by charter from the emperor of\\nRussia to a body called the Russian American Trading Company, which\\nhas established on their coasts a number of forts, settlements, and factories,\\nall devoted to the purposes of the fur trade and fishery the coast of the\\ncontinent, south-west of the 58th degree of latitude, has, however, been,\\nas already mentioned, leased to the Hudson s Bay Company until the 1st\\nof June, 1850, at an annual rent, payable in furs. The inhabitants of the\\nKurile, the Aleutian, and the Kodiak Islands are regarded as the immedi-\\nate subjects of the company in the service of which, every man, between\\nthe ages of eighteen and fifty years, may be required to pass at least three\\nyears. The natives of the country adjoining the two great bays called\\nCook s Inlet and Prince William s Sound, are also under the control of\\nthis body, and are obliged to pay an annual tax in furs, though they are not\\ncompelled to enter the regular service. All the other aborigines are con-\\nsidered as independent, except that they are allowed to trade only witii the\\nRussian American company. By the latest accounts, the number of Rus-\\nsian establislunents was twenty-six, all situated south of Bering s Strait.\\nThe immediate subjects of the company were seven hundred and thirty\\nRussians, fourteen hundred and forty-two Creoles, or children of Rus-\\nsian fathers by native mothers, and eleven thousand aborigines of the\\nKurile, Aleutian, and Kodiak Islands the number of the natives in-\\nhabiting the other regions cannot be ascertained, but must be very small,\\nwhen compared with the extent of the surface.\\nThe Russian American territories are politically divided into six", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF KUS3IAN AMKKICA. 37\\ndistricts, each of which is under the direction of an agent tlie whole\\nbeing superintended by a governor-general, usually an othcer of the\\nRussian navy, residing at the capital of the possessions. The furs\\nare collected either by persons in the regular service of the company, or as\\ntaxes from its subjects, or by trade with the independent natives and they\\nare transported in its vessels to Petropawlowsk in Kamtchatka, or to\\nOchotsk, in Siberia, or, by special permission of the Chinese government, to\\nCanton, or to the European ports of Russia the supplies being received\\nfrom those places by the same vessels.\\nThe district of Sitka comprehends the islands of the North-West Ar-\\nchipelago, and the coasts of the American continent, northward from\\nthe parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, to Mount St. Elias. The islands\\nare six large, and an infinite number of smaller ones, separated from\\neach other, and from the main land, by narrow, but generally navigable\\nchannels. The large islands are those distinguished on English maps\\nas Prince of Wales s Island, the southernmost, between which and the\\ncontinent, on the east, are the Duke of York s and the Revillagigedo\\nIslands farther north, on the ocean, is King George the Third s Ar-\\nchipelago, including Baranof s and Tchichagof s Islands; and east of\\nthese latter are Admiralty and some other islands.\\nOpposite the western end of the channel, separating Baranof s from\\nTchichagof s Island, is a small island, consisting of a single and beautiful\\nconical peak, rising from the ocean, which received from its Spanish\\ndiscoverers, in 1775, the name of Mount San Jacinto, but is better known\\nby the English appellation of Mount Edgecumb a narrow passage, called\\nNorfolk Sound, separates it from Baranof s Island, on the shore of which\\nstands Sitka, or New Archangel, the capital of Russian America. This\\nis a small town, of wooden houses, covered mostly with iron, protected, or\\nrather overlooked, by batteries, and inhabited by about a thousand per-\\nsons, of whom nearly one half are Russians, tlie majority of the others\\nbeing Creoles. The governor s house is large and substantially built,\\nand is surmounted by a lighthouse the fortifications, which are also of\\nwood, are armed by about forty guns: attached to the establishment are\\nan extensive arsenal, including a ship-yard, a foundery, and shops for\\nvarious artificers, a hospital, and a church, splendidly adorned in the\\ninterior. Sitka, moreover, though thus remote from all civilized coun-\\ntries, contains several schools, in which the children are instructed at the\\nexpense of the company, a library of two thousand volumes, a cabinet of\\nnatural history, and an observatory supplied with the instruments most\\nnecessary for astronomical and magnetic observations.\\nOn comparing the results of meteorological observations, it appears\\nthat the mean temperature of every month of the year, at Sitka, is higher\\nthan that of any place in America, east of the Rocky Mountains, within\\nseveral degrees of the same latitude. No attempts at cultivation have,\\nhowever, been made there or in any other part of Russian America, except\\nat the settlement of Ross, in California, on a scale sufficiently large to\\nauthorize any opinions as to the agricultural value of the soil.\\nThe district of Kodiak comprises all the coasts from the North- West\\nArchipelago, northward and westward, to the southern extremity of the\\npeninsula of Aliaska, with the adjacent islands, as also a portion of the\\ncoast of the Sea of Kamtcha ka, on the north-west side of Aliaska. The\\nlargest island is Kodiak, situated near the east coast of Aliaska, from", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "38 GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIAN AMERICA.\\nwhich it is separated by the Strait of Schelikof, and containing, on its\\nnorth-east side, St. Paul s, an inconsiderable place, formerly the capital\\nof Russian America. North of Kodiak, an arm of the ocean, called by\\nthe English Cook s Inlet, and by Russians the Gulf of Kenay, stretches\\nnorthwardly into the continent nearly two hundred miles; east of which,\\nand separated from it by a peninsula, is another great bay, called Prince\\nWilliam s Sound, or the Gulf of Tschugatsch, containing a number of\\nislands; and still farther east is Comptroller s Bay, into which empties\\nCopper River, the largest stream flowing from this part of America.\\nEach of these bays was minutely examined by Cook, in 1778, and by\\nVancouver, in 1794, while in search of a passage to the Atlantic; and\\nseveral good harbors were thus discovered, on the shores of which the\\nRussians have formed trading establishments.\\nThe most remarkable natural feature of this part of America is, how-\\never, the great volcanic peak of Mount St. Elias, which rises from the\\nshore of the Pacific, under the 61st parallel of latitude, to the height of\\nmore than seventeen thousand feet above the ocean level. Near it, on the\\nsouth-east, is Mount Fairweather, only two thousand feet less in elevation\\nand between the two peaks lies Admiralty, or Bering s, or Yakutat Bay,\\nwhere the Russian navigators Bering and Tchirikof are supposed to\\nhave first anchored on their voyage of discovery from Kamtchatka,\\nin 1741.\\nThe peninsula of Aliaska is a chain of lofty volcanic mountains,\\nstretching through the Pacific from the latitude of 59 degrees south-west-\\nward to that of 54 degrees 40 minutes. The most elevated peak, called\\nMount Scheschaldin, is frequently in action, throwing forth large quanti-\\nties of lava and ashes. Near the southern extremity of the peninsula, on\\nthe east, is the group of small islands, called the Schumagin Islands; and\\nfrom the same extremity, as if in continuation of the peninsula, the Aleu-\\ntian Islands extend, at short distances apart, in a line nearly due westward,\\nmore than six hundred miles, to the vicinity of Kamtchatka.\\nThe Aleutian Islands include two districts of the Russian American\\npossessions. The easternmost and largest islands of the archipelago,\\ncalled the Fox Islands, among which areUnimak, Unalashka, and Umnak,\\nand the small group of the Pribulow Islands, lying a little farther north\\nand west of Aliaska, form the district of Unalashka. The district of\\nAtcha comprises the other islands, which are small, and are divided into\\nthree groups, called the Rat, the Andreanowsky, and the Commodore\\nIslands. These islands are all mountains, rising above the sea, some of\\nthem, to a great height: only the larger ones are inhabited, or indeed\\nhabitable the others are visited at certain periods by the Russian hunt-\\ners and fishermen, in search of the animals which abound on their shores.\\nThe principal settlement is Illiluk, on the Bay of Samagoondha, in the\\nnorth-east part of Unalashka, which is also the residence of a bishop of\\nthe Greek church.\\nThe northern, or Michaelof, district includes all the territories and\\nislands of America, north of Aliaska, bordering on the division of the\\nPacific, called the Sea of Kamtchatka, which extends from the Aleutian\\nIslands to Bering s Strait the only establishments, however, are those\\non the shores of the great gulf of that sea, called Norton s Sound, south\\nof the 64th parallel of latitude. The principal of these establishments\\nis Fort St. Michael, near Stuart s Island, to which furs, skins, oil, and", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "GEOGRAPHY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 39\\nivory tusks, are brought by the Esquimaux and Tchukskies from the\\nislands near Bering s Strait and the shores of the Arctic Sea. Several\\nexpeditions have been recently made by Russian otiicers into the interior\\nof these countries, in which two large rivers, the Kwikpak and the\\nKuskokwim, emptying into the sea between the GOth and the 63d de-\\ngrees of latitude, were traced to great distances from their mouths.\\nThe part of Asia bathed by the Sea of Kamtchatka, like the opposite\\npart of America, is a waste of snow-covered rocks, among which rise\\nchains of lofty mountains. The principal of these chains extends south-\\nward through the Pacific from the GOth parallel of latitude, forming the great\\npeninsula of Kamtchatka: south of which stretch the Kurile Islands,\\nsouth of these the Japan Islands, and still farther south, the Philip-\\npine Islands all forming parts of the same line of volcanoes which\\nextends along the west coasts of North America. The only place of\\nimportance in Kamtchatka is Petropawlowsk, a small town situated on\\nthe Bay of Avatscha, in the south-east part of the peninsula, in latitude\\nof 53 degrees 58 minutes. Near the point where the peninsula joins\\nthe continent stands another small town, called Ochotsk, on the north-\\nernmost shore of the Gulf of Ochotsk, which separates Kamtchatka from\\nthe main land on the west.\\nThe Kurile Islands are twenty-two in number, of which nineteen are\\nsubject to Russia, and the others to Japan. The Russian Islands form\\none district of the Russian American Company s possessions they are\\nall small, and of little value, many of them being entirely without springs\\nof fresh water. The Russians have but one establishment on them,\\ncalled Semussir, in Urup, the southernmost of the islands, from which\\nsome seal-skins are annually carried to Petropawlowsk and Ochotsk.\\nTHE SANDWICH ISLANDS.\\nThese islands, sometimes called the Hawaiian Archipelago, are situ-\\nated in the north-west division of the Pacific, nearly due south of Aliaska,\\nand west of the southern extremity of California, at nearly equal distances\\nthat is, about two thousand five hundred miles from each of those\\nparts of America, and from the Bay of San Francisco. Their distance\\nfrom Canton is about five thousand miles. They are ten in number,\\nextending, in a curved line, about three hundred miles in length, from the\\n19th degree of latitude, north-westward, to the 22d their whole super-\\nficial extent is estimated at six thousand six hundred square miles, and\\nthe number of their population, by the latest accounts, was about one\\nhundred and fifty thousand.\\nThe south-easternmost of the islands, embracing two thirds of the\\nsurface, and more than half of the population, of the whole, is Owyhee,\\n(or Hawaii, according to the orthography adopted by the American\\nmissionaries.*) North-west of Owyhee is Mowee, (or Maui,) the second\\nin size of the islands, with about twenty thousand inhabitants. Near\\nMowee, on the west, are Tahoorowa, (Kahulawe,) Morokini, (Molokini,)\\nRanai, (Lanai,) and Morotai, (Molokai,) all of them small and unimpor-\\ntant. Farther in the same direction is Woahoo, (Oahu,) nearly as large\\nSee account of this system at p. 330 of the History.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "40 GEOGRAPHY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.\\nand populous as Movvee, and perhaps the most valuable of all the islands,\\nagriculturally and commercially; and eighty miles farther west are the\\nlarge island of Atooi, (Kauai,) and the smaller ones of Oneehow, (Ni-\\nhau,) and Tahoora, (Kaula,) which complete the number of the group.\\nThe islands are all mountainous and volcanic. On Owyhee are three\\ngreat peaks Mowna Roa, (Mauna Loa,) fourteen thousand feet high,\\nMowna Kea, and Mowna Hualalei, from which eruptions occasionally\\ntake place more extensive in their effects than any others on record,\\nexcept, perhaps, those in Iceland. They, nevertheless, contain large\\ntracts of fine land, which, under the influence of a regular and genial\\nclimate, are made to yield all the productions of the tropical, and many\\nof those of the temperate regions and they are probably destined to be\\nto the countries bordering upon the North Pacific what the West Indies\\nare to those on the North Atlantic. They remain in the possession of\\ntheir aboriginal occupants, who appear to evince considerable aptitude\\nto receive instruction, and have, with the aid of some missionaries from\\nthe United States, established a regular government, in the form of a\\nhereditary monarchy, under constitutional restrictions. The native\\npopulation is, however, rapidly diminishing, while that of foreigners,\\nespecially from the United States, is increasing.\\nThe principal ports in the islands are Honoruru, (Honolulu,) on the\\nsouth side of Woahoo, and Lahaina, on the west side of Mowee. The\\ntown of Honoruru contains about ten thousand inhabitants it is much\\nfrequented, especially by the whaling vessels of the United States and\\nproperty to a great amount in manufactured articles, provisions, oil,\\nc., belonging to American citizens, is often deposited there. Owyhee\\nhas no good harbor, and the only places in it where vessels find secure\\nanchorage are the Bays of Karakakooa, (Kealakeakua,) in which Captain\\nCook was murdered in 1779, and Toyahyah, (Kawaihae,) on the west\\nside of the island.\\nAbout two thousand miles south-east from the Sandwich Islands are\\nthe Marquesas Islands, of which the five northernmost, the most impor-\\ntant in the group, discovered in April, 1791, by Captain Ingraham, of\\nthe brig Hope, of Boston, and named the Washington Islands, were\\noccupied, in 1842, by the French. Six hundred miles south-west of\\nthese lie the Society Islands, of which the largest, Otaheite, or Tahiti,\\naccording to the new nomenclature, has been the subject of conten-\\ntion between France and Great Britain, in consequence of the at-\\ntempts of the former power to take possession of it. The Marquesas\\nare small, rocky, and unproductive, and caiuiot afford support to more\\nthan a small number of civilized people so that the French will proba-\\nbly find it prudent to abandon them. Otaheite, on the contrary, contains\\na large extent of the richest soil, and has every other requisite for a\\nvaluable possession to a maritime and commercial nation.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "PROJECTS FOR CANALS UNITING THE TWO OCEANS. 41\\nPROJECTS FOR CANALS UNITING THE TWO OCEANS.\\nIt will also be proper, in conclusion, to offer some observations on a\\nsubject which may be considered worthy of interest here, from its ap-\\nparent connection with the destinies of North-West America.\\nThe only means of communication for vessels between the Atlantic\\nand the Pacific Oceans at present known or believed to exist, are through\\nthe seas south of the southern extremities of America and Africa; and\\neach of these routes being circuitous and dangerous, the question as to\\nthe practicability of a canal, for the passage of ships through the central\\nparts of the American continent where those seas are separated by narrow\\ntracts of land, has been frequently agitated. Humboldt, in his justly-\\ncelebrated essay on Mexico, indicated nine places in America, in which\\nthe waters of the two oceans, or of streams entering into them respec-\\ntively, are situated at short distances apart. Of these places it is necessary\\nhere to notice but three, to each of which attention has been strongly\\ndirected, at different times, and especially of late years, in the expectation\\nthat such a navigable passage for ships might be effected through it.\\nThey are, the Isthmus of Panama Nicaragua and the Isthmus\\nof Tehuantepec.\\nWith regard to the last-mentioned of these places, it has been deter-\\nmined, by accurate surveys, that the mountain chain, separating the two\\noceans, is nowhere less than a thousand feet in height above the level\\nof the sea; and that a canal connecting the River Guasecualco, flowing\\ninto the Mexican Gulf, with the Pacific, must pass through an open cut\\nof nearly that depth, or a tunnel, in either case more than thirty miles\\nin length, as there is no water on the summit to supply locks, should it\\nbe found practicable to construct them. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec,\\nhowever, offers many advantages for travellers, and even for the trans-\\nportation of precious commodities, especially to the people of the United\\nStates. The mouth of the Guasecualco River, on its northern shore, is\\nless than seven hundred miles from the mouth of the Mississippi, and\\nonly one hundred miles by the road from a port on the Pacific, near\\nTehuantepec, which might be made a good harbor so that even now a\\ntraveller might go in a fortnight from Washington to the Pacific coast,\\nand thence, by a steam vessel, in ten days more, to the mouth of the\\nColumbia, or to the Sandwich Islands.\\nIn Nicaragua, it has been proposed to improve the navigation of the\\nSan Juan River, from its mouth on the Mosquito coast, to the great\\nLake of Nicaragua, from which it flows, or to cut a canal from the\\nAtlantic to that lake, whence another canal should be made to the\\nPacific. Now, without enumerating the many other obstacles to this\\nplan, any one of them sufficient to defeat it, were all things besides favor-\\nable, it may be simply stated, that one mile of tunnel and two of very\\ndeep cutting through volcanic rock, in addition to many locks, w ill be\\nrequired in the fifteen miles, which, by the shortest and least difficult\\nroute, must be passed between the lake and the Pacific. Is such a work\\npracticable?\\nThe Isthmus of Panama remains to be considered. From recent and\\nminute surveys, it has been proved that no obstacles to a ship-canal are\\npresented by the surface of this isthmus, equal to those which have been\\n6", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "42 PROJECTS FOR CANALS UNITING THE TWO OCEANS.\\nsurmounted, in many instances of a similar nature, in Europe and in the\\nUnited States. On the other hand, the country contains only a few\\ninhabitants of the most wretched description, from whose assistance in\\nthe work no advantage in any way could be derived so that all the\\nlaborers, with all their clothes, provisions, and tools, must be transported\\nthither from a distance. The heat is at all times intense, and the wet\\nseason continues during eight months of the year the rains in July,\\nAugust, September, and October, being incessant, and heavier, perhaps,\\nthan in any other part of the world. As to salubrity, there is a differ-\\nence of opinion but it is scarcely possible that the extremes of heat and\\ndaujpness, which are there combined, could be otherwise than deleterious\\nto persons from Europe, or from the Northern States of the American\\nUnion, by whom the labor of cutting a canal must be performed, unless,\\nindeed, it should be judged proper to employ negroes from the West\\nIndies on the work.\\nIt seems, therefore, that a canal is practicable across the Isthmus of\\nPanama: there is, however, not the slightest probability that it will be\\nmade during this century, if ever the commercial utility of such a\\ncommunication being scarcely sufficient to warrant the enormous ex-\\npenses of its construction and maintenance. Ships from Europe or the\\nUnited States, bound for the west coasts of America, or the North\\nPacific, or China, would probably pass through it, unless the tolls should\\nbe too heavy but those returning from China would pursue the route\\naround the Cape of Good Hope, which would be, in all respects, more\\nadvantageous for them, as well as for vessels sailing between the Atlantic\\ncoasts and India, or Australia. Not only is the direct distance from South\\nAsia and Australia to the Atlantic coasts greater by way of the Pacific,\\nbut vessels taking that route must deviate very far from the direct course,\\nin order to avoid the trade winds, which blow constantly westward over\\nthe intertropical parts of the Pacific.\\nAs regards political effects, it may he assumed as certain, that, should\\nthe canal be made by any company or nation whatsoever, it will, in\\ntime, notwithstanding any precautions by treaty or otherwise, become\\nthe property of the greatest naval power, which will derive a vast increase\\nof political strength from the possession.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "HISTORY\\nOF\\nOREGON AND CALIFORNIA,\\nTHE OTHER COUNTRIES\\nON THE\\nNORTH-WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "HISTORY\\nOF\\nOREGON AND CALIFORNIA,\\nETC.\\nCHAPTER I.\\nTo 1543.\\nPreliminary Observations Efforts of the Spaniards to discover Western Passages\\nto India Successive Discoveries of the West Indies, the North American\\nContinent, the Eastern Passage to India, Brazil, and the Pacific Ocean Search\\nfor a navigable Passage connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans Sup-\\nposed Discovery of such a Passage, called the Strait of Anian Discovery of\\nMagellan s Strait and the Western Passage to India Conquest of Mexico by\\nCort6s, who endeavors to discover new Countries farther north-west Voyages\\nof Maldonado, Hurtado de Mcndoza, Grijalva, and Becerra Discovery of Cali-\\nfornia Expedition of Cortes to California Pretended Discoveries of Friar\\nMarcos de Niza Voyages of Ulloa, Alarcon, and Cabrillo Expeditions of\\nCoronado and Soto The Spaniards desist from their Efforts to explore the North-\\nWest Coasts of America.\\nThe western coasts of North America were first explored by the\\nSpaniards, in the sixteenth century. In order to convey a clear idea\\nof the circumstances which led to their discovery, as well as of the\\nclaims and pretensions based upon it, a general view will be here\\npresented of the proceedings and objects of Europeans with regard to\\nthe New World, from the period when its existence was ascertained,\\nto that in which the exploration of its north-west coasts was begun.\\nThe islands found by Columbus, in his voyage across the Atlantic\\nin 1492, were supposed to be situated in the immediate vicinity of\\nAsia, the eastern limits of which were then unknown and their dis-\\ncovery was the result of endeavors to reach, by a western course, the\\nshores of India, from which Europe chiefly derived its gold, silks, pre-\\ncious stones, and spices, and those of China and Japan, of the wealth\\nof which empires vague accounts had been brought by travellers.\\nWith the same objects in view, the Portuguese had been long\\nengaged in exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa soutiiward and\\neastward, in search of some channel or sea, by which their ships", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "46 TREATY OF PARTITION OF THE OCEAN. [1494.\\nmight enter the Indian Ocean being encouraged in their exertions\\nby the Bull of Pope Nicholas V., issued in 1454, assuring to them\\nthe exclusive rights of navigation, trade, fishery, and conquest, in all\\nseas and countries which they might find in that course, not before\\noccupied by a Christian prince or people. They had, however, not\\nreached the southern extremity of Africa when Columbus returned\\nfrom his first voyage across the Atlantic and, immediately after-\\nwards, the united Spanish sovereigns procured from Pope Alex-\\nander VI. Bulls, granting to them and their successors, forever,\\nexclusive privileges with regard to the seas and countries which\\nmight be found by navigating towards the west, similar to those\\nconferred on the Portuguese, as to seas and countries east of the\\nAtlantic.\\nUpon these extraordinary commissions, as bases, was founded the\\ncelebrated Treaty of Partition of the Ocean, concluded at Torde-\\nsillas, on the 7th of June, 1494, between the sovereigns of Spain\\nand the king of Portugal, then the greatest maritime powers of\\nEurope. By this treaty, the Portuguese were to enjoy and possess\\nthe exclusive rights of discovery, trade, conquest, and dominion, in\\nall the seas and territories not previously belonging to a Christian\\nprince or people, east of a meridian line passing three hundred and\\nseventy leagues west of the Cape Verd Islands and the Spaniards\\nwere to possess the same rights, in all seas and all pagan lands\\nwest of that line no provision being made for the contingency\\nof the meeting of the parties proceeding in these opposite direc-\\ntions. The two nations having thus, under the guaranty of the\\nhighest authority recognized in Europe, settled the conditions on\\nwhich they were to appropriate to themselves, respectively, nearly\\nall the sea and nearly all the land on the globe, without regard for\\nthe wishes or claims of any other people, each continued its search\\nfor a navigable passage to India, generally, though not always,\\nwithin the limits assigned to it.\\nIn this search the Portuguese were soon successful for, in 1499,\\nthey sailed around the southern extremity of Africa, to India, where\\nthey established their dominion or their influence over many of\\nthose regions. They also, about the same time, obtamed possession\\nof Brazil, the coasts of which were found to extend east of the\\nmeridian of partition, to the great regret and constant annoyance\\nof the Spaniards, who had hoped, by the treaty of 1494, to secure\\nto themselves tiie exclusive sovereignty of all the countries on the\\nwestern side of the Atlantic.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "1500.] THE STRAIT OF ANIAN. 47\\nThe English, however, disregarding the Papal prohibitions, imme-\\ndiately entered the career of discovery in the vilest and, under their\\nflag, John Cabot, first of all Europeans, reached the American conti-\\nnent in 1497. They were soon followed by the French, who, during\\nthe early part of the sixteenth century, made numerous expeditions\\nacross the Atlantic and the Portuguese, notwithstanding the restric-\\ntions of the treaty of partition, also endeavored to find a passage to\\nIndia in the same direction. It was, indeed, long believed that\\nGaspar Cortereal, a Portuguese navigator, who explored the coasts\\nof Labrador in 1499 and 1500, had actually sailed through a narrow\\nchannel, named by him the Strait of Anian* westward from the\\nAtlantic, nearly in the course of the 58th parallel of latitude, into\\nanother great sea, communicating with the Indian Ocean. This\\nchannel may have been the same, now called Hudson s Strait, con-\\nnecting the Atlantic with Hudson s Bay, the discovery of which is\\ngenerally attributed to Sebastian Cabot it was certainly known as\\nthe Strait of Labrador long before its entrance by the navigator\\nwhose name it bears. The belief in the existence of such a north-\\nwest passage to India, joining the Atlantic in the position assigned\\nto the mouth of Cortereal s Strait of Anian, caused many voyages\\nto be made to the coasts of northern America, on both sides, during\\nthe sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and many false reports to\\nbe circulated of the discovery of the desired channel the effects of\\nwhich reports, in promoting the exploration of those coasts, will\\nbe hereafter shown.\\nIt is stated in several collections of voyages, that the name ofJinian was given\\nto the strait supposed to have been discovered by Gaspar Cortereal, in honor of two\\nbrothers, who accompanied him but there are no grounds for such a supposition.\\nIn the earliest maps, Jlnia is marked as the name of the north- westernmost part of\\nAmerica, .^ni, in the Japanese language, is said to signify brother hence, probably,\\nthe mistake. (Chronological History of Voyages in the Arctic Regions, by John\\nBarrow, page 45.) In an article on the subject of a north-west passage, in the\\nJtiondon Quarterly Review for October, 1816, supposed to have been written by\\nBarrow, it is asserted that Cortereal named the Strait of Anian, not in honor\\nof two brothers who accompanied him, but because he deemed it to be the eastern\\nextremity of a strait lohose western end, opening into the Pacific, had already received\\nthat name. The value of this assertion may be estimated from the fact, that\\nthe ocean on the western side of America was not discovered by Europeans until\\nthirteen years after Cortereal s voyage and death. The review abounds in similar\\nerrors.\\nMany of the most important errors in Barrow s Chronological History have been\\nexposed by Mr. R. Biddle, in his admirable Memoir of Sebastian Cabot, to which the\\nreader is referred for the most exact accounts, so far as they can be obtained, of these\\nearly voyages to the north-west coasts of the Atlantic. A concise and clear view of\\nthe results of these voyages will be found in the first chapter of Bancroft s History\\nof the United States", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "48 DISCOVERT OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. [1513.\\nThe Spaniards were, in the mean time, assiduously engaged in\\nplanting colonies in the countries newly found by them beyond the\\nAtlantic, to which they gave the collective name of West Indies,*\\nand in exploring the coasts in the vicinity of the islands first dis-\\ncovered, which were soon ascertained to be the borders of a vast\\ncontinent. How far south this continent extended, and whether it\\nwas united, in the north, with Asia, or with the territories seen in that\\ndirection by the English and the Portuguese, remained to be deter-\\nmined and, with those objects, the Spaniards persevered in their\\nexaminations, in which they were, moreover, encouraged by the\\nconstant assurances of the natives of the coasts and islands,\\nrespecting the existence of a great sea, and rich and powerful\\nnations, towards the setting sun.\\nIn 1513, this great sea was discovered, near the spot where\\nPanama now stands, by Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the governor of\\nthe Spanish colony of Darien. It was naturally supposed to be\\nthe Southern Ocean, which bathed the shores of India and, as its\\nproximity to the Atlantic was at the same time ascertained, encour-\\nagement was afforded for the hope that the two great waters would\\nbe found connected in a position the most favorable for navigation\\nbetween Europe and Asia. The examinations of the Spaniards\\nwere, in consequence, directed particularly to the coasts of the\\nIsthmus of Darien, and were conducted with great zeal and perse-\\nverance, until the entire separation of the two oceans by land, in\\nthat quarter, had been proved. These researches were, however,\\nalso continued both north and south of the isthmus, until, at length,\\nin 1520, Fernando Magalhaens, or Magellan, a Portuguese, in the\\nnaval service of Spain, discovered and sailed through the strait now\\nbearing his name, into the sea found by Balboa, over which he\\npursued his voyage westward to India.\\nThe great geographical question, as to the circumnavigation of\\nthe globe, was thus solved, though not in a manner entirely satisfac*\\nlory to the Spaniards. The Strait of Magellan was intricate, and\\nThe name America was first applied to the New World in a work entitled Cosmo-\\ngraphia Instruction ^c., msuper quatuor Jlmerici Vespucii JVavigatioiies, written by\\nMartin Waldseemuller, under the assumed name of Hylacomylus, and printed at Saint\\nDie, in Lorraine, in 1507. This has been clearly proved by Humboldt, in his admi-\\nrable Examen Critique de I Histoire de la Geographic du JVouveau Continent in\\nwhich many other interesting questions relating to the discovery of the New World\\nare also discussed and satisfactorily determined. The Spaniards carefully avoided\\nthe use of the name America in their histories and official documents, in not one of\\nwhich, anterior to the middle of the last century, can the word be found.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "1518.] THE SPANIARDS AND PORTUGUESE IN INDIA. 49\\nthe passage through it was attended with great difficulties and\\ndangers besides which, it was itself almost as far from Europe as\\nIndia by the eastern route. Other and more direct channels of\\ncommunication between the Atlantic and the Southern Ocean might,\\nindeed, be discovered but the latter sea was found to be infinitely\\nwider than had been supposed and, although the part of it crossed\\nby Magellan was so little disturbed by storms that he was induced\\nto name it the Pacific Ocean, yet he also observed that the winds\\nblew over it invariably from eastern points. These circumstances\\ndepressed the hopes of the Spaniards with respect to the establish-\\nment of their power in Southern Asia, though they continued their\\nexpeditions to that part of the world by way of Magellan s Strait,\\nand their search for new passages into the Pacific. Their expedi-\\ntions to India brought them into collision with the Portuguese,*\\nwho had already made several settlements in the Molucca Islands,\\nand had obtained from the Chinese, in 1518, the possession, under\\ncertain qualifications, of the important port of Macao, near Canton\\nand many bloody conflicts took place, in consequence, between the\\nsubjects of those nations, in that distant quarter of the world, as\\nwell as many angry disputes between their governments, before the\\nquestions of right at issue could be settled.\\nIn the mean time, other events occurred, which consoled the\\nSpaniards for their disappointments with regard to India, and\\ncaused them to direct their attention more particularly to the\\nNew World.\\nBefore the period of the departure of Magellan on his expedi-\\ntion, the Spaniards had, in fact, derived from their discoveries\\nbeyond the Atlantic but few of the advantages which they anti-\\ncipated. They had found and taken possession of countries\\nSpain claimed the exclusive navigation, trade, and conquest, westward, to the\\nextremity of the peninsula of Malacca, so as to include all the Molucca Islands and\\nChina; while the Portuguese insisted on exercising the same privileges, without\\ncompetition, eastward as far as the Ladrone Islands each on the ground that the\\nmeridian of partition, settled with regard to tlie Atlantic, in 1494, would, if continued\\non the otlier side of tiie globe, pass in such a manner as to place the portions claimed\\nby itself within its own hemisphere. The question was discussed between the two\\ncotirts directly, and by their commissioners who met at Badajos in 1523, but without\\narriving at any definite arrangement. At length, on the i22d of April, 1529, a tre aty\\nwas concluded at Saragossa, by the terms of which the king of Spain sold all his rights\\nto the Moluccas to the king of Portugal for 350,000 ducats of gold, ($3,080,000,)\\nwith the proviso that the latter might, by repaying the sum, be at liberty again to\\nurge those rights. The sum was never repaid, and Spain did not again claim the\\nislands though, for a long period afterwards, the Spanish empire was represented\\non Spanish maps as extending westward to the extremity of Malacca.\\n7", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "50 MEXICO CONQUERED BY THE SPANIARDS. [1522.\\nextensive, rich in mines, productive in soil, and delightful in\\nclimate, but uncultivated, and thinly peopled by savages, who\\ncould neither by gentle nor by violent means be induced to labor\\nregularly for others or for themselves; and, although the want\\nof a working population was in part supplied by the introduction\\nof negro slaves from Africa, there was little prospect that Spain\\nwould ever be much benefited by these distant colonies. While\\nMagellan s ships were on their western route to India, however,\\nthe wealthy and powerful empire of Mexico, which had been\\ndiscovered in 1518 by a party of Spaniards from Cuba, was\\nconquered by Hernando Cortes and Spain immediately became\\nthe richest nation of Europe. The reports of the brilliant results\\nof this conquest drew to the West Indies crowds of adventurers,\\nall eager to acquire wealth and renown by similar means who,\\nuniting in bands, under daring and experienced captains, ranged\\nthrough both the western continents, seeking mines of precious\\nmetals to work, or rich nations to plunder. In this manner\\nPeru was subjugated by Pizarro and his followers before 1535\\nthe other expeditions were fruitless, as respects the principal\\nobjects in view, while, in the course of them, many distant shores\\nand interior regions were explored, which would otherwise, perhaps,\\nnot have been visited for centuries. The acts of these demon\\nheroes are recorded with minuteness in the stirring pages of the\\nchronicles of their day and curious narratives of several of their\\nexpeditions, written by persons engaged in them, have been pre-\\nserved by the assiduity of Spanish, Italian, English, and Dutch\\ncollectors of historical tracts.\\nThe desire to discover new passages of communication for vessels\\nbetween the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, was also a strong\\nmotive for the expeditions of the Spaniards along the coasts of the\\nNew World and no one pursued this search with more zeal and\\nperseverance than Hernando Cortes. Scarcely had he established\\nthe authority of his sovereign in Mexico, than he commenced the\\nexploration of the adjoining seas and countries, with that object,\\nas well as with the hope of finding other rich nations to subdue\\nand in such enterprises he spent a great portion of his time and\\nresources, during his residence in America. In prosecution of his\\nplans, chiefly, the long and in most places narrow territory,\\nconnecting Mexico with the southern continent, was carefully\\nexamined, until it had been ascertained that the two seas were\\nseparated by land throughout the whole extent. He, at the same", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "1528.] PLANS OF CORTES FOR FURTHER CONQUESTS. 51\\ntime, employed vessels in surveying the coasts of the Mexican Gulf,\\nand those of the Atlantic, farther north and he built others on the\\nPacific side, for similar purposes, two of which he sent, as early as\\n1526, to the East Indies, in aid of the armaments despatched thither\\nfrom Spain, under Loyasa.*\\nThe first expedition made by the Spaniards along the Pacific\\ncoasts, westward from Mexico, was conducted by Pedro Nunez\\nMaldonado, one of the officers of Cortes, who sailed from the\\nmouth of the P\u00c2\u00bb.iver of Zacatula in July, 1528, and passed nearly six\\nmonths in surveying the shores between that point and the mouth\\nof the River of Santiago, about a hundred leagues farther north-\\nwest. The territory of which this coast formed the southern border\\nwas then called Xalisco it was entirely unknown to the Europeans,\\nand was inhabited by fierce tribes of savages, who had never been\\nsubdued by the Mexicans. Maldonado brought back flattering\\naccounts of its fertility, and of the abundance of precious metals\\nin its interior, which did not fail to excite the attention of his\\nemployer, as well as of others among their countrymen.\\nCortes was at that time in Spain, whither he had gone in 1528,\\nchiefly with the object of obtaining some more definite recognition\\nof his powers and rights in the New World than had been hitherto\\ngranted. He was received at Madrid with the most signal honors\\nby his sovereign, the celebrated emperor Charles V. and, on his\\nreturn to Mexico, he carried with him patents, confirming him\\nas captain-general of that country, then called New Spain, and\\ncreating him a grandee of Castile, with the title of Marquis of the\\nValley of Oaxaca to which was attached the possession of vast tracts\\nof country in America, including the port of Tehuantepec, on the\\nPacific. He also procured from the emperor a capitulation, or\\ncharter, empowering him to discover and conquer any islands in the\\nThe accounts of the early Spanish expeditions of discovery on the North Pacific\\nside of America, contained in the present chapter, are derived from the published\\nletters of Cortes, and a number of letters and reports from him and other Spanish\\ncommanders, hitherto unpublished, copies of which, made from the originals in\\niSIadrid, were kindly placed at the disposition of the writer by W. H. Prescott, of\\nBoston, the accomplished author of the Histories of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of\\nthe Conquest of Mexico the Historia General de las Indias, by Herrera the\\nCronica de Nueva Espafia, by Gomara the Historia de la Conquista de Mexico,\\nby Bernal Dias the Raccolte de Viaggi, by Ramusio the Collection of Voyages\\nand Discoveries, by Hakluyt the History of Voyages in the Pacific, by Burney\\nand the Introduction to the Journal of the Voyage made, in 1792, by Captains\\nGaliano and Valdes, in the Spanish schooners Sutil and Mexicana, published at\\nMadrid, by order of the government, in 1S02, to which references will also be fre-\\nquently made in the succeeding chapters.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "52 NUNO DE GUZMAN. [1530.\\nPacific, or other countries west of Mexico, not within the limits\\nassigned to any other Spanish governor; of which countries he and\\nhis heirs forever were to enjoy the government, and one twelfth of\\nall the precious metals, pearls, and other advantages therefrom\\naccruing, on condition of their treating the natives with kindness,\\nand endeavoring to convert them to the Christian faith. The politic\\nCharles did not, however, intrust such extensive powers to one so\\ncapable and ambitious as Cortes, without at the same time providing\\ncertain checks, by means of which the conqueror of Mexico might\\nbe effectually prevented from using his faculties for any other\\nends than enlarging the dominions of the crown of Castile. The\\nexpenses of all his expeditions were to be borne by himself and\\nhe could do little, if any thing, without the assent of the Audiencia,\\nor Royal Court and Board of Administration, established at Mexico,\\nthe members of which were chosen from among his most bitter\\nenemies.\\nThe only governor in the New World with whose claims Cortes\\nmight have been supposed to interfere, by expeditions westward\\nfrom Mexico, was Nuno de Guzman, the president of the Audiencia,\\nwho had obtained from the emperor the government of Panuco,\\nthe country on the Gulf of Mexico surrounding the spot now\\noccupied by the town of Tampico, and also that of Xalisco, of\\nwhich he had received accounts from Maldonado and other adven-\\nturers. This person, one of the same stamp with Pizarro and\\nDavila, had been assiduously engaged in undermining the authority\\nand influence of Cortes and no sooner did he learn that his rival\\nwas returning to Mexico as captain-general, than he assembled all\\nthe troops under his command in the capital, and marched for\\nXalisco, where he remained many years, subduing the country, and\\nexterminating its aboriginal inhabitants.\\nCortes thus, on his arrival in Mexico in July, 1530, found himself\\ndeprived of the means not only of making expeditions of discov-\\nery, but also of maintaining his authority in the kingdom and he\\nwas obliged to wait two years before he could send a single vessel\\nout on the Pacific. At length, by the middle of the year 1532, he\\nhad two ships ready for sea, which he determined to despatch on an\\nexploratory voyage, along the western coast, whilst the others were\\nin progress of construction at Tchuantepec.\\nAt that period, the whole eastern coast of the American contment\\nhad been explored, but imperfectly by European navigators though\\nno part of the interior, north of Mexico and the countries in its", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "1532.] UNCERTAINTY OF ACCOUNTS OF OLD VOYAGES. 53\\nimmediate vicinity, was known. The northernmost points occupied\\nby the Spaniards were, on the Atlantic side, Panuco, within a few\\nmiles of the Mexican Gulf, and, on the Pacific side, Culiacan, which\\nwas founded by Nuiio de Guzman, in 1530, at the entrance of the\\nGulf of California. Beyond Culiacan, towards the north and the\\nwest, the lands and the seas were entirely unexplored and between\\nthat place and the civilized portion of Mexico, extended a wide\\nspace of uncultivated country, including Xalisco, which was called,\\nby the Spaniards, New Galicia. The ports occupied by the Span-\\niards on the Pacific side of Mexico, were Tehuantepec, the most\\neastern, at which Cortes had his arsenals and ship-yards Acapulco,\\nthe principal place of trade, and tl.e nearest to the capital and\\nZacatula, and Aguatlan, on the confines of Xalisco, beyond which\\nthe coasts were little known.\\nBefore entering upon the history of the Spanish discoveries on\\nthe North Pacific side of America, it should be observed, that the\\naccounts of these and other expeditions by sea, made at that period,\\nwhich have descended to us, are very obscure and inexact, especially\\nas regards geographical positions so that it is generally difficult,\\nand often impossible, to identify places by means of the descriptions\\ngiven in them. This arises partly from the circumstance, that the\\naccounts were nearly all written by priests, clerks, or other persons\\nunacquainted with naval matters, who paid little attention to lati-\\ntudes, longitudes, courses, and bearings, and were unable to record\\nthem properly and partly from the imperfection of the instruments\\nthen employed to determine the altitudes and relative distances of\\nthe heavenly bodies, which, even on land, and under the most favor-\\nable conditions of the atmosphere, gave results far from accurate,\\nand were entirely useless in a vessel on a rough sea, or in cloudy\\nweather. This uncertainty as to the positions of places necessarily\\nleads to confusion respecting their names and we accordingly find,\\nin the account of each of these voyages along the same portion of the\\ncoast, a nomenclature of capes, bays, and islands, almost entirely dif-\\nferent from that contained in the narratives of all the other voyages.\\nThe expedition of discovery, made, by order of Cortes, to the\\ncoasts north-west of Mexico, in 1532, was conducted by his kins-\\nman, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who sailed from Tehuantepec in\\nJuly of that year, with two vessels, one commanded by himself, the\\nother by Juan de Mazuela. In the instructions drawn up by Cortes,\\nof which a copy has been preserved, Mendoza was directed to sail\\nwithin sight of the coast, and, at all convenient places, to land, and", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "54 VOYAGES OF MENDOZA, GRIJALVA, AND BECERRA. [1532.\\ncommunicate with the natives, whom he was to concihate by every\\nmeans in his power. Should he find a country which seemed to be\\nrich, or inhabited by civihzed persons, he was immediately to return,\\nor to send back one of his vessels, with the news.* Hurtado de\\nMendoza accordingly proceeded slowly along the shore of the\\ncontinent, as far north-west as the 27th degree of latitude, where,\\nfinding his crew mutinous, he sent back one of his vessels, with\\nthe greater part of his men, and continued the voyage, with a smaL\\ncrew, in the other. The vessel sent back reached Culiacan River\\nin great distress, and was there deserted by nearly all her men. Her\\ncommander then endeavored, with the remainder of his crew, to\\ncarry her to Acapulco but she was stranded at the mouth of the\\nRiver of Vanderas, near the point now called Cape Corrientes, and\\nall on board, with the exception of three, were put to death by the\\nnatives of the country, after which the vessel was seized and plun-\\ndered by Nuno de Guzman. As to the vessel in which Mendoza\\ncontinued his voyage, a vague account was received, that she had\\nbeen thrown on the coast far north, and that all her crew had\\nperished.\\nCortes did not receive the news of the loss of the vessel which\\nhad been sent back by Hurtado de Mendoza until the middle\\nof the following year; and he then immediately despatched two\\nships from Tehuantepec, in search of the other vessel, under the\\ncommand, respectively, of Hernando Grijalva and Diego Becerra.\\nThese ships left the port together, on the 30th of September,\\n1533, but were soon after separated. Grijalva, going far out,\\ndiscovered a group of islands situated about fifty leagues from\\nthe coast, named by him Islands of St. Thomas, (the same now\\ncalled the Revillagigedo Islands,) where he remained until the\\nfollowing spring, and then returned to Acapulco, without having\\nseen any new part of the continent. Becerra, with the other ship,\\ntook his course north-westward along the shore of Xalisco, near\\nwhich his crew mutinied, and he was murdered by the pilot,\\nFortuno Ximenes. The mutineers, under the command of the\\npilot, then steered directly west from the main-land, and soon\\nreached a coast not before known, on which they landed, after\\nanchoring their ship in a small bay, near the 23d degree of latitude.\\nThere, more than twenty of their number, including Ximenes, were\\nHerrera, Decade v. book vii. Manuscript letters and memorials from Cortes to\\nthe emperor, in 1539 and 1540; and from Nuiio de Guzman, in 1535 and 1540.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "1535.] CORTES LANDS IN CALIFORNIA. 55\\nkilled by the natives the survivors succeeded in carrying the vessel\\nover to the little harbor of Chiametla, in Xalisco, where she also\\nwas seized by Nuno de Guzman.\\nThese attempts of Cortes to make discoveries in the north-west,\\nhad, in the mean time, excited Nuno de Guzman to efforts with the\\nsame object and he had sent several parties of men in that direc-\\ntion, one of which appears to have traced the western shore of the\\ncontinent as far as the mouth of the river now called the Colorado,\\nand to have first brought accounts of rich and populous countries\\nand splendid cities in the interior. Guzman had also received\\nlarge accessions to his forces from Mexico, and was making many\\nsettlements, one of which soon prospered, and became, in time,\\nthe city of Guadalaxara, the second in size in New Spain.\\nWhen Cortes became assured of the seizure of his vessels by\\nGuzman, he addressed a complaint on the subject to the Audiencia\\nwhose decision being, however, not so determinate in his favor as\\nhe wished, he assembled a large body of troops, and marched with\\nthem to Chiametla, where he also ordered three vessels to be sent\\nfrom Tehuantepec. On the approach of these forces, Guzman\\nadvanced to meet them, but no action ensued and Cortes, having\\nbeen joined at Chiametla by his vessels, embarked in them, with a\\nportion of his men, and set sail for the new country, found by\\nXimenes in the west,, which was said to abound in the finest pearls.\\nOn the 3d of May, 1535, the day of the Invention of the Holy\\nCross, according to the Roman Catholic calendar, the squadron\\nanchored in the bay, on the shore of which the murderers of\\nBecerra had met their fate in the preceding year and, in honor of\\nthe day, the name of Santa Cruz was bestowed on the place, of\\nwhich possession was solemnly taken for the Spanish sovereign.\\nThe country thus claimed by Cortes for Spain, was the south-east\\npart of the great peninsula, which projects from the American con-\\ntinent on the Pacific side, in nearly the same direction, and between\\nnearly the same parallels of latitude, as that of Florida on the\\nAtlantic side. It soon after received the name of California,\\nrespecting the origin and meaning of which, many speculations\\nnone of them satisfactory or even ingenious have been offered.\\nThe bay called Santa Cruz by Cortes was probably the same now\\nknown as Port La Paz, about a hundred miles from the Pacific,\\nnear the 24th degree of latitude though some accounts place\\nit in the immediate vicinity of the southernmost point of the\\npeninsula.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "56 CORTES SUPERSEDED BY MENDOZA. [1537.\\nOn the shore of this bay, surrounded by bare mountains of rock,\\narid and forbidding in appearance, though not more so than the\\nsandy waste about Vera Cruz, Cortes landed with a hundred and\\nthirty men and forty horses, and then sent back two of his vessels to\\nChiametla, to bring over the remainder of the forces hoping to\\nfind, in the interior of the new country, another Mexico, in the\\nconquest of which he might employ his powerful energies. The\\nvessels soon reappeared, with a portion of the troops, and were\\nagain despatched to the Mexican coast, from which only one of\\nthem returned, the other having been wrecked on her way. Cortes\\nthereupon embarked, with seventy men, for Xalisco, from which he\\ncame back, after encountering the greatest dangers, just in time\\nto prevent the total destruction by famine of those left at Santa\\nCruz.\\nIn these operations, more than a year was consumed, without\\nobtaining any promise of advantage. The new country, so far as it\\nhad been explored, was utterly barren, and, except that a few pearls\\nwere found on the coast, destitute of all attraction for the Spaniards.\\nThe officers of the expedition were discontented of the men, a\\nnumber had died from want and disease the others were\\nmutinous, and cursed Cortes, his island, his bay, and his dis-\\ncovery.\\nMeanwhile his wife, becoming alarmed by the reports of the ill\\nsuccess of the expedition, which had reached Mexico, sent a vessel\\nto Santa Cruz, with letters entreating his immediate return and he,\\nat the same time, learned that he had been superseded in the\\ngovernment of New Spain by Don Antonio de Mendoza, a noble-\\nman of high rank and character, who had already made his\\nentrance into the capital as viceroy.\\nThe removal of Cortes from the government of the country which\\nhad, by his means, been added to the dominions of Spain, was a\\nheavy blow particularly as he was, at that moment, much embar-\\nrassed from want of funds, his private property having been seriously\\ninjured by the expenses of his recent expeditions, from which no\\nadvantage had been obtained. He was, in consequence, obliged to\\nreturn to Mexico, where he arrived in the beginning of 1537, and,\\nsoon after, to recall from Santa Cruz his lieutenant, Francisco de\\nUlloa, with the forces which had been left there and, not being\\nable, at the time, to employ his vessels, he sent two of them, under\\nGrijalva, to Peru, laden with arms, ammunition, and provisions, in\\nBernal Dias, chap. 199.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "1527.] RAMBLES OF CABEZA-VACA. 57\\naid of his friend Francisco Pizarro, who was then in great difficulties,\\nfrom an extensive insurrection of the natives.*\\nCortes, nevertheless, still claimed the right, in virtue of his\\ncapitulation with the sovereign, and as admiral of the South Sea,\\nto make expeditions on that ocean for his own benefit and he\\nresolved to prosecute the discovery of California, by which he\\nstill expected to retrieve his fortunes, so soon as he could obtain the\\nrequisite funds. The advancement of this claim, however, brought\\nhim into collision with the new viceroy, who was an enlightened\\nand determined man, and who had likewise become interested in the\\nexploration of the regions north-west of Mexico, by the accounts of\\nsome persons recently arrived from that quarter and a violent con-\\ntroversy ensued between the two chiefs, which lasted until the\\nconqueror quitted Mexico.\\nThe persons from whom the viceroy Mendoza received this\\ninformation respecting the territories north-west of Mexico, were\\nAlvaro Nunez de Cabeza-Vaca, two other Spaniards, and a negro or\\nMoor. They had landed, in 1527, near Tampa Bay, in the\\npeninsula of Florida, among the adventurers who invaded that\\ncountry under Panfilo Narvaez, in search of mines and plunder\\nand, after the destruction of their comrades by shipwreck, starvation,\\nand the arrows of the Indians, they had wandered for nine years\\nthrough forests and deserts, until they reached Culiacan, whence\\nthey were sent on to Mexico. Of their route, it is impossible to\\nform any exact idea from the narrative published by Cabeza-Vaca\\nhe had seen no signs of wealth or civilization in the regions which\\nhe had traversed; but he had, in many places, received from the\\nnatives accounts of rich and populous countries, inhabited by\\ncivilized people, situated farther north-west and the viceroy, after\\nhearing these accounts, thought proper to endeavor to ascertain the\\nA long account of the adventures of Cortes, in his Californian expedition, may\\nbe found in Herrera, Decade viii. book viii. chap. ix. and x. The descriptions of\\nthe localities given by Herrera, and other historians, are, however, so vague, that it is\\nimpossible to trace the movements of the Spaniards with exactness and the events\\nrelated are unimportant, being merely details of disasters, such as might have\\noccurred to ordinary men, engaged in ordinary enterprises. Those who take interest\\nin every thing connected with Cortes, and the number of such must doubtless be\\ngreatly increased, since the publication of Mr. Prescott s History of the Conquest of\\nMexico, may obtain explanations, as to the events of this expedition, from the\\nIntroduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes, and from the first volume of\\nBurney s History of Voyages in the Pacific but they should avoid the account\\ngiven by Fleurieu, in his Introduction to the Journal of Marchand s Voyage, which\\nonly renders confusion worse confounded.\\n8", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "58 ULLOA DISCOVERS THE WEST COAST OF CALIFORNIA. [1539.\\ntruth of them. For this purpose he collected a band of fifty horse-\\nmen, who were to be commanded by Dorantes, one of the compan-\\nions of Cabeza-Vaca but, that plan being overthrown by some\\ncircumstance, he was induced, by the representations of his friend,\\nthe celebrated Bartolome de las Casas, to depute two friars to make\\nthe exploration, with the view of preserving the inhabitants of the\\ncountries visited, from the violence to which military men would not\\nfail to resort, if there should be occasion, for the gratification of\\ntheir cupidity. The friars, Marcos de Niza, provincial of the\\nFranciscan order in Mexico, and Honorato, accompanied by the\\nnegro or Moor, Estavanico, who had crossed the continent with\\nCabeza-Vaca, accordingly set out from Culiacan, on the 7th of March,\\n1539, in search of the rich countries reported to lie in the north-west.\\nSoon after the departure of the friars, the last expedition made\\nby order of Cortes was begun.* It was commanded by Francisco\\nde Ulloa, who sailed from Acapulco on the 8th of July, 1539, with\\nthree vessels, well manned and equipped, and took his course for\\nCalifornia. One of the vessels was driven ashore in a storm near\\nCuliacan with the others Ulloa proceeded to the Bay of Santa\\nCruz, and thence in a few days departed to survey the coasts\\ntowards the north-east. In this occupation the ships were engaged\\nuntil the 18th of October, when Ulloa returned to Santa Cruz,\\nhaving in the mean time completely examined both shores of the\\ngreat gulf which separates California from the main land on the\\neast, and ascertained the fact of the junction of the two territories,\\nnear the 32d degree of latitude, though he failed to discover the\\nColorado River, which enters the gulf at its northern extremity.\\nThis gulf was named, by Ulloa, the Sea of Cortes; but it is gener-\\nally distinguished, on Spanish maps, as the Vermilion Sea, (JSlar\\nVermejo,) and, in those of other nations, as the Gulf of California.\\nOn the 29th of October, Ulloa again sailed from Santa Cruz, in\\norder to examine the coasts farther west, and having rounded the\\npoint now called Cape San Lucas, which forms the southern\\nextremity of California, he pursued his voyage along the coast\\ntowards the north. In this direction the Spaniards proceeded\\nslowly, often landing and fighting with the natives, and generally\\nopposed by violent storms from the north-west, until the end of\\nJanuary, 1540, when they had reached an island near the coast,\\nunder the 28th parallel of latitude, which they named the Isle of\\nSee Narrative of Francisco Preciado, one of the officers of the Santa Agueda, in\\nRamusio, vol. iii. p. 283, and in Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 503.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "1540.] JOURNEY OF FRIAR MARCOS DE NIZA. 59\\nCedars. There they remained the greater part of the time, until\\nthe beginning of April, being prevented from advancing farther\\nnorth by head winds; and then, as several of the crews of both\\nvessels were disabled by sickness, and their provisions were insuf-\\nficient to enable them to continue tlie voyage together much longer,\\nUlloa resolved to send one of his ships back to Mexico. The\\nSanta Agueda, bearing the sick and the accounts of the discoveries,\\naccordingly sailed from the Isle of Cedars on the 5th of April, and\\nin the beginning of the following month she arrived at Santiago, in\\nXalisco, where she was seized by the officers of the viceroy, who\\nwas anxious to learn the particulars of her discoveries. Of the fate\\nof Ulloa there are contradictory accounts. Herrera says that\\nnothing was ever heard of him after his parting with the Santa\\nAgueda others of his contemporaries, however, state that he con-\\ntinued his voyage along the west coast of Cahfornia, as far as a\\npoint called Cape Engano, near the 30th degree of latitude, and\\nthence returned safely to Mexico.\\nWhatsoever may have been the importance of the geographical\\nresults of this voyage, they were scarcely satisfactory to Cortes and\\nthey attracted little attention among the Spaniards in Mexico, who\\nwere then all engaged in plans and speculations concerning the rich\\nand delightful countries, of the discovery of which, by Friar Marcos\\nde Niza and his companions, accounts had recently arrived. From\\nthese accounts, as contained in the letter addressed to the viceroy\\nby Friar Marcos,* and from other evidence, it is probable that the\\nreverend explorer did really penetrate to a considerable distance into\\nthe interior of the continent, and did find there countries partially\\ncultivated, and inhabited by people possessing some acquaintance\\nwith the arts of civilized life though, as to the precise situation of\\nthose regions, or the routes })ursued in reaching them, no definite\\nidea can be derived from the narrative. The friar pretended to\\nhave discovered, north-west of Mexico, beyond the 35th degree of\\nlatitude, extensive territories, richly cultivated, and abounding in\\ngold, silver, and precious stones, the population of which was much\\ngreater, and farther advanced in civilization, than those of Mexico\\nor Peru. In these countries were many towns, and seven cities,\\nof which the friar only saw one, called C evola or Cibola, containing\\ntwenty thousand large stone houses, some of four stories, and\\nThe letter of Friar Marcos, relating his discoveries, may be found in Ramusio,\\nvol. iii. p. 297, and in Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 43S. See, also, Herrera, Decade vi. p. 204,.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "60 VOYAGE OF ALARCON. [1540.\\nadorned with jewels yet he was assured, by the people, that this\\nwas the smallest of the cities, and far inferior, in extent and mag-\\nnificence, to one called Totonteac, situated more towards the north-\\nwest. The inhabitants of Cibola had, at first, been hostile to the\\nSpaniards, and had killed the negro but they had, in the end,\\nmanifested a disposition to embrace Christianity, and to submit to\\nthe authority of the king of Spain, in whose name Friar Marcos\\nhad taken possession of the whole country, by secretly erecting\\ncrosses in many places.\\nThese, and other things of a similar kind, gravely related by a\\nrespectable priest, who professed to have witnessed what he described,\\nwere universally admitted to be true and the viceroy Mendoza,\\nhaving communicated them to his sovereign, began to prepare for\\nthe reduction of the new countries, and the conversion of their\\ninhabitants to Christianity. Cortes, however, insisted on continuing\\nhis discoveries in the same direction, apparently giving little credit\\nto the statements of Friar Marcos while his old companion in arms,\\nthe redoubtable Pedro de Alvarado, claimed to undertake the con-\\nquest in virtue of a capitulation recently concluded between himself\\nand the emperor. Hernando de Soto, likewise, who had just\\nobtained a commission for the discovery of Florida, declared the\\nseven cities to be within his jurisdiction and Nuho de Guzman\\nprotested that his own right was the best, and with some reason, in\\nconsequence of his labors in the subjugation and settlement of New\\nGalicia, of which he maintained that the rich countries formed\\npart. After these disputes had lasted some months, a compromise\\nwas made between the viceroy and Alvarado, agreeably to which\\nthe latter was to command the expedition destined for the reduction\\nof the rich territories in the north-west and, about the same time,\\nCortes returned in disgust to Spain, where he passed the remaining\\nseven years of his life in vain efforts to recover his authority in\\nMexico, or to obtain indemnification for his losses.\\nThe viceroy Mendoza had, however, immediately on receiving the\\nnews of the discoveries from Friar Marcos, sent two bodies of armed\\nforces, the one by land, the other by sea, to reconnoitre the rich\\ncountries, and prepare the way for their conquest.\\nThe marine armament consisted of two ships, commanded by\\nFernando de Alarcon, who sailed from the port of Santiago on the\\n9th of May, 1540, and, proceeding along the coast towards the\\nnorth-west, reached the extremity of the Gulf of California in\\nAugust following. There he discovered a great river, which he", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "1540.] EXPEDITION OF VAZC^UEZ DE CORONADO. 6.\\nnamed Rio de Nuestra Setiora de Buena Guia* (or River of our\\nLady of Safe Conduct,) probably the same now called the Colorado.\\nThis stream Alarcon ascended, to the distance of more than eighty\\nleagues, with a party of his men, in boats, making inquiries on the\\nway about the seven cities in reply to which, he received from\\nthe Indians a number of confused stories of kingdoms rich in\\nprecious metals and jewels of rivers filled with crocodiles and other\\nmonsters of droves of buffaloes of enchanters and other won-\\nderful or remarkable objects. Of Totonteac he could learn nothing\\nthough, at the end of his voyage up the river, he obtained what he\\nconsidered some definite information respecting Cibola, and was\\nassured that he might reach that place by a march of ten days into\\nthe interior. He, however, suspected treachery on the part of those\\nwho gave the assurance and, not conceiving it prudent to attempt\\nto advance farther, he returned to his ships. In a second voyage up\\nthe river, he obtained no additional information and, believing it\\nneedless to continue the search, he went back to Mexico, where he\\narrived before the end of the year.f\\nThe land forces, despatched at the same time towards the north-\\nwest, were composed of cavalry and infantry, and were accompanied\\nby priests, for the conversion of the natives to Christianity. They\\nwere commanded by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, a man of\\nresolute and serious character, and by no means disposed to exag-\\ngerate, who had been appointed governor of New Galicia, in place\\nof Nuno de Guzman. His letter to the viceroy,| containing\\naccounts of tjie first period of the expedition, though wanting in\\nprecision, is yet sufficiently exact to afford a general idea of the\\ndirection in which he marched, and even of the position of some of\\nthe principal places which he visited.\\nIn honor of the viceroy, wlio bore on his arms an image of JVuestra Senora de\\nBuena Guia.\\nt Letter of Alarcon to the viceroy Mendoza, in Ramusio, vol. iii. p. 303, and in\\nHakluyt, vol. iii. p. 505. See, also, Herrera, Decade vi. p. 208.\\nThe Californian Gulf had thus been completely explored, as appears not only\\nfrom the accounts of the voyages of Ulloa and Alarcon, but also from a chart of the\\ncoasts of California, and the west coast of Mexico, drawn, in 1541, by Domingo del\\nCastillo, Alarcon s pilot, of which an Ksngraved facsimile may be found in the edition\\nof the Letters of Cortes, published at Mexico, in 1770, by Archbishop Lorenzana.\\nThe shores of the gulf, and of the west side of California, to the 30th degree of lati-\\ntude, are there delineated with a surprising approach to accuracy. The pilot doubt-\\nless derived his information chiefly from the journals of Ulloa, which were sent back\\nin the Santa Agueda, and were seized, by order of the viceroy, immediately on the\\narrival of that vessel in Mexico.\\nt Ramusio, vol. iii. p. 300. Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 447.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "62 CIBOLA. [1540.\\nAgreeably to this letter, the Spaniards left Culiacan on the 22d\\nof April, 1540, and took their way towards the north, following, as\\nwell as they could, the course described by the friar but, ere they\\nhad proceeded far, they had abundant evidences of the incorrect-\\nness of the accounts of that personage for the route which he had\\nrepresented as easy and practicable, proved to be almost impassable.\\nThey, however, made their way over mountains and deserts, and\\nthrough rivers, and, at length, in July, they reached the country of\\nthe seven cities, for which Cibola appeared to be the general name\\nbut, to their disappointment, it proved to be only a half-cultivated\\nregion, thinly inhabited by people not absolutely savage, though\\ndestitute of the wealth and refinement attributed to them by Friar\\nMarcos. The seven great cities were seven small towns, some of\\nthem, indeed, containing large houses of stone, rudely built, and un-\\nornamented. Of fruits there were none, except such as grew wild\\nand the immense quantities of precious metals and stones were\\nmerely a few turquoises, and some gold and silver, supposed to be\\ngood. In fine, says Vazquez de Coronado, in his letter to the\\nviceroy, of the seven cities, and the kingdoms and provinces of\\nwhich the reverend father provincial made a report to your excel-\\nlency, he spoke the truth in nothing for we have found all to be\\nquite the contrary, except only as to the houses of stone. The\\nSpaniards, nevertheless, took possession of the country, in due form,\\nfor their sovereign and, being pleased with its soil and climate,\\nthey entreated their commander to allow them to remain and settle\\nthere. To this inglorious proposition Vazquez refused to consent\\nand, having despatched his letter to Mendoza, from one of the cities\\nof Cibola, named by him Granada, he took his departure, with his\\nforces, for the north-west, in search of other new countries.\\nFrom the descriptions of the position, climate, productions, and\\nanimals, of Cibola, given by Vazquez de Coronado, there is some\\nreason for believing it to be the region near the great dividing\\nchain of mountains, east of the northernmost part of the Gulf of\\nCalifornia, about the head-waters of the Rivers Yaqui and Gila,\\nwhich fall into that arm of the Pacific. This part of America, now\\ncalled Sonora, (a corruption of Seilora,) though long since settled by\\nthe Spaniards, is little known to the inhabitants of other countries.\\nIt is described, by those who have recently visited it, as a most\\ndelightful, productive, and salubrious region, containing innumerable\\nmines of silver and gold, among which are some of the richest in\\nthe world. There are, moreover, in that territory, many collections", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "1540\u00e2\u0080\u00941543.] ^uiviRA. 63\\nof ruins of large stone buildings, which were found in their present\\nstate by the first Spanish settlers, and are called casus grandes de\\nJos Azieques, (great houses of the Aztecks,) from the supposi-\\ntion or tradition that they were built by that people before their\\ninvasion of Mexico.* Vazquez de Coronado, indeed, remarks that\\nthe inhabitants of Cibola, though not wanting in intelligence, did\\nnot appear to be capable of erecting the houses which he saw there.\\nOf the movements of the Spaniards, after they quitted Cibola,\\nin August, 1540, the accounts are so vague and contradictory, tiiat\\nit is impossible to trace their route. It seems, however, that the\\ngreater part of the forces soon returned to Mexico while the others,\\nunder their commander, wandered, for nearly two years longer,\\nthrough the interior of the continent, in search of a country called\\n^uivira, said, by the Indians, to be situated far in the north, and to\\nbe governed by a king named Tatarrax, with a long beard, hoary-\\nheaded, and rich, who worshipped a cross of gold, and the image\\nof the Queen of Heaven. f This country they found near the 40th\\ndegree of latitude but the people had no other wealth than skins\\nand their king, though hoary-headed, possessed no jewels, save one\\nof copper, lianging about his neck. Quivira is described as a level\\nterritory, covered with herds of buffaloes, which form the whole\\nsupport of the inhabitants; and, if its latitude has been correctly\\nreported, it is most probably the region about the head-waters of the\\nArkansas and Platte Rivers though Gomara places it near the sea,\\nand says that the Spaniards saw ships on the coast, laden with\\nEast India goods. Vazquez had, probably, before leaving Quivira,\\nlearned the true value of Indian accounts of rich countries and,\\nnot deeming it advisable to pursue the search for them any longer,\\nhe returned to Mexico in 1543.\\nDuring the absence of Vazquez de Coronado, the great arma-\\nment, destined for the exploration and conquest of the north-western\\nterritories, under Pedro de Alvarado, was prepared but, just as\\nthe expedition was about to be commenced, a rebellion broke out\\namong the Indians of Xalisco, and all the forces at the viceroy s\\ndisposal were required to quell it. In the campaign which ensued,\\nin the summer of 1541, Alvarado was killed by a kick from a horse\\nand Mendoza s expectations of advantage from the north-west\\nregions were, in the mean time, so much lowered, that he resolved\\nto reduce the scale of his expeditions for discovery in that quarter.\\nHardy s Travels in Mexico, from 1825 to 1828. f Gomara, chap. 213", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "64 VOYAGE OF CABRILLO. [1542, 1543.\\nThe disturbances being, at length, ended, in the spring of 1542, two\\nvessels were placed under the command of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo,\\na Portuguese of high reputation as a navigator, who was directed\\nto examine the western side of California, as far northward as pos-\\nsible, seeking particularly for rich countries, and for passages leading\\ntowards the iVtlantic while Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, a relation of\\nthe viceroy, was sent, with the remamder of the disposable vessels\\nand forces, across the Pacific, to endeavor to form establishments in\\nIndia.\\nThe two vessels under Cabrillo sailed together from Navidad, a\\nsmall port in Xalisco, in June, 1542 and, having in a few days\\ndoubled Cape San Lucas, the survey of the west coast of California\\nwas begun from that point. It would be needless to endeavor to\\ntrace the progress of Cabrillo along this coast, or to enumerate the\\nmany capes and bays mentioned in the account of his voyage,\\nnearly all of which places, so far as they can be identified, are now\\ndistinguished by names entirely different from those bestowed on\\nthem by him. By the middle of August, he had advanced beyond\\nthe limits of the supposed discoveries of Ulloa and, in November,\\nafter having examined the coast as far north as the 38th degree of\\nlatitude, he was driven back, and forced to take refuge in a harbor\\nnamed by him Port Possession, situated in the Island of San\\nBernardo, one of the Santa Barbara group, near the main land,\\nunder the 34th parallel. There Cabrillo, who had been for some\\ntime sick, sank under the fatigues of the voyage, on the 3d of\\nJanuary, 1543, leaving the command to the pilot, Bartolome Ferrelo.\\nThe new commander, being no less zealous and determined than\\nhis predecessor, resolved, if possible, to accomplish the main objects\\nof the expedition before returning to Mexico. He accordingly,\\nsoon after, sailed from Port Possession towards the north, and, on\\nthe 26th of February, reached a promontory situated under the 41st\\nparallel, to which he gave the name of Cabo de Fortunas, (Cape\\nof Perils, or Stormy Cape,) from the dangers encountered in its\\nvicinity. On the 1st of March, the ships were in the latitude of\\n44 degrees, as determined by a solar observation but, on the fol-\\nlowing day, they were again driven to the south and, the men\\nbeing, at this time, almost worn out, by long exposure to cold and\\nfatigue, without sufficient food or clothing, Ferrelo determined to go\\nback to Mexico. The ships, therefore, quitted the Isle of Cedars,\\ndiscovered by Ulloa, in the beginning of April, and, on the 14th of\\nthat month, they arrived at Navidad.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "1543.] EXPEDITION OF SOTO. 65\\nFrom the accounts of this expedition which have been preserved,\\nit is not easy to determine precisely how far north the American\\ncoast was discovered. The most northern point of land mentioned\\nin those accounts is the Cape of Perils, which, though there placed\\nunder the 41st parallel, was probably the same soon after called\\nCape Mendocino, in the latitude of 40 degrees 20 minutes. Other\\nauthors, however, whose opinions are entitled to respect, pronounce\\nthe 43d parallel to be the northern limit of the discoveries made by\\nthe Spaniards in 1543.*\\nWhilst these expeditions to the north-western parts of America\\nwere in progress, Hernando de Soto, and his band of Spanish\\nadventurers, were performing their celebrated march, in quest of\\nmines and plunder, through the regions extending nortii of the Gulf\\nof Mexico, which were then known by the general name of Florida.\\nWithout attempting here to trace the line of their wanderings,\\nsuffice it to say, that they traversed, in various directions, the vast\\nterritories now composing the Southern and South- Western States\\nof the American Federal Union, and descended the Mississippi in\\nboats, from the vicinity of the mouth of the Arkansas to the Mex-\\nican Gulf, on which they continued their voyage, along the coast,\\nto Panuco. From the accounts of the few who survived the toils\\nand perils of that memorable enterprise, taken together with those\\ncollected by Cabeza-Vaca and Vazquez de Coronado, concerning\\nthe territories which they had respectively visited, it was considered\\ncertain that neither ivealthy nations, nor navigable passages of com-\\nmunication between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, were to be\\nfound north of Mexico, unless beyond the 40th parallel of latitude.\\nThe Spaniards, having arrived at these conclusions, for some time\\ndesisted from attempting to explore the north western section of\\nthe continent and circumstances, meanwhile, occurred, which\\nimpressed their government with the belief that the discovery of any\\npassage facilitating the entrance of European vessels into the Pacific,\\nwould be deleterious to the power and interests of Spain in the New\\nWorld.\\nIntroduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes, p. 35. See, also, Burney s\\nHistory of Voyages in the Pacific, vol. i. p. 220.\\n9", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "66\\nCHAPTER II.\\n1543 TO 1606.\\nThe Spaniards conquer the Philippine Islands, and establish a direct Trade across the\\nPacific, between Asia and America Measures of the Spanish Government to\\nprevent other European Nations from settling or trading in America These\\nMeasures resisted by tlie English, the French, and the Dutch Free Traders and\\nFreebooters infest the West Indies First Voyages of the English in the Pacific\\nVoyages of Drake and Cavendish Endeavors of the English to discover a North-\\nWest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific False Reports of the Discovery\\nof such Passages Supposed Voyages of Urdaiieta, Maldonado, and Fonts\\nVoyage of Juan de Fuca Expeditions of Sebastian Vizcaino Supposed Dis-\\ncovery of a great River in North- West America.\\nWhilst the Spaniards were thus extending their dominion in\\nthe New World, the Portuguese were daily acquiring advantages\\nin India, with which they carried on a profitable trade, by means of\\ntheir ships sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. The Spaniards,\\nviewing this increase of the power of their rivals with jealousy and\\nhatred, made many endeavors, likewise, to form establishments in\\nAsia but all their expeditions for that purpose before the middle\\nof the sixteenth century, terminated disastrously. The armaments\\nsent from Spain to India under Loyasa, in 1525, and from Mexico,\\nunder Saavedra, in the ensuing year, were entirely ineffective. In\\n1542, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos crossed the Pacific with a large\\nsquadron from Mexico, and took possession of the Philippine Islands\\nfor his sovereign but his forces were soon after dispersed, and\\nnone of his vessels returned either to Europe or to America.\\nIn 1564, the Spaniards made another attempt to gain a footing\\nin the East Indies, which was successful. The Philippine Islands\\nwere in that year subjugated by Miguel de Legazpi, who had been\\ndespatched from Mexico with a small squadron for the purpose\\nand a discovery was also made in the course of this expedition,\\nwithout which the conquest would have been of no value. Before\\nthat period, no European had ever crossed the Pacific from Asia to\\nAmerica; all who had endeavored to make such a voyage having\\nconfined themselves to the part of the ocean between the tropics", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "1564,] IMPROVEMENTS IN THE NAVIGATION OF THE PACIFIC. 67\\nwhere the winds blow constantly from eastern points. Three of\\nLegazpi s vessels, however, under the direction of Andres de\\nUrdaneta, a friar, who had in early life accompanied Magellan in\\nhis expedition, and had subsequently acquired great reputation as\\na navigator, by taking a northward course from the Philippine\\nIslands, entered a region of variable winds, near the 40th parallel\\nof latitude, and were thus enabled to reach the coast of California,\\nalong which the prevailing north-westers carried them speedily to\\nMexico.\\nThe Spaniards thus gained, what they had so long coveted, a\\nposition in the East Indies and the practicability of communicating,\\nby way of the Pacific, between Asia and America, was placed\\nbeyond a doubt. At the same time, also, Juan Fernandes discov-\\nered the mode of navigating between places on the west coast of\\nSouth America, by standing out obliquely to a distance from the\\ncontinent and other improvements of a similar kind having been\\nmoreover introduced, the Spanish commerce on the Pacific soon\\nbecame important. Large ships, called galleons, sailed annually\\nfrom Acapulco to Manilla, in the Philippine Islands, and to Macao,\\nin China, laden with precious metals and European merchandise, in\\nreturn for which they brought back silks, spices, and porcelain, for\\nconsumption in America, or for transportation over the Atlantic to\\nEurope while an extensive trade in articles equally valuable was\\ncarried on between Panama and the various ports of Peru and\\nChili. These voyages on the Pacific were usually long, but com-\\nparatively safe, at least so far as regards exemption from injury by\\nwinds and waves, though the crews of the vessels often suflfered\\ndreadfully from scurvy occasioned by filth and want of good water\\nand provisions and, as that ocean remained for some years undis-\\nturbed by the presence of enemies of Spain, little care or cost was\\nbestowed upon the defence, either of the vessels or of the towns on\\nthe coasts.\\nThe galleons, proceeding from Mexico to India, were wafted, by\\nthe invariable easterly or trade winds, directly across the ocean, in\\nabout three months in the return voyage, they often occupied\\nmore than double that time, and they always made the west coast\\nof California, the principal points on which thus became tolerably\\nwell known before the end of the sixteenth century. Accounts of\\nFor accounts of the miseries of a voyage from Manilla to Acapulco, in 1697, see\\nGemelli Carreri s narrative, in the fourth volume of Churchill s collection of voyages,\\nwliich, if not true, is very like truth.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "68 VOYAGE OF GAU. [1584.\\nsome of these voyages have been preserved, but they are of Uttle\\nvalue at present, from their want of precision. One of them is a\\nletter from Francisco Gali, addressed to the viceroy of Mexico,\\ndescribing his passage from Macao to Acapulco, in 1584, in the\\ncourse of which he sailed along the west coast of America, from the\\nlatitude of thirty-seven and a half degrees southward to Mexico.*\\nIt has, however, been maintained, on the evidence of papers found\\nin the archives of the Indies,f that Gali arrived on that coast in the\\nlatitude of fifty-seven and a half degrees, and is therefore to be\\nconsidered as the discoverer of the whole shore between that par-\\nallel and the forty-third but this assertion is supported by no\\nevidence sufficient to overthrow the express statement of the\\nnavigator in his letter, the genuineness of which is not denied and\\nGali, moreover, there declares that the land first seen by him was\\nvery high and fair, and wholly without snow, which could not\\nhave been the case with regard to the north-west coast of America,\\nunder the parallel of fifty-seven and a half degrees, in the middle\\nof October. In 1595, Sebastian Cermenon, in the ship San\\nAugustin, on his way from Manilla to Acapulco, examined the\\nsame coasts, by order of the viceroy of Mexico, in search of some\\nharbor in which the galleons might take refuge, and make repairs,\\nor obtain water but nothing has been preserved respecting his\\nvoyage, except that his ship was lost near the Bay of San Francisco,\\nsouth of Cape Mendocino.\\nThe Spanish government was, in the mean time, engaged in\\ndevising, and applying to its dominions in the New World, those\\nmeasures of restriction and exclusion, which were pursued so\\nrigidly, and with so little variation, during the whole period of its\\nsupremacy in the American continent. The great object of this\\nsystem was simply to secure to the monarch and people of Spain\\nthe entire enjoyment of all the advantages which were supposed to\\nbe derivable from those dominions, consistently with the perpetual\\nmaintenance of absolute authority over them and, for this object, it\\nIn Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 526, the letter from Gali to the viceroy is given at length,\\nas translated out of the original Spanish into Dutch, by John Huyghen Van\\nLinschoten, and out of Dutch into English. In Linschoten, as in Hakluyt, thirty-\\nseven and a half degrees is given as the northernmost part of the coast seen by Gali.\\nt See the note in the Introduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdcs, at page\\n46, in which two letters from the viceroy of Mexico to the king of Spain, relative\\nto the voyage of Gali, are mentioned but the account there given differs in nothing,\\nexcept as to the latitude, from that in the letter published by Linschoten and Hak-\\nluyt. Humboldt adopts the opinion of the author of the Introduction, without,\\nhowever, adding any information or reasoning on the subject.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "1570.] SPANISH GOVERNMENT OF AMERICA. 69\\nwas deemed expedient not only to exclude the subjects of other Euro-\\npean states from the territories claimed by Spain, that is, from the\\nwhole of the New World except Brazil, but also to prevent the\\nrapid development of the resources of the Spanish provinces them-\\nselves.* In these views the Spaniards have not been singular but\\nno other power, in modern times, has employed measures so extreme\\nin fulfilling them. Thus no Spaniard could emigrate to America,\\nno new settlement could be formed there, and no new country or\\nsea could be explored, without the express permission of the sov-\\nereign and, when expeditions for discovery were made, the results\\nwere often concealed, or tardily and imperfectly promulgated. No\\narticle could be cultivated or manufactured for commerce in Amer-\\nica, which could be imported from Spain and no intercourse could\\nbe carried on between the different great divisions of those posses-\\nsions, or between either of them and the mother country, except in\\nvessels belonging to or specially licensed by the government, or\\notherwise under its immediate supervision. With the rest of the\\nworld, the Spanish Americans could have no correspondence and\\nall foreigners were prohibited, under pain of death, from touching\\nthe territories claimed by Spain, and even from navigating the seas\\nin their vicinity. Whoever, says Hakluyt, at the end of the\\nsixteenth century, is conversant with the Portugal and Spanish\\nwriters, shall find that they account all other nations for pirates,\\nThe Spanish dominions in America, togetlier with the Canary and the Philippine\\nIslands, formed one empire, called the Indies, of which the king of Spain was, ex\\nofficio, the sovereign. The territories were divided into great sections, or kingdoms,\\neach entirely independent of the others, except in certain prescribed contingencies\\nthe general direction of the wiiole being committed to the Supreme Council of the\\nIndies, a special ministry, residing in the palace of the king, in whose name all its\\norders were issued. The larger kingdoms of the Indies were under the immediate\\ngovernment of viceroys, representing the authority and person of the sovereign the\\nothers were governed by captains-general or by presidents, whose powers were\\nmore limited. All these high officers were, however, kept in check by the courts\\ncalled Audiencias, resembling the Supreme Council in their organization and\\nattributes, one or two of which were established in each kingdom. The commerce\\nof those countries was under the superintendence of a board, called the House of\\nContracts of the Indies, sitting at Seville, to and from which port all expeditions, from\\nand to America, were, for a long time, obliged to pass.\\nThe laws and regulations of the Supreme Council were, from time to time, revised\\nand those which were to remain in force were published in a collection entitled the\\nRccopilacion de Leijes de Indias, (Compilation of Laws of the Indies,) containing\\nthe rules for the conduct of all the officers of the government. The provisions of\\nthis celebrated code are, in general, remarkable for their justice and humanity the\\nenforcement of them, being, however, left to those who had no direct interest in the\\nprosperity and advancement of the country, was most shamefully neglected.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "70 FREE TRADERS AND FREEBOOTERS. [1570.\\nrovers, and thieves, which visit any heathen coast that they have\\nsailed by or looked on.\\nAgainst these exclusive regulations the English and the French\\nat first murmured and protested, and then began to act. The\\nEnglish government, having thrown off its allegiance to the head of\\nthe Roman Catholic church, denied the validity of the Spanish\\nclaims founded on the papal concessions, and required from Spain\\nthe recognition of the rights of Englishmen to navigate any part of\\nthe ocean, to settle in any country not occupied by another Chris-\\ntian nation, and to tiade with the Spanish American provinces.\\nThese demands having been resisted, Queen Elizabeth openly, as\\nwell as covertly, encouraged her subjects, even in time of peace, to\\nviolate regulations which she pronounced unjustifiable and inhuman\\nand the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indian seas were, in conse-\\nquence, haunted by bands of daring English, who, under the\\nequivocal denominations of free traders and freebooters, set at\\ndefiance the prohibitions of the Spaniards, as to commerce and\\nterritorial occupation, and plundered their ships, and the towns on\\ntheir coasts. About the same time, the French Protestants began\\ntheir attempts to plant colonies in Florida and Carolina, which were\\nnot defeated without considerable expenditure of Spanish blood and\\ntreasure and the revolt in the Netherlands, which ended in the\\nliberation of the Dutch provinces, soon after produced a formidable\\naddition to the forces of these irregular enemies of Spain. The\\nefforts of the English, and of their government, to establish com-\\nmerce with the Spanish dominions in America, have, in fact, been\\nthe principal causes or motives of nearly all the wars between those\\nnations since the middle of the sixteenth century. In these efforts\\nthe English have constantly persevered and the Spanish govern-\\nment has resolutely opposed them, during peace, during war, and\\nQueen Elizabeth s reply to the Spanish ambassador, who complained of the\\nplunder of one of his sovereign s vessels by the English, in the West Indies, during\\npeace between the two nations, is characteristic of her disposition, as well as reason-\\nable. She said that the Spaniards had drawn these inconveniences upon themselves,\\nby their severe and unjust dealings in their American commerce for she did not\\nunderstand why either her subjects, or those of any other European prince, should\\nbe debarred from traflic in the Indies that, as she did not acknowledge the Spaniards\\nto have any title, by donation of the bishop of Rome, so she knew no riglit they had\\nto any places other than those they were in actual possession of; for that their\\nhaving touched only here and there upon a coast, and given names to a few rivers\\nor capes, were such insignificant tilings as could in no ways entitle them to a pro-\\npriety farther than in the parts where they actually settled, and continued to inhabit.\\nCamden s Annals of Queen Elizabeth s Reign, for 1580.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "1570.] ALARMS AND PROHIBITIONS OF THE SPANIARDS. 71\\neven during alliance between the two powers, until the last moment\\nof the existence of the Spanish authority in the American continent.\\nCould Spain have so long retained the possession of her colonies\\nin America, if she had adopted any other system with regard to\\nthem\\nThe Pacific was, for some years, preserved from the ravages of\\nthese daring adventurers, by the dread of the difficulties and\\ndangers attending the passage of vessels into that ocean, from the\\nAtlantic, through the Strait of Magellan and the Spanish govern-\\nment began to regard as bulwarks of defence those natural\\nobstacles to maritime intercourse between Europe and the\\nwestern side of America, to remove or counteract which so many\\nefforts had been previously made. Thenceforward, the expeditions\\nof the Spaniards, in search of new channels connecting the two\\noceans, were undertaken only with the object of securing the\\npassage, if it should be found, against the vessels of other\\nnations and the heaviest penalties were denounced against all\\npersons who should attempt, or even propose, to form artificial\\ncommunications by canals across the continent.* These circum-\\nstances, on the other hand, served to stimulate the enemies\\nof Spain in their endeavors to discover easier routes to the Pacific\\nto effect which, the Dutch and the English navigators perseveringly\\nlabored, during the latter years of the sixteenth and the beginning\\nof the seventeenth centuries.\\nIn the mean time, the reports of the extent and value of the\\nSpanish commerce on the Pacific, and of the wealth accumulated\\nin the towns on the American coasts of that ocean, overcame all\\nthe fears of the English, who at length spread their sails on its\\nwaters, and carried terror and desolation along its coasts.\\nAlcedo, in his Geographical and Historical Dictionary of the West Indies, under\\nthe head Isthmus, says, In the time of Philip II., it was proposed to cut a canal\\nthrough the Isthmus of Panama, for the passage of ships from one ocean to the\\nother; and two Flemisli engineers were sent to examine the place, with that object.\\nThey, however, found the obstacles insuperable and the Council of the Indies at\\nthe same time represented to the king the injuries wliich such a canal would occasion\\nto the monarchy in consequence of which, his majesty decreed that no one should\\nin future attempt, or even propose, such an undertaking, under pain of death.\\nThe same author, speaking of the River Strata, in New Granada, emptying into\\nthe Atlantic, between which and the San Juan, falling into the Pacific, it was also\\nproposed to make a canal, says, The Atrato is navigable for many leagues; but\\nall persons are forbidden, under pain of death, from navigating it, in order to prevent\\nthe injuries which New Grenada would sustain, from the facility thus afforded for\\nentering its territory.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "72 VOYAGE OF DRAKE. [1577.\\nThe first irruption of the English into the Pacific was made in\\n1575, by a party of freebooters, under John Oxenham, who crossed\\nthe isthmus a httle west of Panama, and, having then built a vessel\\non the southern side, took many valuable prizes before any attempt\\ncould be made, by the Spaniards, to arrest their progress. They,\\nhowever, in a few months, fell successively into the hands of their\\nenemies, and were nearly all executed with ignominy at Panama.\\nTheir fall was, three years afterwards, signally avenged by another\\nbody of their countrymen, under the command of the greatest\\nnaval captain of the age. It is scarcely necessary to say that this\\ncaptain could be no other than Francis Drake, of whose celebrated\\nvoyage around the world the first ever performed by one crew in\\none vessel an account will be here given, as he, in the course\\nof it, visited the north-west side of America, and is supposed,\\nthough erroneously, as will be proved, to have made important\\ndiscoveries in that quarter.\\nDrake sailed from Plymouth on the 13th of December, 1577,\\nwith five small vessels, which had been procured and armed by\\nhimself and other private individuals in England, ostensibly for\\na voyage to Egypt, but really for a predatory cruise against the\\ndominions and subjects of Spain. The governments of England\\nand Spain were then, indeed, at peace with each other but mutual\\nhatred, arising from causes already explained, prevailed between the\\ntwo nations and the principles of general law or morals were not,\\nat that period, so refined as to prevent Queen Elizabeth from favor-\\ning Drake s enterprise, with the real objects of which she was well\\nacquainted.\\nFor some months after leaving England, Drake roved about the\\nAtlantic, without makihg any prize of value he then refitted his\\nvessels at Port San Julian, on the eastern coast of Patagonia and\\nhe succeeded in conducting three of them safely through the dread-\\ned Strait of Magellan, into the Pacific, which he entered in Sep-\\ntember, 1578. Scarcely, however, was this accomplished, ere the\\nlittle squadron was dispersed by a storm and the chief of the\\nexpedition was left with only a schooner of a hundred tons burden,\\nand about sixty men, to prosecute his enterprise against the power\\nand wealth of the Spaniards on the western side of America.\\nNotwithstanding these disheartening occurrences, Drake did not\\nhesitate to proceed to the parts of the coast occupied by the Span-\\niards, whom he found unprepared to resist him, either on land or on\\nsea. He accordingly plundered their towns and ships with little", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "1579.] VOYAGE OF DRAKE. 73\\ndifficulty and so deep and lasting was the impression produced by\\nhis achievements, that, for more than a century afterwards, iiis name\\nwas never mentioned in those countries without exciting feelings of\\nhorror and detestation.\\nAt length, in the spring of 1579, Drake, having completed his\\nvisitation of the Spanish American coasts, by the plunder of the\\ntown of Guatulco, on the south side of Mexico, and filled his vessel\\nwith precious spoils, became anxious to return to England but,\\nhaving reason to expect that the Spaniards would intercept him,\\nif he should attempt to repass Magellan s Strait, he resolved to\\nseek a northern route to the Atlantic. Accordingly, on quitting\\nGuatulco, he steered west and north-west, and, having sailed in\\nthose directions about 1400 leagues, he had, in the beginning of\\nJune, advanced beyond the 42d degree of north latitude, where\\nhis men, being thus speedily come out of the extreme heat, found\\nthe air so cold, that, being pinched with the same, they complained\\nof the extremity thereof. He had, in fact, reached the part of\\nthe Pacific, near the American coasts, where the winds blow con-\\nstantly and violently, during the summer, from the north and north-\\nwest, accompanied, generally, by thick fogs, which obscure the\\nheavens for many days, and even weeks, in succession and, find-\\ning, these difficulties increase, as he went farther, he thought it\\nbest, for that time, to seek the land. He accordingly soon made\\nthe American coast, and endeavored to approach it. so as to anchor\\nbut, finding no proper harbor there, he sailed along the shore south-\\nward, until the 17th of the month, when it pleased God to send\\nhim into a fair and good bay, witliin 38 degrees towards the line.\\nIn this bay the English remained five weeks, employed in re-\\nfitting their vessel, and obtaining such supplies for their voyage\\nas the country oflTered. The natives, having their houses close by\\nthe water s side, at first exhibited signs of hostility: but they\\nwere soon conciliated by the kind and forbearing conduct of the\\nstrangers and their respect for Drake increased, so that, when\\nthey saw him about to depart, they earnestly prayed him to con-\\ntinue among them as their king. The naval hero, though not\\ndisposed to undertake, in person, the duties of sovereignty over a\\nThese quotations are from the Famous Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, by Francis\\nPretty, one of the crew of Drake s vessel, written at the request of Hakhiyt, and\\npublished by him in 1589. It is a plain and succinct account of what the writer saw,\\nor believed to have occurred, during the voyage, and bears all the marks of truth\\nand authenticity.\\n10", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "74 DRAKE MADE KING OF NEW ALBION. [1579.\\ntribe of naked or skin-clad savages, nevertheless thouglit not\\nmeet to reject the crown, because he knew not what honor or profit\\nit might bring to his own country whereupon, in the name, and\\nto the use, of her majesty, Queen Elizabeth, he took the crown,\\nsceptre, and dignity, of the country into his own hands, wishing\\nthat the riches and treasure thereof might be so conveniently\\ntransported, for the enriching her kingdom at home. The coro-\\nnation accordingly took place, with most ludicrous solemnities,\\nand Drake bestowed on his dominions the name of JS eiv Albion,\\nThe vessel having been refitted, Drake erected on the shore a\\npillar, bearing an inscription, commemorating the fact of this\\ncession of sovereignty and, on the 22d of July, he took leave of\\nhis worthy subjects, to their great regret. Having, however, by\\nthis time, abandoned all idea of seeking a northern passage to the\\nAtlantic, he sailed directly across the Pacific, and thence, through\\nthe Indian Seas, and around the Cape of Good Hope, to England,\\nwhere he arrived on the 26th of September, 1580.\\nWith regard to the harbor on the North Pacific side of America,\\nin which Drake repaired his vessel, nothing can be learned from\\ntiie accounts of his expedition which have been published, except\\nthat it was situated about the 3Sth degree of latitude, and that a\\ncluster of small islets lay in the ocean, at a short distance from\\nits mouth which description will apply equally to the Bai/ of\\nSayi Francisco, and to the Bay of Bodega, a few leagues farther\\nnorth.\\nAs to the extent of the portion of the north-west coast of\\nAmerica seen by Drake, the accounts diftbr. Before examining\\nthem, it should be first observed, that, from the great navigator him-\\nself, nothing whatsoever has descended to us, either as written by\\nhim, or as reported by others on his authority, respecting his voyage\\nin the North Pacific on the circumstances of which, all the informa-\\ntion is derived from two narratives, the one proceeding entirely\\nfrom a person who had accompanied Drake in his expedition, and\\npublished in 1589, during the life of the hero, the other compiled\\nfrom various accounts, and not given to the world until the middle\\nof the following century.\\nIn the first-mentioned of those narratives, called the Famous\\nVoyage from which the preceding quotations are made, the vessel\\nis represented as being in the forty-third degree of latitude on the\\nffth of June, wiien it was determined to seek the land but on\\nwhat day, or in what latitude, the coast was discovered, is not stated.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "1579.] PART OF NORTH-WEST COAST SEEN BY DRAKE. 75\\nIn the other narrative, called the World Encompassed,* it is declared\\nthat the vessel was in latitude of 42 degrees on the third of June,\\nand that, on the fifth of the same month, she anchored near the land\\nof America, in a bad bay, in latitude oi forty-eight degrees, from\\nwhich being soon driven by the violence of the winds, she ran\\nalong the coast, southward, to the harbor where she was refitted.\\nThus the two accounts differ as to the vessels position on the\\nfifth of June, on which day it is rendered probable, from both, that\\nthe land was first seen. Hakluyt, who took great interest in all that\\nrelated to the west coast of North America, as well as to Drake,\\ngives the 43d parallel, in many places in his works, as the northern\\nlimit of his countrymen s discoveries and the same opinion is\\nmaintained by Camden, Purchas, De Laet, Ogilby, Heylin, Locke,\\nDr. Johnson, and every other author who wrote on the subject\\nbefore the middle of the last century except the two following:\\nThe celebrated navigator John Davis, in his World s Hydrographi-\\ncal Discovery, published in 1595, asserts that, after Sir Francis\\nDrake was entered into the South Sea, he coasted all the western\\nshores of America, until he came to the septentrional latitude of\\n48 degrees this assertion, however, carries with it its own refu-\\ntation, as it is nowhere else pretended that Drake saw any part of\\nthe west coast of America between the 17th degree of latitude and\\nthe 38th. Sir William Monson, another great naval authority of\\nthat age, declares, in his Tracts, first printed in 1712, that, from\\nthe 16th of April to the 15th of June, Drake sailed without seeing\\nland, and arrived in 48 degrees, thinking to find a passage into our\\nseas but, unfortunately for Sir William s consistency, he main-\\ntains, in many other parts of his Tracts, that Cape Mendocino\\n[near the 40th parallel] is the farthest land discovered, and the\\nfarthermost known land. In the Life of Sir Francis Drake, pub-\\nlished in 1750, in the Biographia Britannica, the opinion that he\\nThe World Encompassed, by Sir Francis Drake, collected out of the Notes of\\nMr. Francis Fletcher, Preacher, in this Employment, and compared with divers\\nothers Notes that went in the same Voyage. According to Barrow, it was prepared\\nby a nephew of the navigator, shortly after his death it was, however, not published\\nuntil 1G52. It may be found at length in Osborne s Collection of Voyages, vol. ii.\\np. 434. It is a long and diffuse account, filled with dull and generally absurd specula-\\ntions, and containing, moreover, a number of statements which are positive and\\nevidently wilful falsehoods yet it contains scarcely a single fact not related in the\\nFamous Voyage, from which many sentences and paragraphs are taken verbatim,\\nwhile others convey the same meaning in difi erent terms. The journal, or supposed\\njournal, of Fletcher remains in manuscript in the British Museum and from it were\\nderived the false statements above mentioned, according to Barrow, who consulted it.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "76 PART OF NORTH-WEST COAST SEEN BY DRAKE. [1579,\\ndiscovered the American coast to the 48th degree was again brought\\nforward, and it has been since admitted generally by British writers.\\nBurney, who has examined the question at length in his History of\\nVoyages in the South Sea, published in 1803, pronounces that\\nthe part of the coast discovered by Drake is to be reckoned as\\nbeo-inning immediately to the north of Cape Mendocino, and ex-\\ntending to 48 degrees of north latitude, on the authority of the\\nWorld Encompassed, especially of the assertion in that narrative\\nthat the English searched the coast diligently even unto the 48th\\ndegree, yet they found not the land to trend so much as one point,\\nin any place, towards the east. Burney, however, with his usual\\nwant of candor, omits to quote the remainder of the sentence,\\nbut rather running on continually north-west, as if it went directly\\nto meet with Asia, well knowing that it destroyed the value of\\nthe evidence in the first part for the west coast of America no-\\nwhere, between the 40th and the 48th degrees of latitude, runs\\nnorth-west, its course being nearly due north. Lastly, Barrow, in\\nhis Life and Times of Sir Francis Drake, which appeared in 1843,\\npresents his hero as the discoverer of the west coast of America\\nfrom the 38th to the 48th parallels, without giving the slightest inti-\\nmation that any doubt on the subject had ever existed or could exist.\\nTo conclude the World Encompassed is the only direct authority\\nfor the belief that Drake, in 1579, discovered the west coast of\\nAmerica as far north as the 48th degree of latitude. In examining\\nthe particulars of that account, we find that, between the 1st and\\nthe 5th of June, in two days, the English vessel sailed through six\\ndegrees of latitude, northward, with the wind blowing constantly\\nand violently from that very quarter a rate of sailing which could\\nscarcely be attained at the present time under similar circumstances.\\nWe moreover learn, that, during the whole period in which the lati-\\ntudes are given thus positively, the heavens were obscured by thick\\nfogs, and the vessel constantly agitated by storms, in either of which\\ncases alone, no observations worthy of reliance could have been\\nmade with the instruments then in use. When we also take into\\nconsideration the direct falsehoods, in the same narrative, respect-\\ning the cold in that part of the Pacific, which is represented as so\\nintense, during the months of June and July, that meat was frozen\\nso soon as taken from the fire, and ropes and sails were stiffened by\\nice, we may safely conclude that further evidence is requisite to\\nestablish the certainty that Drake, in 1579, saw any part of the west\\ncoast of North America which had not been seen by the Spaniards\\nin 1513.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "1578.] cavendish s expedition. 77\\nThe success of Drake s enterprise encouraged other English\\nadventurers to attempt similar expeditions through the Straits of\\nMagellan and it stimulated the navigators of his nation in their\\nefforts to discover northern passages into the Pacific Ocean. Of\\ntlieir predatory excursions, none were attended with success, except\\nthat of the famous Thomas Cavendish, or Candish, who rendered\\nhis name almost as terrible to the Spaniards as that of Drake, by\\nliis ravages on the west coasts of America, during his voyage of\\ncircumnavigation of the globe, in 1587. In this voyage. Cavendish\\nlay, for some time, near Cape San Lucas, the southern extremity\\nof California, and there captured the Manilla galleon Santa Anna,\\non her way, with a rich cargo of East India goods, to Acapulco,\\nwhich he set on fire, after plundering her, and landing her crew on\\nthe coast. The unfortunate Spaniards, thus abandoned in a desert\\ncountry, must soon have perished, had they not succeeded in\\nrepairing their vessel, which was driven ashore near them, after the\\nextinction of the flames by a storm, and sailing in her to a port on\\nthe opposite coast of Mexico. Among these persons were Juan\\nde Fuca and Sebastian Vizcaino, of each of whom much will be\\nsaid in this chapter.\\nAbout this time, the search for northern passages of communi-\\ncation between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans was begun by\\nthe English and it was prosecuted at intervals, by the navigators\\nof that nation and of Holland, during nearly sixty years, after\\nwhich it was abandoned, or rather suspended. In the course of\\nthe voyages undertaken for this object, eastward as well as west-\\nward from the Atlantic, many important geographical discoveries\\nand improvements in the art and science of navigation were\\neffected and the persons thus engaged acquired an honorable and\\nlasting reputation, by their skill, perseverance against difficulties,\\nand contempt of dangers. The Spanish government was, at the\\nsame period, according to the direct testimony derived from its\\nofficial acts, and the accounts of its historians, kept in a state of\\nconstant alarm, by these efforts of its most determined foes to\\npenetrate into an ocean of which it claimed the exclusive posses-\\nsion and the uneasiness thus occasioned was, from time to time,\\nincreased, by rumors of the accom})lislunent of the dreaded\\ndiscovery.\\nThese rumors were, for the most part, in confirmation of the\\nThe first voyage made from England, with the express object of seeking a north\\nwest passage to the racific, was that of Martin Frobisher, in 1576.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "78 REPORTED DISCOVERY OF URDANETA. [1560.\\nexistence of the passage called the Strait of Ajiian, joining the\\nAtlantic, under the 60th parallel of north latitude, through which\\nCortereal was said to have sailed, in 1500, into a great western sea\\nand those who pretended to have made northern voyages from cither\\nocean to the other, generally asserted that they had passed through\\nthe Strait of Anian. The accounts of all such voyages yet made\\npublic are now known to be as false, with regard to the principal\\ncircumstances related, as those of the discovery of the philosopher s\\nstone and the elixir vitae, current at the same period in Europe\\nand the former, like the latter, had their origin, generally, in the\\nknavery or the vanity of their authors, though some of them were\\nevidently mere fictions, invented for the purpose of exercising\\ningenuity, or of testing the credulity of the public. But, as tlie\\nconviction of the possibility of transmuting all other metals into\\ngold, and of prolonging life indefinitely, led to the knowledge of\\nmany of the most important facts in chemistry, so did the belief in\\nthe existence of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to the\\nPacific serve to accelerate the progress of geographical discovery\\nand scientific navigation.\\nAmong those who were earliest believed to have accomplished\\nnorthern voyages from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or vice versa, was\\nthe celebrated Friar Andres de Urdaneta, the discoverer of the mode\\nof navigating the Pacific from east to west. One Salvatierra, a\\ngentleman of Victoria, in Spain, that came by chance out of the\\nWest Indies into Ireland, in 1568, there assured Sir Humphrey\\nGilbert and Sir Henry Sydney, that Urdaneta had, more than\\neight years previous, told him, in Mexico, that he came from Mar\\ndel Siir [the Pacific] into Germany through the northern passage,\\nand showed Salvatierra a sea-card, [chart,] made by his own expe-\\nrience and travel in that voyage, wherein was plainly set down and\\ndescribed the north-west passage. This was, however, most proba-\\nbly, a falsehood or amplification on the part of Salvatierra, to induce\\nSir Humphrey to employ him on a voyage which he then projected,\\nas nothing appears in the history or character of Urdaneta to justify\\nthe belief that he would have made such a declaration. In the\\narchives of the Council of the Indies,! which have been examined\\nA Discourse to prove a Passage by the North- West to Cathaia [China] and the\\nEast Indies, by Sir lluniphrey Gilbert, first published in 1576, and republished by\\nJIakluyt, in his Voyages, Navigations, Traffics, and Discoveries, of the English\\nNation. See the reprint of Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 32.\\nt Introduction to the Journal of (jaliauo and Valdes, p. 3G.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "1583.] PRETENDED VOYAGE OF MALDONADO. 79\\nwith reference to this matter, are many original papers by Urdaneta,\\nin which he mentions a report, that some Frenchmen had sailed\\nfrom the Atlantic, beyond the 70th degree of north latitude, through\\na passage opening into the Pacific, near the 50th degree, and thence\\nto China; and he recommends that measures should be taken,\\nwithout delay, to ascertain the trutii of the report, and, if the\\npassage should be found, to establish fortifications at its mouth, in\\norder to prevent other nations from using it to the injury of\\nSpain.\\nIn 1574, an old pilot, named Juan Ladrillero, living at Colima,\\nin Mexico, pretended that he had, in his youth, sailed through a\\npassage, from the Atlantic, near Newfoundland, into the Pacific\\nand other assertions, to the same effect, were made by various other\\nindividuals, either from a desire to attract notice, or with the view\\nof obtaining emolument or employment.\\nThe most celebrated fiction of this class is the one of which\\nLorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado is the hero. This person, a Portu-\\nguese by birth, who iiad written some extravagant works on\\ngeography and navigation, and pretended to have discovered a\\nmagnetic needle without variation, presented to the Council of the\\nIndies, in 1609, a memoir or narrative of a voyage from Lisbon to\\nthe Pacific, through seas and channels north of America, which he\\ndeclared that he himself had accomplished in 1588, accompanied\\nby a petition that he should be rewarded for his services, and be\\nintrusted with the command of forces, to occupy the passage, and\\ndefend its entrance against other nations. This proposition was\\ninstantly rejected by the Council but some of the papers relating\\nto it were retained and two manuscripts are now preserved, the\\none in the library of the duke of Infantado, at Madrid, the other\\nin the Ambrosian library, at Milan, each purporting to be the origi-\\nnal memoir presented by Maldonado.\\nThese papers are each entitled A Relation of the Discovery of the\\nStrait of Anian, made by me, Captain Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado,\\nin the Year 1588 in which is described the Course of the Navigation,\\nthe Situation of the Place, and the Manner of fortifying it and\\ntheir contents are nearly the same, except that the Milan paper\\nis, in some places, more concise than the other, from which it seems\\nto have been, in a manner, abridged. Upon the whole, there is\\nreason to believe the Madrid document to be a true copy of the\\nmemoir presented by Maldonado thougii it has been pronounced,\\nby one who has examined the subject with much care, to be a", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "80 PRETENDED VOYAGE OF MALDONADO. [1588.\\nfabrication of a later date.* Whether the fabrication, as it un-\\ndoubtedly is, proceeded from Maldonado, or from some other\\nperson, is of no importance at the present day. A few extracts\\nwill serve to show its general character, and to bring to view the\\nopinions entertained in Europe, during the seventeenth century,\\nwith regard to the northern parts of America.\\nAfter stating the advantages which Spain might derive from a\\nnorthern passage between the two oceans, and the injury which she\\nmight sustain, were it left open to other nations, Maldonado proceeds\\nthus to describe the voyage\\nDeparting from Spain, suppose from Lisbon, the course\\nis north-west, for the distance of 450 leagues, when the ship will\\nhave reached the latitude of 60 degrees, where the Island of\\nFriesland f will be seen, commonly called File, or Fule it is an\\nisland somewhat smaller than Ireland. Thence the course is west-\\nward, on the parallel of 60 degrees, for 180 leagues, which will\\nbring the navigator to the land of Labrador, where the strait of that\\nname, or Davis s Strait, begins, the entrance of which is very wide,\\nbeing somewhat more than 30 leagues the land on the coast of\\nLabrador, which is to the west, is very low but the opposite side\\nof the mouth of the strait consists of very high mountains. Here\\ntwo openings appear, between which are these high mountains.\\nOne of the passages runs east-north-east, and the other north-\\nwest the one running east-north-east, which is on the right hand,\\nand looks towards the north, must be left, as it leads to Greenland,\\nand thence to the Sea of Friesland. Taking the other passage, and\\nsteering north-west 80 leagues, the ship will arrive in the latitude\\nSee a review, supposed to be written by Barrow, of the manuscript found at\\nMilan by Carlo Amoretti, in the London Quarterly Review for October, 1816. A\\ntranslation of the most material parts of that paper may be found in Burney s\\nHistory of Voyages in the Pacific, vol. 5, p. 167. A translation of the whole of the\\nMadrid document, with copies of the maps and plans annexed to it, is given by\\nBarrow, at the conclusion of his Chronological History of Voyages in the Arctic\\nRegions. See, also, the Introduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes, p. 49.\\nThe reviewer above mentioned suspects this pretended voyage of Maldonado to be\\nthe clumsy and audacious forgery of some ignorant German, from the circumstance\\nof 15 leagues to the degree being used in some of the computations; but the\\ncourses are not laid down with so much exactness in the account, as to warrant the\\nassertion that 15 leagues are employed, instead of 17:^, which would have been the true\\nsubdivision of the degree of latitude in Spanish leagues.\\nt An island of this name was lono- supposed to exist near the position here assigned\\nto it, on the faith of an apocryphal account of some voyages which were said to\\nhave been made in the North Atlantic about the year 1400, by the brothers Antonio\\nand Nicolo Zeno, of Venice, friesland has been, by some, considered as identical\\nwith the Feroe Islands.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "1588.] PRETENDED VOYAGE OF MALDONADO. 81\\nof 64 degrees. There, the strait takes another turn to the north,\\ncontinuing one hundred and twenty leagues, as far as the latitude\\nof 70 degrees, when it again turns to the north-west, and runs in\\nthat direction ninety leagues, to the 75th degree of latitude, near\\nwhich the whole of the Strait of Labrador will have been passed\\nthat is to say, the strait begins at 60 degrees, and ends at 75 de-\\ngrees, being two hundred and ninety leagues in length, and having\\nthree turns, the first and last of which run north-west and south-\\neast, and the middle one north and south, being sometimes narrower\\nthan twenty leagues, and sometimes wider than forty, and contain-\\ning many bays and sheltering places, which might be of service in\\ncases of necessity.\\nHaving cleared the Strait of Labrador, we began to descend\\nfrom that latitude, steering west-south-west, and south-west, three\\nhundred and fifty leagues, to the 71st degree of latitude, when we\\nperceived a high coast, without being able to discover whether it\\nwas part of the continent, or an island but we remarked that, if it\\nwere the continent, it must be opposite the coast of New Spain\\nFrom this land we directed our course west-south-west four hundred\\nand forty leagues, until we came to the 60th degree, in which par-\\nallel we discovered the Strait of Anian.\\nThe strait which we discovered in 60 degrees, at the distance of\\none thousand seven hundred and ten leagues from Spain, appears,\\naccording to ancient tradition, to be that named by geographers, in\\ntheir maps, the Strait of Anian; and, if it be so, it must be a strait\\nhaving Asia on the one side, and America on the other, which seems\\nto be the case, according to the following narration\\nAs soon as we had cleared the strait, we coasted along the shores\\nof America for more than one hundred leagues south-westward, to\\nthe 55th degree of latitude, on which coast there were no inhab-\\nitants, nor any opening, indicating the vicinity of another strait,\\nthrough which the South Sea, flowing into the North, might insulate\\nthat part and we concluded that all that coast belonged to\\nAmerica, and that, continuing along it, we might soon reach Qui-\\nvira and Cape Mendocino. We then left this coast, and, sailing\\ntowards the west four days, with the wind a-bcam, so that we made\\nthirty leagues a day, we discovered a very high land, and continued\\nalong the coast, from which we kept at a safe distance, always in the\\nopen sea, sailing, at one time, to the north-east, at others towards\\nnorth-north-east, and again to the north, whence it seemed to us\\nthat the coast ran north-east and south-west. We were unable\\n11", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "82 PRETENDED VOYAGE OF MALDONADO. [1588.\\nto mark any particular points, on account of our distance from\\nthe land and we can, therefore, only affirm that it is inhabited,\\nnearly to the entrance of the strait, as we saw smoke rising up in\\nmany places. This country, according to the charts, must belong to\\nTartary, or Cathaia, [China and at the distance of a few leagues\\nfrom the coast must be the famed city of Cambalu, the metropolis\\nof Tartary. Finally, having followed the direction of this coast,\\nwe found ourselves at the entrance of the same strait of Anian,\\nwhich, fifteen days before, we had passed through to the open sea;\\nthis we knew to be the South Sea, where are situated Japan,\\nChina, the Moluccas, India, New Guinea, and the land discovered\\nby Captain Quiros, with all the coast of New Spain and Peru.\\nThe Strait of Anian is fifteen leagues in length, and can\\neasily be passed with a tide lasting six hours for those tides\\nare very rapid. There are, in this length, six turns, and two\\nentrances, which lie north and south that is, bear from each other\\nnorth and south. The entrance on the north side (through which\\nwe passed) is less than half a quarter of a league in width, and\\non each side are ridges of high rocks but the rock on the side of\\nAsia is higher and steeper than the other, and hangs over, so that\\nnothing falling from the top can reach its base. The entrance into\\nthe South Sea, near the harbor, is more than a quarter of a league\\nin width, and thenc.e the passage runs in an oblique direction,\\nincreasing the distance between the two coasts. In the middle of\\nthe strait, at the termination of the third turn, is a great rock, and\\nan islet, formed by a rugged rock, three estadias [about one\\nthousand one hundred feet] in height, more or less its form is\\nround, and its diameter may be two hundred paces its distance\\nfrom the land of Asia is very little but the sea, on that side, is\\nfull of slioals and reefs, and can only be navigated by boats. The\\ndistance between this islet and the continent of America is less\\nthan a quarter of a league in width and, although its channel is so\\ndeep that two or even three ships might sail abreast through it, two\\nbastions might be built on the banks with little trouble, which\\nwould contract the channel to within the reach of a musket shot.\\nIn the harbor in which our ship anchored, at the entrance of\\nthe strait, on the south side, we lay from the beginning of April to\\nthe middle of June, when a large vessel, of eight hundred tons\\nburden, came there from the South Sea, in order to pass the strait.\\nUpon this, we put ourselves on our guard but, having come to an\\nunderstanding with her, I found them willing to give us some", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "1588.] PRETENDED VOYAGE OP MALDONADO. 83\\nof their merchandise, the greater part of which consisted of articles\\nsimilar to those manufactured in China, such as brocades, silks, porce-\\nlain, feathers, precious stones, pearls, and gold. These people\\nseemed to be Hanseatics, who inhabit the Bay of St. Nicholas, or\\nthe port of St. Michael, [Archangel, on the White Sea.] In order\\nto understand one another, we were forced to speak Latin, those of\\nour party who understood that language talking with tliose on board\\nthe ship who were also acquainted with it. They did not seem to\\nbe Catholics, but Lutherans. They said they came from a large city,\\nmore than one hundred leagues from the strait and, though I cannot\\nexactly remember its name, I think they called it Rohr, or some\\nsuch name, which they said had a good harbor, and a navigable\\nriver, and was subject to the great khan, as it belonged to Tartary,\\nand that, in that port, they left another ship belonging to their\\ncountry. We could learn no more from them, as they acted with\\ngreat caution, and little confidence, being afraid of our company\\nwherefore we parted from them, near the strait, in the North Sea,\\nand set sail towards Spain.\\nThe preceding extracts, from a translation of the manuscript at\\nMadrid, will suffice to show the course which the Portuguese pre-\\ntended to have taken, in 1588. The remainder of the paper is\\ndevoted to descriptions of the supposed strait, and plans for its\\noccupation and defence by Spain nothing being said as to the\\ncircumstances which induced the navigators to return to Europe by\\nthe same route, instead of pursuing their course to some Spanish\\nport on the Pacific. It is needless to use any arguments to prove\\nthat no such voyage could have been ever made as we know that\\nthe only connection by water between the Atlantic and the Pacific,\\nnorth of America, is through the Arctic Sea and Bering s Strait,\\nwhich latter passage is more than sixteen leagues in width, and is sit-\\nuated near the 65th degree of latitude. It has, however, been sug-\\ngested, and it is not improbable, that, before the period when\\nMaldonado presented his memoir to the Council of the Indies, some\\nvoyage, of which we have no account, may have been made in the\\nNorth Pacific,* as far as the entrance of the gulf called Cook s\\nInlet, and that this entrance, situated under the 60th parallel of\\nlatitude, may have been supposed, by the navigator, to be the\\nwestern termination of the long-sought Strait of Anian.\\nThe story certainly attracted considerable attention at the time\\nAitlcli on the north-west passage, hi tlic Quarterly, for October, 131G, above\\nniciUioiicd.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "84 STORY OF THE VOYAGE OF FONTE. [1640.\\nwhen it was put forth, and allusions are made to it by several\\nSpanish autjiors of the seventeenth century it had, liowever, been\\nentirely forgotten when the French geographer M. Buache, having\\nobtained a copy of the Madrid manuscript, endeavored to establish\\nthe truth of the most material points, in a paper read by him before\\nthe Academy of Sciences, at Paris, on the 13th of November,\\n1790. At his request, the archives of the Indies were examined,\\nin search of documents relating to the supposed voyage and the\\ncommanders of Spanish ships, then employed in the surveying\\nthe north-west coasts of America, were instructed to endeavor\\nto find the entrance of the Strait of Anian, near the 60th\\ndegree of latitude. These endeavors proved vain, and the\\nname of Maldonado had again sunk into oblivion, when it was\\nagain, in 1812, brought before the world by Signor Amoretti, of\\nMilan, who found, in the Ambrosian library, in that city, the man-\\nuscript already mentioned, and published a French translation of\\nit, with arguments in support of the truth of its contents. So far\\nas is known, the falsehoods of Maldonado have injured no one,\\nand they were ultimately productive of great good for it was\\nwhile engaged, by order of the Spanish government, in examining\\nthe archives of the Indies respecting this pretended voyage, that\\nNavarrete found those precious documents, relating to the expedi-\\ntions of Columbus and other navigators of his day, which have thrown\\nso much light on the history of the discovery of the New World.\\nSimilar good effects have been produced by the story of the\\nvoyage of Admiral Pedro Bartolome de Fonte, from the Fticilic\\nto the Atlantic, through lakes and rivers extendmg across North\\nAmerica, which may also be here mentioned, though it belongs\\nproperly to a later period of the history as the voyage was said to\\nhave been performed in 1640, and the account first appeared in a\\nperiodical work entitled Monthhj Miscellany, or Memoirs of the\\nCurious published at London, in 1708. This account is very\\nconfused, and badly written, and is filled with absurdities and con-\\ntradictions, which should have prevented it from receiving credit at\\nany time since its appearance yet, as will be shown, it was serious-\\nly examined and defended, so recently as in the middle of the last\\ncentury, by eminent scientific men and some faith continued to\\nbe attached to it for many years afterwards. So far as its details\\ncan be understood, they are to the following effect\\nAdmiral Fontc sailed from Callao, near Lima, in April, 1640,\\nwith four vessels, under orders, from the viceroy of Peru, to repair", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "1640.] STORY OF THE VOYAGE OF FONTE. 85\\nto the North Pacific, for the purpose of exploring its American\\ncoasts, and of intercepting certain vessels which were reported to\\nhave been equipped at Boston, in New England, in search of a\\nnorth-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. From Callao\\nhe proceeded to Cape San Lucas, where he detached a vessel to\\nexplore the Californian Gulf; thence, continuing his voyage along\\nthe west coast, he passed about two hundred and sixty leagues, in\\ncrooked channels, among a collection of islands called by him the\\nArchipelago of St. Lazarus; and beyond them he found, under\\nthe 53d degree of latitude, the mouth of a great river, which he\\nnamed Rio de los Reyes River of Kings, Having despatched his\\nlieutenant, Bernardo, with one vessel, to trace the coast on the\\nPacific farther north, he entered the great river, and ascended it\\nnorth-eastward, to a large lake, called, from the beauty of its\\nshores. Lake Belle, containing many islands, and surrounded by a\\nfine country, the inhabitants of which were kind and hospitable.\\nOn the south shore of the lake was the large town of Conasset,\\nwhere the admiral left his vessels thence he proceeded, (in what\\nmanner he does not say,) with some of his men, down a river\\ncalled the Parmentier, flowing from Lake Belle eastward into\\nanotlier lake, to which he gave his own name, and thence, through\\na passage called the Strait of Ronquillo, in honor of one of his\\ncaptains, to the sea.\\nOn entering the sea, the admiral learned, from some Indians,\\nthat, a little way off, lay a great ship, where there had never been\\none before and, on boarding her, he found only an old man and\\na youth, who told him that they came from the town called Boston,\\nin New England. On the following day, the captain, named\\nNicholas Shapley, arrived, with the owner of the ship, Seymour\\nGibbons, a fine gentleman, and m.ajor-general of the largest\\ncolony in New England, called Maltechusetts, between whom and\\nthe admiral a struggle of courtesy was begun. The Spanish com-\\nmander had been ordered to make prize of any people seeking for\\na nort!i-west or a west passage but he would look on the Bosto-\\nnians as merchants, trading for skins so he made magnificent\\npresents to them all, and, having received, in return, their charts\\nand journals, he went back to his ships, in Lake Belle, and thence,\\ndown the Rio de los Reyes, to the sea.\\nLi the mean time, the lieutenant, Bernardo, had ascended another\\nriver, called, by him, Rio de Haro, into a lake named Lake Velasco,\\nsituated under the 61st degree of latitude, from which he went, in", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "86 VOYAGE OF JUAN DE FUCA. [1592\\ncanoes, as far as the 79th degree, where the land was seen, still\\ntrending north, and the ice rested on the land. He was also as-\\nsured that there was no communication out of the Atlantic Sea by\\nDavis s Strait for the natives had conducted one of his seamen to\\nthe head of Davis s Strait, v. hich terminated in a fresh lake, of about\\nthirty miles in circumference, in the 80th degree of north latitude\\nand there were prodigious mountains north of it. These accounts,\\nadded to his own observations, led Admiral Fonte to conclude that\\nthere ivas no passage into the South Sea hij what they call the north-\\nivest passage and he accordingly returjied, with his vessels,\\nthrough the Pacific, to Peru.\\nSuch are the principal circumstances related in the account of\\nAdmiral Fonte s voyage, which was, for some time after its appear-\\nance, received as true^ and copied into all works on Northern\\nAmerica. In 1750, a French translation of the account, with a\\nchart drawn from it, and a memoir, in support of its correctness,\\nwere presented to the Academy of Sciences of Paris by Messrs.\\nDelisle and Buache, in consequence of which, the various Spanish\\nrepositories of papers respecting America were carefully examined,\\nin search of information on the subject and, in all the voyages of\\ndiscovery along the north-west coasts of the .continent, during\\nthe last century, endeavors were made to discover the mouth of the\\nRio de las Reyes. These labors, however, were vain. The exist-\\nence of a number of islands near the position assigned to the\\nArchipelago of St. Lazarus, and of a large river, (the Stilcijie,)\\nentering the ocean near the 56th parallel, indeed, seems to favor\\nthe supposition that some voyage, of which we have no record,\\nmay have been made to that part of the Pacific before 1708 but\\nthe rivers and lakes through which Fonte was said to have passed\\nhis town of Conasset and his Boston ship are now generally\\nbelieved to have all emanated from the brain of James Petiver, a\\nnaturalist of some eminence, and one of the chief contributors to\\nthe Monthly Miscellany.\\nThe account of the voyage and discoveries of Juan de Fuca, on\\nthe north-western side of America, in 1592, was, for a long time,\\nconsidered as less worthy of credit than those above noticed. More\\nrecent examinations in that part of the world have, however, caused\\nit to be removed from the class of fictions although it is certainly\\nerroneous as regards the principal circumstance related. All the\\ninformation respecting this voyage is derived from A Note made hy\\nMichael Loci:, the elder, touching the Strait of Sea commonly called", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "1592.] VOYAGE OF JUAN DE FUCA. 87\\nFretum Anian, in the South Sea, through the North-ivcst Passage of\\nMeta Incognita published in 1G25, in the celebrated historical\\nand geograpliical collection called The Pilgrims, by Samuel\\nPurchas.*\\nMr. Lock there relates that he met, at Venice, in April, 1596,\\nan old man, about sixty years of age, called, commonly, Juan de\\nFuca, but named, properly, Apostolos Valerianos, of nation a\\nGreek, born in Cephalonia, of profession a mariner, and an ancient\\npilot of siiips, who, in long talks and conferences, declared that\\nhe had been in the naval service of Spain, in the West Indies, forty\\nyears, and tliat he was one of the crew of the galleon Santa Anna,\\nwhen she was taken by Cavendish, near Cape San Lucas, in 1587,\\non which occasion he had lost sixty thousand ducats of his own\\ngoods. After his return to Mexico, he was despatched, by the\\nviceroy, with three vessels, to discover the Strait of Anian, along\\nthe coast of the South Sea, and to fortify that strait, to resist the\\npassage and proceeding of the English nation, which were feared\\nto pass through that strait into the South Sea. This expedition,\\nhowever, proving abortive, he was again sent, in 1592, with a small\\ncaravel, for the same purpose, in which he followed his course\\nwest and north-west, along the coasts of Mexico and California,\\nuntil he came to the latitude of 47 degrees and, there finding\\nthat the land trended north and north-east, with a broad inlet of\\nsea, between 47 and 48 degrees of latitude, he entered thereinto,\\nsailing therein more than twenty days, and found that land trending\\nstill sometime north-west, and north-east, and north, and also east,\\nand south-eastward, and very much broader sea than was at the\\nsaid entrance, and he passed by divers islands in that sailing and,\\nat the entrance of this said strait, there is, on the north-west coast\\nthereof, a great head-land or island, with an exceeding high pinna-\\ncle, or spired rock, like a pillar thereupon. Being entered\\nthus far into the said strait, and being come into the North Sea\\nalready, and finding the sea wide enough every where, and to be\\nabout thirty or forty leagues wide in the mouth of the straits, where\\nhe entered, he thought he had now well discharged his office and\\nthat, not being armed to resist the force of the savage people that\\nmight happen, he therefore set sail, and returned to Acapulco.\\nThe Greek went on to say that, upon his arrival in Mexico, the vice-\\nThe whole note will be found among the Proofs and Illustralions, in the latter\\npart of this volume, under the letter A.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "88 VOYAGE OF JUAN DE FUCA. [1592.\\nroy had welcomed him, and promised him a great reward but that,\\nafter waiting in vain for two years, he had stole away to Europe,\\nand, understanding the noble mind of the queen of England, and\\nof her wars against the Spaniards, and hoping that her majesty\\nwould do him justice for his goods lost by Captain Candish, he\\nwould be content to go into England, and serve her majesty in that\\nvoyage for the discovery perfectly of the north-west passage into\\nthe South Sea, if she would furnish him with only one ship of forty\\ntons burden, and a pinnace and that he would perform it in thirty\\ndays time, from one end to the other of the strait. Mr. Lock\\nsays that, on receiving this account, he endeavored to interest Sir\\nWalter Raleigh, and other eminent persons in England, in behalf\\nof the Greek pilot, and to have him employed on a voyage such\\nas he proposed to undertake but he was unable to do so, and, by\\nthe last accounts, the old man was dying in Cephalonia, in 1602.\\nThese are the most material circumstances respecting Juan de\\nFuca and his voyage, as related by Mr. Lock, who was an intelli-\\ngent and respectable merchant engaged in the Levant trade.*\\nOther English writers, of the same time, allude to the subject but\\nthey aflbrd no additional particulars, nor has any thing been since\\nlearned, calculated to prove directly even that such a person as\\nJuan de Fuca ever existed. On the contrary, the author of the\\nIntroduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes, who loses no\\nopportunity to exalt the merits of his countrymen as discoverers,\\nafter examining many papers in the archives of the Indies, relating\\nto the period given as the date of the voyage, pronounces the whole\\nto be a fabrication. The account attracted little attention in Eng-\\nland, and was almost unknown, out of that kingdom, until after\\nthe publication of the journals of the last expedition of Cook, who\\nconceived that he had, by his examinations on the north-western\\ncoasts of America, ascertained its falsehood. More recent exami-\\nnations in that quarter have, however, served to establish a strong\\npresumption in favor of its authenticity and general correctness,\\nso far as the supposed narrator could himself have known for\\nthey show that the geographical descriptions contained in it are\\nas nearly conformable with the truth, as those of any other account\\nof a voyage written in the early part of the seventeenth century.\\nThus Juan de Fuca says that, between the 47th and 48th\\nHe was, for some time, the English consul at Aleppo, and was an intimate friend\\nof Hakluyt, for whom lie translated the Decades of Pedro Martir, and furnished other\\npapers published by that collector.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "1595.] CONFIRMATION OF FUCa s ACCOUNT. 89\\ndegrees of latitude, he entered a broad inlet of sea, in which he\\nsailed for twenty days, and found the land trending north-west, and\\nnorth-east, and north, and east, and south-east, and that, in this\\ncourse, he passed numerous islands. Now, the fact is, that, between\\nthe 48th and 49th degrees, a broad inlet of sea does extend from\\nthe Pacific, eastward, apparently penetrating the American conti-\\nnent to the distance of more than one hundred miles, after which\\nit turns north-westward, and, continuing in that direction about\\ntwo hundred and fifty miles farther, it again joins the Pacific Ocean.\\nThe difTerences as to the position and course of the inlet, between\\nthe two descriptions here compared, are few and slight, and are\\ncertainly all within the limits of supposable error on the part of the\\nGreek, especially considering his advanced age, and the circum-\\nstance that he spoke only from recollection while, on the other\\nhand, the coincidences are too strong to be attributable only to\\nchance. The pilot, indeed, asserts that through this inlet he sailed\\nto the Atlantic, but he does not pretend that he reached any known\\ncoast, or previously-determined point of that ocean so that he is\\nliable only to the charge of having made an erroneous estimate of\\nthe extent and value of his discovery, which he might well have\\ndone, without any intention to deceive, as the breadth of the North\\nAmerican continent was then unknown.\\nSome false reports, such as those above mentioned, respecting\\nthe discovery of a northern passage between the two oceans, and\\nthe existence of rich nations in its vicinity, togetiier with a desire\\nto lessen the dangers of the navigation along the western side of\\nCalifornia, by providing the ships in the Philippine trade with proper\\ndescriptions of the coasts, induced King Philip II. of Spain, in\\n1595, to order that measures should be taken for a complete survey\\nof it.* There were, also, other reasons for examining that part of\\nHis majesty knew that the viceroys of Mexico had endeavored to discover a\\nnorthern passage and he had found, among his father s papers, a declaration of\\ncertain strangers, to the effect that they had been driven, by violent winds, from the\\ncodfish coast, [about Newfoundland,] on the Atlantic, to the South Sea, through the\\nStrait of Anian, which is beyond Cape Mendocino, and had, on their way, seen a\\nrich and populous city, well fortified, and inhabited by a numerous and civilized\\nnation, who had treated them well as also many other things worthy to be seen and\\nknown. His majesty had also been informed that ships, sailing from China to Mex-\\nico, ran great risks, particularly near Cape Mendocino, where the storms are most\\nviolent, and that it would be advantageous to have that coast surveyed thence to\\nAcapulco, so that the ships, mostly belonging to his majesty, should find places for\\nrelief and refreshment when needed. Whereupon, his majesty ordered the count\\nde Monterey, viceroy of Mexico, t9 have those coasts surveyed, at his own expense,\\nwith all care and diligence, c. Torquemada, vol. i. p. 693.\\n12", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "90 FIRST VOYAGE OF VIZCAINO. [1596.\\nthe continent, as the Spaniards were then engaged in the settlement\\nof New Mexico, or the country traversed by the River Bravo del\\nNorte, in which their colonies extended nearly to the 40th degree\\nof latitude and they had no clear idea of the distance between\\nthat region and the Pacific.\\nThe count de Monterey, viceroy of Mexico, in consequence,\\ndespatched three vessels from Acapulco, in the spring of 1596,\\nunder the command of Sebastian Vizcaino, a distinguished officer,\\nwho had been in the ship Santa Anna, when she was taken and\\nburnt by Cavendish, off Cape San Lucas. Nothing, however, was\\ngained by this expedition. For reasons of which we are not\\ninformed by the Spanish historians, Vizcaino did not proceed\\nbeyond the Californian Gulf, on the shores of which he endeavored\\nto plant colonies, first at a place called St. Sebastian, and after-\\nwards at La Paz, or Santa Cruz, where Cortes had made a similar\\nattempt sixty years before but both these places were soon aban-\\ndoned, on account of the sterility of the surrounding country, and\\nthe ferocity of the natives and Vizcaino returned to Mexico before\\nthe end of the year.*\\nThe viceroy had most probably hoped, by means of this voyage,\\nto escape the infliction of the heavy expenses of an expedition\\nsuch as that which he was enjoined to make by the royal decree\\nbut King Philip IL died in 1598, and one of the first acts of the\\nreign of his successor, Philip IIL, was a peremptory order for the\\nimmediate despatch of a squadron from Mexico, to complete the\\nsurvey of the west coasts of the continent, agreeably to the previous\\ninstructions. The viceroy thereupon commenced preparations for\\nthe purpose on an extended scale of equipment. Two large ships\\nand a fragata, or small vessel, were provided at Acapulco, and\\nfurnished with all the requisites for a long voyage of discovery and,\\nin addition to their regular crews, a number of pilots, draughtsmen,\\nand educated priests, were engaged, forming together, says the\\nThis expedition is thus noticed by Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 522\\nWe have seen a letter written the 8th of October, 1597, at a town called Puehla\\nde los Angdes^ eighteen leagues from Mexico, making mention of the islands of Cal-\\nifornia, situated two or three hundred leagues from the main land of New Spain, in\\nthe South Sea, as that thither have been sent, before that time, some people to con-\\nquer them, which, with loss of some twenty men, were forced back, after that they\\nhad well visited, and found those islands or countries to be very rich of gold and\\nsilver mines, and of very fair Oriental pearls, which were caught, in good quantity,\\nupon one fathom and a half, passing, in beauty, the pearls of Margarita. The report\\nthereof caused the viceroy of Mexico to send a citizen of Mexico, with two hundred\\naiea. to conquer the eanne.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "1602.] SECOND VOYAGE OF VIZCAINO. 91\\nhistorian Torquemada, the most enhghtened corps ever raised in\\nNew Spain. The direction of the whole expedition was intrusted\\nto Sebastian Vizcaino, as captain-general, who sailed in the largest\\nship the other being commanded by Toribio Gomez de Corvan,\\nas admiral an office equivalent in rank to that of vice-admiral in\\nthe British service the fragata was under ensign Martin de\\nAguilar.*\\nAll things being prepared, the vessels took their departure from\\nAcapulco on the 5th of May. 160 2, and, after many troubles and\\ndelays at various places on the Mexican coast, they were assembled\\nin the small Bay of San Bernabe, now called Port San Jose, imme-\\ndiately east of Cape San Lucas, the southern extremity of the\\nCalifornian peninsula. There they remained until the 5th of July,\\nwhen they rounded the cape, and the survey of the west coast was\\ncommenced from that point. The prosecution of the enterprise\\nwas thenceforward attended by constant difficulties the scurvy,\\nas usual, soon broke out among the crews and the Spaniards had\\ntheir courage and perseverance severely tried by their chief\\nenemy, the north-west wind, which was raised up, says Torque-\\nmada, by the foe of the human race, in order to prevent the\\nadvance of the ships, and to delay the discovery of those countries,\\nand the conversion of their inhabitants to the Catholic faith.\\nVizcaino and his followers, however, bore up nobly against all\\nthese obstacles, and executed the duty confided to them most\\nfaithfully. Proceeding slowly northward, they reached the exten-\\nsive Bay of La Magdalena, between the 24th and 25th parallels of\\nlatitude, of which Vizcaino s survey was, until recently, the only\\none upon record and before the end of August, the vessels which\\nhad been separated almost ever since quitting Cape San Lucas,\\nwere again united in a harbor in the island called Isia de Cedros,\\nor Isle of Cedars, by Cabrillo, but now generally known as Isla de\\nCerros, or Isle of Mountains. Continuing their examination, they\\nfound a bay near the 31st degree of latitude, which they named the\\nPort of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, now called Poji San Quintiii,\\nand said to be an excellent harbor and farther north they entered\\nthe Port San Miguel of Cabrillo, to which they assigned the appella-\\nTorquemada, vol. i. p. 694. Introduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes,\\np. 60. Torquemada s accounts are derived chiefly from the Journal of Frav An-\\ntonio de la Asencion, the chaplain of one of the ships. The author of the Introduc-\\ntion, c., had recourse to the original notes of the expedition, from which he con\\nstructed a chart of the coast surveyed.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "92 VIZCAINO BEACHES MONTEREY. [1603.\\ntion of Port San Diego. There Vizcaino received accounts, from\\nthe natives, of people residing in the interior, who had beards,\\nwore clothes, and dwelt in cities but he could learn no further\\nparticulars, and was, upon the whole, inclined to believe that,\\nunless the Indians were deceiving him, these people must be the\\nSpaniards recently settled in New Mexico, on the River Bravo del\\nNorte.\\nHaving minutely surveyed Port San Diego, the Spaniards quitted\\nit on the 1st of December, and sailed through the Archipelago\\nof Santa Barbara, in one of the islands of which Cabrillo died\\nsixty years previous then doubling the Cape de Galera of that\\nnavigator, to which they gave the name of Cape Conception, now\\nborne by it, they anchored, in the middle of the month, in a\\nspacious and secure harbor, near the 37th parallel, where they\\nremained some time, engaged in refitting their vessels and obtaining\\na supply of water. This harbor the Port of Pines of Cabrillo\\nwas named Port Monterey by Vizcaino, in honor of the viceroy of\\nMexico; and as, before reaching it, sixteen of the crews of the\\nvessels had died, and many of the others were incapable of duty\\nfrom disease, it was determined that Corvan, the admiral, should\\nreturn to Mexico in his ship, carrying the invalids, with letters to the\\nviceroy, urging the immediate establishment of colonies and garrisons\\nat San Diego and Monterey. Corvan, accordingly, on the 29th,\\nsailed for Acapulco, where he arrived after a long and perilous\\nvoyage, with but few of his men ahve whilst Vizcaino, with his\\nship and the fragata, prosecuted their exploration along the coast\\ntowards the north.\\nOn the 3d of January, 1603, after the departure of Corvan,\\nVizcaino, accompanied by the small vessel under Aguilar, quitted\\nMonterey but, ere proceeding much farther north, they were\\ndriven back by a severe gale, in the course of which the two\\nvessels were separated. The ship took refuge in the Bay of San\\nFrancisco, which seems to have been then well known and search\\nwas made for the wreck of the San Augustin, which had been there\\nlost, as already mentioned, in 1595, during her voyage from the\\nPhilippine Islands to Acapulco. Finding no traces of that vessel,\\nVizcaino again put to sea and, passing a promontory, which he sup-\\nposed to be Cape Mendocino, he, on the 20th of January, reached\\na high, white bluff, in latitude, as ascertained by solar observation,\\nof 42 degrees, which, in honor of the saint of that day, was named\\nCape San Sebastian. By this time, few of his men were fit for", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "1603.] VIZCAINO RETURNS TO MEXICO. 93\\nservice the weather was stormy, the cold was severe, the pro-\\nvisions were nearly exhausted and, as the small vessel did not\\nappear, the commander, with the assent of his officers, resolved to\\ndirect his course towards Mexico. He did so, and arrived at\\nAcapulco on the 21st of March.\\nThe fragata, or small vessel, also reached Mexico about the same\\ntime, having, however, lost, by sickness, her commander, Martin de\\nAguilar, her pilot, Flores, and the greater part of her crew. Tor-\\nquemada s account of her voyage, after parting with Vizcaino s\\nship, is short, and by no means clear but the circumstances therein\\nrelated have attracted so much attention, that a translation of it\\nshould be here presented. The historian says,\\nThe fragata parted from the capitana, [Vizcaino s ship,] and,\\nsupposing that she had gone onward, sailed in pursuit of her.\\nBeing in the latitude of 41 degrees, the wind began to blow from\\nthe south-west and the fragata, being unable to withstand the\\nwaves on her beam, ran before the wind, until she found shelter\\nunder the land, and anchored near Cape Mendocino, behind a great\\nrock, where she remained until the gale had passed over. When\\nthe wind had become less violent, they continued their voyage close\\nalong the shore and, on the 19th of January, the pilot, Antonio\\nFlores, found that they were in the latitude of 43 degrees, where\\nthe land formed a cape or point, which was named Cape Blanco.\\nFrom that point, the coast begins to turn to the north-west and\\nnear it was discovered a rapid and abundant river, with ash-trees,\\nwillows, brambles, and other trees of Castile, on its banks, which\\nthey endeavored to enter, but could not, from the force of the\\ncurrent. Ensign Martin de Aguilar, the commander, and Antonio\\nFlores, the pilot, seeing that they had already* reached a higher\\nlatitude than had been ordered by the viceroy, in his instructions,\\nthat the capitana did not appear, and that the number of the sick\\nwas great, agreed to return to Acapulco and they did so, as I\\nshall hereafter show. It is supposed that this river is the one\\nleading to a great city, which was discovered by the Dutch when\\nthey were driven thither by storms, and that it is the Strait of\\nAnian, through which the ship passed, in sailing from the North\\nSea to the South Sea and that the city called Quivira is in\\nthose parts and that this is the region referred to in the account\\nwhich his majesty read, and which induced him to order this\\nexpedition.\\nThis account of the discovery of a great river, near the 43d", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "94 SUPPOSED RIVER OF AGUILAR. [1603.\\ndegree of latitude, was, for a long time, universally credited, and\\nexcited many speculations. The supposed river was first, as Tor-\\nquemada says, generally believed to be the long-sought Strait of\\nAnian. It was then, upon the strength of a statement made by the\\ncaptain of a Manilla ship, in 1620, universally considered as the\\nwestern mouth of a passage, or channel, connecting the ocean with\\nthe northern extremity of the Californian Gulf; and, accordingly,\\nduring the remainder of the seventeenth century, California was\\nrepresented, on all maps, as an island, of which Cape Blanco was\\nthe northern end. When this error had been corrected, the exist-\\nence of a great river, flowing from the centre of America into the\\nPacific, under the 43d parallel, was again affirmed by some geogra-\\nphers while others again placed at this point the western entrance\\nof a passage leading to the Atlantic.\\nIt is now certain that no such stream or channel as that which\\nAguilar is reported to have seen, falls into the Pacific within three\\ndegrees of the 43d parallel although the mouths of two small\\nrivers are situated near the point where that line crosses the western\\ncoast of the continent. Several head-lands project into the ocean,\\nnot far from the positions assigned to the Capes Blanco and San\\nSebastian. The former may have been the promontory, in latitude\\nof 42 degrees 52 minutes, on which Vancouver, in 1792, bestowed\\nthe name of Cape Orford.\\nOn comparing the accounts of Vizcaino s voyage with those of\\nCabrillo s, it appears that the same, or very nearly the same, por-\\ntions of the American coast were seen by both commanders. The\\nexpedition of Vizcaino was, however, conducted in a much more\\nefficient manner than the other and a mass of valuable informa-\\ntion, respecting the geography of the western side of California,\\nwas collected, in the shape of notes, plans, and sketches, upon\\nwhich were founded the first maps of that coast approaching\\nto correctness.\\nVizcaino, after his return to Mexico, endeavored to prevail upon\\nthe viceroy to establish colonies and garrisons on the western side\\nof California, at places which he recommended, in order to facili-\\ntate the trade with India, and to prevent the occupation of the\\nAmerican coasts by people of other nations. His efforts, with this\\nview, however, produced no effect, as the viceroys never encouraged\\nsuch enterprises, being generally obliged to pay the costs them-\\nselves and Vizcaino, in consequence, went to Spain, where, alter\\nmany years of solicitation, he at length procured the royal mandate,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "1608.] DEATH OP VIZCAINO. 95\\nand a promise of means for the execution of his projects. Armed\\nwith these, he hastened back to Mexico, and began his prepara-\\ntions but, while thus engaged, he was seized with a sickness,\\nof which he died in 1603, and the enterprise was then aban-\\ndoned.\\nThe Spanish government, at the period of Vizcaino s expeditions,\\nappears, indeed, to have been seriously interested in the exploration\\nof the Pacific, with which object several voyages were made from\\nPeru and Mexico. In 1595, Alvaro de Mendana discovered the\\ngroup of islands in the southern division of that ocean, to which he\\ngave the name of Mas de las Marquesas, (Islands of the Mar-\\nchionesses,) in token of his admiration of the beauty and grace of\\ntheir women. In 1605, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros visited many\\nother islands in the same sea, not previously known, among which\\nwere, probably, those now called Otaheite and Owyhee he also\\nbelieved that he had ascertained the existence of a great southern\\ncontinent, which he named Australia del Espiritu Santo and, like\\nVizcaino, he spent many years at Madrid, in endeavors to obtain\\nfrom the government the command of an expedition for the occu-\\npation of this new land.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "96\\nCHAPTER III\\n1608 TO 1768.\\nThe North-West Coasts of North America remain nearly neglected during the whole\\nof this Period Efforts of the English and the Dutch to find new Passages into\\nthe Pacific Discovery of Hudson s Bay and Baffin s Bay Discovery of the\\nPassage around Cape Horn Establishment of the Hudson s Bay Trading Com-\\npany Endeavors of the Spaniards to settle California unsuccessful The\\nJesuits undertake the Reduction of California Establishments of the Jesuits in\\nthe Peninsula, and their Expulsion from the Spanish Dominions.\\nFor more than a hundred and sixty years after the death of\\nVizcaino, no attempt was made, by the Spaniards, to form estab-\\nlishments on the west coast of California, or to extend their\\ndiscoveries in that part of America.\\nThose countries, in the mean time, remained unknown, and\\nalmost entirely neglected, by the civilized world. The Spanish\\ngalleons, on their way from Manilla to Acapulco, annually passed\\nalong the coasts south of Cape Mendocino, which were described\\nin Spanish works on the navigation of the Pacific and some spots,\\nfarther north, were, as will be hereafter particularly shown, visited\\nby the Russians, in their exploring and trading voyages from Kamt-\\nchatka: but no new information, of an exact nature, was obtained\\nwith regard to those regions, and they were represented on maps\\naccording to the fancy of the geographer, or to the degree of\\nfaith which he placed in the last fabrication respecting them.\\nNumerous were the stories, gravely related arid published in France\\nand England, of powerful nations, of great rivers, of interior\\nseas, and of navigable passages connecting the Atlantic with the\\nPacific, north of California. The most remarkable of these stories\\nis the account of the voyage of Admiral Fonte, already presented.\\nCaptain Coxton, a veteran bucanier, who flourished in the latter\\npart of the seventeenth century, also declared that he had, in 1688,\\nsailed from the North Pacific, far eastward, into the American\\ncontinent, through a river which ran out of a great lake, called the\\nLake of Thoyaga, containing many islands, inhabited by a numerous", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "1616.] Hudson s bat and Baffin s bay discovered. 97\\nand warlike population and, upon the strength of the assertions of\\nthis worthy, the lake and river, as described by him, were laid down\\non many of the maps of that time. North-west America was,\\nindeed, during the period here mentioned, the terra incognitissima,\\nthe favorite scene of extraordinary adventures and Utopian ro-\\nmances. Bacon there placed his Atlantis and Brobdignag, agree-\\nably to the very precise description of its locality furnished by its\\ndiscoverer, the accomplished and veracious Captain Lemuel Gulli-\\nver, must have been situated near the Strait of Fuca.\\nThe Atlantic Ocean, and its American coasts, and the South\\nPacific, were, however, not neglected by the Europeans during the\\nseventeenth century. Soon after the termination of Vizcaino s\\nlabors, settlements were made, in many places on the Atlantic,\\nbetween the Gulfs of Mexico and of St. Lawrence, by the English,\\nthe French, and the Dutch, generally under the protection of charters\\nfrom the governments of those nations, in which the territories of\\nthe several colonies were declared to extend from the Atlantic\\nwestward to the Pacific and some of the most valuable of the\\nWest India Islands had fallen into the possession of the same\\npowers.\\nMany discoveries were likewise effected, within this period, on\\nthe coasts of the New World, and in the adjoining seas, some\\nof which were of great and immediate importance, while the others\\nserved to strengthen the expectation that a north-west passage, or\\nnavigable channel of communication between the Atlantic and the\\nPacific, north of America, would be speedily found. Thus, in\\n1608, Henry Hudson discovered, or rediscovered, the strait, and\\nthe bay connected by it with the Atlantic, to both of which his\\nname is now attached and, eight years afterwards, the adventu-\\nrous William Baffin penetrated, through the arm of that ocean\\nnow called Baffin s Bay, separating Greenland from America, into a\\npassage extending westward, under the 74th parallel of latitude,\\nwhere his ship was arrested by ice.\\nThe results of the voyages of Baffin, and other navigators, who\\nfollowed the same course, were not calculated to increase the hope\\nthat the desired passage to tiie Pacific would be found opening\\ninto Baffin s Bay. Strong grounds were, however, aflforded for the\\nexpectation that it might be discovered in one of the arms of\\nHudson s Bay which had not been completely explored and, in\\nconsequence, the whole region surrounding the latter sea was, in\\n1669, granted, by King Charles II., to an association of merchants\\n13", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "98 PASSAGE AROUND CAPE HORN DISCOVERED. [1616.\\nand gentlemen, styled The Company of Adventurers of England\\ntrading into Hudson s Bay with the object,* expressed in the\\ncharter, of encouraging the search for a northern passage to the\\nPacific.\\nThe most important discovery made in the seventeenth century\\nwas that of the open sea, south of Magellan s Strait, through which\\nthe Dutch navigators Lemaire and Van Schouten sailed, in 1616,\\nfrom the Atlantic into the Pacific, around the island promontory\\nnamed by them Cape Horn, in honor of their native city in\\nHolland. By means of this new route, the perils and difficulties\\nof the navigation between the two oceans were so much lessened,\\nthat voyages from Europe to the Pacific were no longer regarded\\nas very hazardous enterprises and the Spanish possessions and\\ncommerce on that ocean were ever after annoyed by the armed\\nships of nations at war with Spain, or by pirates and smugglers of\\nvarious classes and denominations.\\nThe Gulf of California became the principal resort of the Dutch\\npirates, or, rather, privateers, who, under the name of PichiKngues,f\\nIvcpt the inhabitants of the adjacent coasts of Mexico in constant\\nanxiety. For the purpose of dislodging these depredators, and also\\nof obtaining advantages from the pearl fishery in the gulf, several\\nattempts were made, by the government of Spain, and by individ-\\nuals in Mexico, to establish colonies, garrisons, and fishing or\\ntrading posts, on the eastern side of the peninsula of California.\\nThe details of the expeditions for these purposes, made by Vicuna\\nand Ortega in 1631, by Barriga and Porter in 1644, by Pihadero\\nin 1664 and 1667, by Lucenilla in 1668, and by Atondo in 1683,\\nare devoid of interest. Many pearls were obtained, among which\\nare some of the most valuable in the regalia of Spain but the\\nestablishments all failed from want of funds, from the extreme\\nbarrenness of the soil, and the determined hostility of the natives\\nof the peninsula, and, above all, from the indolence and viciousness\\nof the persons employed in the expeditions. In the last attempt\\nof this kind, under the direction of Don Isidro de Atondo, a number\\nof settlers, soldiers, and Jesuits, were carried out from Mexico, and\\ndistributed at points on the gulf where the establishments were to\\nbe formed but these stations were all abandoned before the end of\\na year, and it was thereupon resolved, in a council of the chief\\nSee Proofs and Illustr.ations, under the letter I, No. 1.\\nt So called from tlie Bay of Pichilingue, on the cast coast of the Californian\\npeninsula, which was the principal rendezvous of these Dutch pirates.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "1683.] JESUITS IN CALIFORNIA. 99\\nauthorities of Mexico, that the reduction of California by such\\nmeans was impracticable.\\nThe Jesuits, who had accompanied Atondo to California, while\\nconcurring in this opinion with the council, nevertheless insisted\\nthat the desired political objects might be attained by a different\\ncourse, namely, by the civilization and conversion to Christianity\\nof the natives of that country and this task they offered them-\\nselves to undertake, doubting not that their labors would be crowned\\nwith the same success which had attended them in Paraguay.\\nTheir proposition was, as might have been expected, coldly received\\nby the authorities, who could gain nothing by its execution. The\\nJesuits, however, not being disheartened by this refusal, perambu-\\nlated the whole country, preaching, and exhorting all to contribute\\nto the accomplishment of an enterprise so pious and so politic. By\\nsuch means, and by the cooperation of their brethren in Europe,\\nthey raised a small fund; and finally, in 1697, they procured royal\\nwarrants, authorizing them to enter upon the reduction of California\\nfor the Icing, and to do all that might tend to that object at their\\nown expense. On receiving these warrants, Father Salvatierra, the\\nchief missionary, immediately sailed, with a few laborers and sol-\\ndiers, to the land which was to be the scene of their operations.\\nThere he was soon after joined by Fathers Kuhn, (a German,\\ncalled, by the Spaniards, Kino,) Piccolo, Ugarte, and others, all\\nmen of courage and education, and enthusiastically devoted to the\\ncause in which they were engaged and, in November, 1697, the\\nfirst establisliment, called hereto, was founded on the eastern side\\nof the peninsula, about two hundred miles from the Pacific.\\nThe Jesuits, on entering California, had to encounter the same\\nperils and obstacles which had rendered ineffectual all the other\\nattempts to occupy that country. They were attacked by the\\nnatives, to whose ferocity several of the fathers fell victims the\\nland was so barren, that it scarcely yielded the means of sustaining\\nlife to the most industrious agriculturist, for wiiich reason the set-\\ntlements were all located near the sea, in order that the necessary\\nfood might be procured by fishing and the persons employed in\\ntheir service, being drawn from the most miserable classes in\\nMexico, were always indolent and insubordinate, and generally\\npreferred loitering on the shore, in search of pearls, to engaging in\\nthe regular labors required for the support of settlers in a new\\nregion. The operations of the Jesuits were also, for some time,\\nconfined within the narrowest limits, from want of funds. Their\\nLOFG.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "100 JESUITS IN CALIFORNIA. [1702,\\nbrethren and friends occasionally made remittances to them, in\\nmoney or goods and the king was persuaded to assign, for their\\nuse, a small annual allowance but the Mexican treasury, which\\nwas charged with the payment of this allowance, was seldom able\\nto meet their drafts when presented and the assistance derived\\nfrom all these sources was much diminished in value before it\\nreached those for whom it was destined. Embarrassments of this\\nnature occurred in 170:2, at the commencement of the undertaking,\\nin consequence of the great costs of the expeditions from Mexico\\nfor the occupation of Texas, and the establishment of garrisons at\\nPensacola and other places in Florida, as checks upon the French.\\nBy perseverance and kindness, however, rather than by any\\nother means, the Jesuits overcame all the difficulties to which they\\nwere exposed and within sixty years after their entrance into Cal-\\nifornia, they had formed sixteen principal estabhshments, called\\nmissions, extending in a chain along the eastern side of the penin-\\nsula from Cape San Lucas to the head of the gulf. Each of these\\nmissions comprised a church, a fort garrisoned by a few soldiers,\\nand some stores and dwelling-houses, all under the entire control of\\nthe resident Jesuit and it formed the centre of a district containing\\nseveral rancherias, or villages of converted Indians, The principal\\nmission or capital was Loreto south of it was La Paz, tlie port\\nof communication with Mexico, probably the same place called\\nSanta Cruz by Cortes, where he endeavored to plant a colony in\\n1535 and near Cape San Lucas was San Jose, at which an attempt\\nwas made to provide means for the repair and refreshment of vessels\\nemployed in the Philippine trade. No establishments were formed\\non the west coast, which does not seem to have been visited by the\\nJesuits, except on one occasion, in 1716. The villages were each\\nunder the superintendence of Lidians selected for the purpose, of\\nwhom one possessed the powers of a governor, another took care\\nof the church or chapel, and a third summoned the inhabitants to\\nprayers and reported the delinquents. The children were taught\\nto speak, read, write, and sing, in Spanish, and were initiated into\\nthe doctrines and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic religion. The\\nconverts were directed in their labors by the fathers each being\\ngenerally allowed to retain the fruits of his industry, though he\\nwas at the same time made to understand that he could not claim\\nthem as his property. Immigration from other countries, except of\\nJesuits, was as far as possible prevented the efforts of the mission-\\naries being, in California as in Paraguay, devoted exclusively to the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "1760.] JESUITS IN CALIFORNIA. 101\\nimprovement of the natives, and their union into a species of com-\\nmonwealth, under the guidance of their preceptors.\\nThe Jesuits also in California, as in Paraguay and elsewhere,\\nexerted themselves assiduously in acquiring a knowledge of the\\ngeography, natural history, and languages of the country. They\\nsurveyed the whole coast of the Californian Gulf, determining with\\nexactness the relative positions of the principal points on it and in\\n1709, Father Kuhn ascertained beyond doubt the fact of the con-\\nnection of the peninsula with the continent, which had been denied\\nfor a century. Indeed, as regards the eastern and middle parts of\\nthe peninsula, nearly all the information which we possess at the\\npresent day has been derived through the labors of these mission-\\naries. On all those subjects, the results of their researches were\\ncommunicated to the world througii the Lettres cdifiantcs et curi-\\neuses, published, from time to time, at Paris, by learned members of\\ntheir order, and afterwards more fully in their History of California,*\\nwhich appeared at Madrid in 1757, and has been translated into all\\nthe languages of Western Europe.\\nIn the mean time, that is to say, ever since the beginning of the\\nseventeenth century, the power of Spain had, from a variety of\\ncauses, been constantly declining. Her resources, and those of her\\ncolonies, had, within that period, been materially reduced in mari-\\ntime force she had fallen far below England and France, and a\\nlarge portion of America, including valuable and extensive terri-\\ntories, which had been long occupied by her subjects, had passed\\ninto the hands of her rivals or enemies. Her government, indeed,\\nresisted, as long as possible, these intrusions and encroachments, as\\nthey were considered, of other nations upon territories of which\\nSpain claimed exclusive possession in virtue of the papal grant of\\n1493, as well as of prior discovery and never, until forced by\\nabsolute necessity, did the court of Madrid recognize the claim of\\nany other power, except Portugal, to occupy countries in the New\\nWorld, or to navigate the Western Atlantic, or any part of the\\nPacific. The earliest recognition of such a right by Spain was\\nJVoticia de California y de su Covqvista espiritual y tewporal. This work, thonn-h\\nusually attributed to Venegas, is doubtless chiefly due to the labors of Father Andres\\nMarcos Burriel. The portions relating to the proceedings of the Jesuits in California\\nare highly interesting, and bear every -nternal mark of truth and authenticity. The\\nobservations on the policy of the Spanish government towards its American posses-\\nsions are replete with wisdom, and indicate more liberality, as well as boldness, on\\nthe part of the authors, than could have been reasonably expected, considering the\\ncircumstances under which they were written and published.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "102 DECLINE OF THE SPANISH POWER. [1763.\\nmade in the American treaty, as it was called, concluded with Great\\nBritain in 1670, by which it was agreed that the British king should\\nhave and enjoy forever, with plenary right of sovereignty and\\nproperty, all lands, regions, islands, and colonics, possessed by him\\nor his subjects in the West Indies, or in any part of America with\\nthe understanding, however, that the subjects of neithjer power\\nshould trade with, or sail to, any place in those countries belonging\\nto the other, unless forced thither by stress of weather or pursuit\\nby enemies or pirates. These stipulations were renewed and con-\\nfirmed by the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, in which the queen of\\nEngland, moreover, engaged to give assistance to the Spaniards for\\nthe restoration of the ancient limits of their dominions in the West\\nIndies, as they were in the time of King Charles 11. of Spain;\\nand it was by common consent established, as a chief and funda-\\nmental rule, that the exercise of navigation and commerce in the\\nSpa7iish West Indies should remain as it was in the time of that\\nking, who died in 1700.\\nThe terms of these, and all other treaties on the same subject,\\nbetween Great Britain and Spain, were, however, so vague, tliat\\nthey served rather to increase than to prevent disputes. The\\nmeaning of the expression Spanish West Indies never could be\\nfixed to the satisfaction of both the parties and it was impossible\\nfor them, in any case of alleged trespass by either upon the rights\\nof the other, to agree as to what were the limits of their respective\\ndominions, or what was the state of their navigation and commerce\\nat the time of the death of King Charles II., or at any other time.\\nThe British colonies were, nevertheless, constantly advancing and\\nabsorbing those of other European powers, and all the attempts of\\nthe Spaniards to check their prosperity were ineffectual.\\nThe French, by their occupation of Louisiana and the western\\nhalf of St. Domingo, also gave great uneasiness to the Spaniards\\nfor some time but the political interests of the two nations had\\nbecome so closely involved, by the family ties between their sove-\\nreigns, that Spain, as the weaker, in this and in the other cases,\\nwas obliged to submit to the influence and encroachments of her\\npowerful ally.\\nAt length, in 1763, peace was restored among these three great\\npowers. Spain recovered from France New Orleans and the part\\nof Louisiana west of the Mississippi while the remainder of\\nLouisiana, together with Florida, Canada, and all the other French\\npossessions on the North American continent; became the property", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "176:2.] FAMILY COMPACT. 103\\nof Great Britain. The interests of France in the New World were\\nso small, after these arrangements, that they could scarcely of them-\\nselves allbrd grounds for dispute between her and Spain and the\\ntwo crowns were, moreover, supposed to be firmly united by a\\ntreaty celebrated in history as the Famihj Conijjnct, concluded in\\n1762, through the agency, chiefly, of the duke de Choiseul, prime\\nminister of France, by which the sovereigns of those kingdoms\\nguarantied to each other all their dominions in every part of the\\nworld, and engaged to consider as their connnon enemy any nation\\nwhich should become the enemy of either.\\nThe claims of Spain to the sovereignty of the western side of\\nAmerica were never made the subject of controversy with any.\\nother state until 1790 but her pretensions to the exclusive navi-\\ngation of the Pacific, thov;gh upheld by her government even after\\nthat period, had long before ceased to be regarded with respect by\\nthe rest of the v/orld. The free-traders, freebooters, and bucaniers,\\nthat is to say, the smugglers and pirates, of Great Britain, France,\\nand Holland, led the way into that ocean, which they continued\\nto infest during the wJiole of the seventeenth and a part of the\\neighteenth centuries they were followed by the armed squadrons\\nof those nations, with one or other of which Spain was almost\\nalways at war and during the intervals of peace came the exploring\\nships of the same powers, whose voyages, though at first ostensibly\\nscientific, were, with good reason, considered at Madrid as ominous\\nof evil to the dominion of Spain in America.*\\nThese exploring voyages became more frequent, and their objects\\nwere avowedly political as well as scientific, after the peace of\\n1763 about which time, moreover, they were rendered more safe,\\nexpeditious, and etlective in every respect, by the introduction of\\nthe reflecting quadrant and the chronometer into use on board the\\npublic ships of all the maritime nations of Europe, except Spain\\nand Portugal. Between that year and 1779 tlie Pacific and the\\nsouthern oceans were annually swept by well-appointed ships of\\nGreat Britain or France, under able navigators, whose journals were\\npublished immediately on the conclusion of their voyages, in the\\nLord Lansdowne, in a speech in the Britisli House of Lords, December 13, 1790,\\non the subject of the convention then recently conchided with Spain, said Sir\\nBenjamin Keene, [ambassador from Great Britain at Madrid from 1754 to 1757,] one\\nof the ablest foreign ministers this country ever had, used to say, that, if the Span-\\niards vexed us in the first instance, wo had means enouirh to vex them in return,\\nwithout infringing treaties and the first step ho would recommend would be to\\nsend out thips of discovery to the South Sea.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "104 ALARMS OF THE COURT OF MADRID [1765.\\nmost authentic manner possible, illustrated by maps, plans, tables,\\nviews of scenery, and portraits of natives, all conspiring to aftbrd\\nthe most exact ideas of the objects and places described in the\\nnarratives. New lands and new objects and channels of com-\\nmercial and political enterprise were thus opened to all and new\\nprinciples of national right, adverse to the subsistence of .the\\nexclusive system so long maintained by the Spanish government,\\nwere established and recognized among all other states.\\nThe voyages of the British exploring ships were, until 1778, con-\\nfined to t!ie southern parts of the ocean but the Spanish govern-\\nment had been constantly in dread of their appearance in the North\\nPacific, particularly as a navigable communication between that\\nocean and the Atlantic, in the north, was again generally believed\\nto exist. The acquisition of Canada by Great Britain rendered\\nthe discovery of such a passage much more important to that\\npower, as there was less danger that any other nation should\\nderive advantages from it, to the injury of British interests while\\nSpain, becoming possessed of Louisiana, which was supposed to\\nextend indefinitely northward, had thus additional reasons for\\nviewing with dissatisfaction any attempts of her rival to. advance\\nwestward across the continent.\\nSerious grounds of apprehension were also afforded by the pro-\\nceedings of the Russians on the nortliernmost coasts of the Pacific.\\nAll that was generally known of them was obtained from the maps\\nand accounts of the French geographers, which, though vague and\\ncontradictory, yet served to establish the certainty that this am-\\nbitious and enterprising nation had formed colonics and naval\\nstations in the north-easternmost part of Asia, and had found and\\ntaken possession of extensive territories beyond the sea bathing\\nthose shores and these circumstances were sufficient to alarm the\\nSpanish government for the safety of its provinces on the western\\nside of America.\\nIn order to avert the evils thus supposed to be impending, and\\nat the same time to revive the claims of Spain to the exclusive\\nnavigation of the Pacific, and to the possession of the vacant terri-\\ntories of America adjoining her settled provinces, as well as to\\nrender those provinces more advantageous to and dependent on\\nthe mother country, a system was devised at Madrid, about the\\nyear 1765, embracing a series of measures which were to be apphed\\nas circumstances might dictate or permit. This system, which is\\nsupposed to have been elaborated chiefly by Carrasco, the fiscal of", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "1766.] SCHEMES OF THE COURT OF SPAIN. 105\\nthe Council of Castile, and Galvez, a high officer of the Council of\\nthe Indies, embraced reforms in every part of the administration,\\nparticularly in the finances of the American dominions, the shameful\\nabuses in which had been laid open by Ulloa, in his celebrated\\nreport* presented to the government in 1747. It was likewise\\nintended that the vacant coasts and islands, adjacent to the settled\\nprovinces in the New World, should be examined and occupied by\\ncolonies and garrisons sufficient for their protection against the\\nattempts of foreign nations to seize them, or at least to secure\\nto Spain the semblance of a right of sovereignty over them, on\\nthe ground of prior discovery and settlement. The deliberations\\nwith regard to this system seem to have been conducted with the\\nutmost secrecy by the Spanish government and no idea was enter-\\ntained of its objects in 1766, when Galvez, the officer above named,\\narrived in Mexico as visitad6}-,-\\\\ with full powers to carry the new\\nmeasures into effect in that part of the dominions.\\nThis Galvez was a man of the most violent and tyrannical dis-\\nposition. His arbitrary proceedings in financial matters occasioned\\nan insurrection in the province of Puebla, which nothing but the\\nfirmness and good sense of the marquis de Croix, then viceroy of\\nMexico, prevented from becoming general. He then engaged in an\\nexpensive war against the Indians in Sonora and Sinaloa, the coun-\\ntries bordering on the eastern side of the Californian Gulf, from\\nwhich very little either of honor or of profit accrued to Spain and\\na portion of his impetuosity having thus escaped, he turned his\\nattention towards California, where he was charged with an im-\\nportant duty.\\nThe sovereigns of continental Europe and their ministers had\\nlong been impatient and jealous of the influence enjoyed, or sup-\\nKoticias secretas de America Secret information respecting the internal adminis-\\ntration of Peru, Quito, Chile, and New Granada, collected by Don Antonio de Ulloa\\nand Don Jorge Juan, who had been sent for that purpose by the Spanish govern-\\nment in 1740 the only work from which it is possible to obtain a true picture of the\\nstate of those countries, and of the abuses and corruptions practised in them by the\\nSpanish officials. It was first published at London, in ]i^2G, by some political refugees\\nof that nation, who had obtained possession of the original manuscript.\\nt This title is given to persons charged by the court of Madrid to make inquiries\\nas to the state of the colonies. Their visits, in general, produce no other effects than\\nto balance for a time the authorities of the viceroy and the audiencia, [powers almost\\nalways at variance,] and to cause an infinite number of memorials, petitions, and\\nplans, to be devised and presented, and some new tax to be imposed. The people of\\nthe country look for the arrival of a visitaddr with the same impatience with which\\nthey afterwards desire his departure. \u00e2\u0080\u0094i^Humboldt s Essay on Mexico, book ii.\\nchapter vii.\\n14", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "106 THE EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS. [1767\\nposed to be enjoyed, by the Jesuits and the governments of Spain\\nand Portugal, though always opposed to each other, were equally\\nmistrustful as to the objects and proceedings of that order in the\\nNew World. Suspicions were entertained at Lisbon and at Madrid\\nthat those proceedings were not dictated solely by religious or phil-\\nanthropic motives but that the Jesuits aspired to the separation\\nand exclusive control of the greater part, if not of the whole, of\\nSouthern America: and these suspicions were increased by the\\nsuccessful stand which they made in Paraguay, at the head of the\\nnatives, against the division of that province, and the transfer of a\\nportion of its territory to Portugal, agreeably to the treaty concluded\\nbetween tiie latter kingdom and Spain, in 1750. This act drew\\ndown upon the order tlie hatred of the subtle and fearless marquis\\nde Pombal, who then ruled Portugal with a rod of steel from that\\nmoment he devoted himself to its destruction, and, his plans having\\nbeen disposed with care and secrecy, all its members were expelled\\nfrom the Portuguese dominions, without difficulty, in 1759. In\\nFrance, the Jesuits were soon after entirely overthrown by the\\nagency of the duke de Choiseul, the minister, and madame de Pom-\\npadour, the mistress of Louis XV. and on the 2d of April, 1767,\\na decree was unexpectedly issued by King Charles IIL of Spain,\\nat the instigation of the celebrated count de Aranda, for their im-\\nmediate banishment from the Spanish territories. This decree was\\nexecuted without delay in every part of the empire. In Mexico,\\nthe Jesuits, to the number of several hundreds, were, in July\\nfollowing, arrested and sent off to Europe and a strong military\\nforce was at the same time despatched to California, under the\\ncommand of Don Caspar de Portola, who found no difficulty in\\ntearing a few old priests from the arms of their wailing converts.\\nThus ended the rule of the Jesuits in Cahfornia. That their\\nefforts were attended with good cannot be denied for those who\\nwere the immediate objects of their care, were certainly rendered\\nhappier, more comfortable, and more free from vice, than they would\\notherwise have been. Unfortunately, however, the aborigines of\\nCalifornia are among the most indolent and brutish of the human\\nrace with minds as sterile and unimprovable as the soil of their\\npeninsula. By constant watchfulness, by the judicious administra-\\ntion of rewards as well as punishments, by the removal of all evil\\nexamples, and, above all, by studiously practising themselves what\\nthey recommended to others, the_ benevolent, wise, and persevering\\nJesuits did indeed introduce a certain degree of civilization, or", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "1767.] EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS. 107\\napparent civilization, among these people but there is no reason\\nto believe that, by any means as yet employed for the purpose, a\\nsingle Californian Indian has been rendered a useful, or even an\\ninnocuous, member of society.\\nThere was, however, no intention on the part of the Spanish\\ngovernment to abandon California. On the contrary, the peninsula\\nimmediately became a province of Mexico, and was provided with\\nmilitary and civil officers dependent on the viceroy of that kingdom;\\nand the missions were confided to the Dominicans, under whose\\naustere rule the majority of the converts relapsed into barbarism.\\nEstablishments were also formed by the Spaniards on the western\\nside of California; and the coasts farther north, which had been\\nneglected for more than a hundred and sixty years, were explored\\nin voyages made for the purpose from Mexico, as will be shown in\\nthe succeeding chapter.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "108\\nCHAPTER IV.\\n1769 TO 1779.\\nFirst Establishments on the West Coast of California founded by the Spaniards\\nDispute between Spain and Great Britain respecting the Falkland Islands\\nExploring Voyages of the Spaniards under Perez, Heceta and Bodega, and Arteaga\\nand Bodega Discovery of Nootka Sound, Norfolk Sound, and the Mouth of the\\nColumbia River Importance of these Discoveries.\\nImmediately after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico, the\\nviceroy of Mexico, De Croix, and the visitador, Galvez, directed\\ntheir attention to the estabhshment of colonies and garrisons on the\\nwestern side of California, agreeably to the system adopted for the\\nrestauration of the Spanish dominions in the New World.\\nAt that time, little was known, with certainty, of any part of the\\nwest coast of America north of the 43d parallel, to which latitude\\nit had been explored by Sebastian Vizcaino, in 1603. The voyage\\nof Juan de Fuca was generally considered as apocryphal, and\\nnothing of an exact nature could be learned from the accounts of\\nthe Russian expeditions in that quarter. Upon examining the\\ncharts and journals of Vizcaino, descriptions were found of several\\nplaces surveyed by him, which he strongly recommended as suitable\\nfor settlements or naval stations and, agreeably to his views, it was\\ndetermined in Mexico that the first establishments should be formed\\non the harbors which had received from that navigator the names\\nof Port San Diego and Port Monterey. Accordingly, after much\\ndifficulty, a small number of settlers, with some soldiers and Fran-\\nciscan friars, were assembled at La Paz, on the western shore, of the\\nCalifornian Gulf, which had been selected as the place of rendez-\\nvous and thence, in the spring of 1769,* they began their march\\nThis account of the establishment of the first Spanish colonies on the west coast\\nof California is derived from the narrative of Miguel Costanso, the engineer of the\\nexpedition, which was published at Mexico in 1771, and immediately suppressed by\\nthe government a copy, however, escaped to England, from which a translation was\\npublished at London, in 1790, by A. Dalrymple and from the biography of Friar\\nJunipero Serra, the principal of the Franciscans who accompanied the expedition,\\nwritten by Friar Francisco Palou, and published at Mexico in 1787.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "1769.] SPANISH COLONIES IN NEW CALIFORNIA. 109\\nthrough the peninsula towards San Diego, the nearest of the places\\nselected for the first establishments, in two parties, commanded\\nrespectively by Gaspar de Portola, the governor of the newly-formed\\nprovince, and Fernando de Rivera, a captain in the army. Each\\nparty carried a drove of cattle the materials and supplies for the\\ncolonies being sent in three vessels directly to San Diego.\\nThe first party of emigrants under Rivera, after a long and\\npainful march, reached San Diego on the 14th of May, 1769, and\\nfound there two of the vessels, which, after disastrous voyages and\\nthe loss of many of their crews by scurvy, had arrived a few days\\nprevious. The other body, under Portola, marched by a still more\\ndifficult route, and did not join their companions on the Pacific\\nshore until nearly two months later. A spot having been chosen\\nfor the settlement near the entrance of the Bay of San Diego,\\na portion of the men were employed in erecting the necessary\\nbuildings with the remainder Portola set off for Monterey, where\\nhe was anxious also to establish a colony immediately, leaving\\ndirections that the third vessel, which was expected from Mexico,\\nshould be ordered to proceed with her cargo to that place. This\\nexpedition, however, was not successful for the Spaniards, march-\\ning along the eastern side of the range of mountains which\\nborder the coast northward of San Diego, passed by Monterey,\\nand found themselves, at the end of October, on the shore of a great\\nbay, which they supposed to be the same called Port San Francisco\\nm the accounts of the old navigators. When they discovered the\\nplace of which they were in search, the cold weather had begun\\nand, the vessel not appearing, with the supplies, as expected, they\\nwere obliged to retrace their steps to San Diego. Of this third\\nvessel nothing was ever heard after her departure from the Gulf of\\nCalifornia.\\nIn the mean time, the people left at San Diego had experienced\\ngreat difficulties from the hostility of the natives, by whom they\\nwere several times attacke^l and, after the return of the governor s\\nparty, they were all in danger of perishing from want of food so\\nthat they unanimously agreed to abandon the country and return\\nto Mexico, unless they should be relieved, before St. Joseph s day,\\nthe 10th of March, 1770, by the return of one of the vessels, which\\nhad been sent for supplies. On that day, one of the vessels\\ndid arrive, and, the supplies being found sufficient, Portola again set\\noff for Monterey, where a settlement was effected. During the\\nsame year, other parties of emigrants came from Mexico, and new", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "110 DISPUTE ABOUT THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. [1770.\\nestablishments were formed on the coast between San Diego and\\nMonterey and, as the means of subsistence soon became abundant\\nby the multiplication of their cattle, independently of the fruits of\\ntheir labor in agriculture, the Spanish colonies in Upper California\\nwere, before 1775, in a condition to resist the dangers to which they\\nwere likely to be exposed.\\nAnother measure, undertaken by the Spanish government about\\nthis time, in prosecution of its plans for securing the unsettled\\ncoasts and islands of America from occupation by foreign powers,\\nbrought Spain into collision, and nearly into war, with Great Britain.\\nSoon after the peace of 1763, colonies were formed by the French\\nand the British on the barren, storm-vexed group of the Falk-\\nland Islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean, near the entrance of\\nMagellan s Strait. The French colonists were soon withdrawn by\\ntheir government, at the instance of the Spanish king, though not\\nuntil after an angry discussion the British ministers, on the other\\nhand, treated with contempt the remonstrances addressed to them\\nfrom Madrid, on the subject of their settlement. At length, in\\nJune, 1770, the British colonists were expelled from Port Egmont,\\nthe place which they occupied, by a squadron and troops sent for the\\npurpose from Buenos Ayres by Don Francisco Bucareli, the gov-\\nernor of that province. This event created great excitement in\\nEngland, and both nations prepared for war but the dispute was\\ncompromised through the mediation of France. A declaration was\\npresented on the part of Spain, to the effect that the Catholic king\\ndisavowed the act of the governor of Buenos Ayres, and promised\\nto restore the settlers to Port Egmont but that these concessions\\nwere not to be considered as prejudicing his prior right of sovereign-\\nty over the islands and the British minister gave in return an accept-\\nance of the disavowal and promise of restoration, without noticing\\nthe Spanish reservation of right.* Agreeably to this promise, the\\nBritish colonists were replaced at Port Egmont in 1771 but they\\nwere withdrawn by order of their government in 1774, on the plea\\nof the expensiveness and inutility of the establishment, but, as is\\nThe documents relative to this dispute may be found at length m the London\\nAnnual Register, and in the Gentleman s Magazine, for 1770. See, also, the\\nParliamentary History, vol. xvi. the Anecdotes of the Life of Lord Chatham,\\nchap, xxxix. Thoughts on the Falkland Islands, by Dr. Samuel Johnson, c.\\nThe author of this History may also be permitted to refer to a Memoir, Historical\\nand Political, on the Falkland Islands written by himself, and published in the New\\nYork Merchant s Magazine for February, 1842, containing full accounts of all the\\ncircumstances connected with this famous dispute.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "1771,] SETTLEMENT OF THE DISPUTE. Ill\\ngenerally believed, in consequence of a secret engagement to that\\neffect, concluded between the parties* at the time of the settlement\\nThe existence of such an engagement was first insinuated by Junius, in his letter\\nof January 30th, 1771, and was soon after directly charged, in parliament, by eminent\\nmembers, without reply from the ministers. Johnson made no attempt to deny it in\\nhis Thoughts, c., but, on the contrary, in an edition published after the evacuation\\nbj the British, he admits tliat the island was, perhaps, kept only to quiet clamors,\\nwith an intention, not then wholly concealed, of quitting it in a short time. That\\nthe British ministers did engage to evacuate Port Egmont, soon after it should have\\nbeen restored, is positively asserted in the Anecdotes of the Life of Lord Chatham,\\nin the Histoire de la Diplomatic Francaise, by Flassan, and in the Histories of Eng-\\nland, by Bisset, Belsham, Hughes, and Wade; while Coote and Adolphus both admit\\nthat an assurance to the same effect was made to Spain prior to the settlement of the\\ndispute. The Pictorial History of England, published in 1641, states the belief as to\\nthe existence of the secret engagement, leaving the question as to its truth undeter-\\nmined. In fine, it was regarded as an established fact, that, at the time of the conclu-\\nsion of the dispute, an engagement or promise icas made by the British government to\\nthat of Spain, to withdraw all British subjects fro^n the Falkland Islands within a short\\ntime after Port Egmont should have been restored to Great Britain; and this fact re-\\nmained unquestioned until the 8th of January, 1834, when Lord Palmerston, the\\nBritish secretary for foreign affairs, in answer to a protest on the part of the gov-\\nernment of Buenos Ayres against the recent occupation of the Falkland Islands by\\nGreat Britain, formally denied it, and produced a number of extracts from corre-\\nspondence beticccn British ministers and their oicn agents, which he considered as\\naffording conclusive evidence that no such secret understanding could have existed,\\nas it is not mentioned in those extracts. The papers cited by Lord Palmerston, and\\nthe arguments which he draws from them, are, however, insufficient to change the\\ngeneral belief on the subject; for in none of them should we expect to find any allu-\\nsion to the engagement in question. There is no apparent reason that the ministers\\nshould have informed any of the persons addressed in these letters of their promise\\nto evacuate the islands while, on the other hand, it was clearly important for them\\nto suppress all proof of their having made such an engagement, which the whole\\nBritish people would have considered dishonoring. It is no novelty in diplomacy,\\nthat an ambassador should be kept in ignorance of matters settled or discussed be-\\ntween his own ministers of state and those of the government to which he is accred-\\nited; and the very negotiation by which this dispute was terminated, was carried on\\nthrough the agency of the secretar}^ of the French embassy at London, while the\\nambassador himself knew nothing about it.\\nEqually inefficient to produce conviction is the assertion of Lord Palmerston in\\nthe same letter, that the reservation (with regard to the sovereignty of the Falkland\\nIslands) contained in the Spanish declaration cannot be admitted to possess an} sub-\\nstantial weight, inasmuch as no notice whatever is taken of it in the British counter-\\ndeclaration. In the first place, no counter-declaration was made on the occasion:\\nthe British minister presented, in return for the Spanish ambassador s declaration, a\\npaper containing not a vi ord of contradiction, and which is, as it was stj led when\\nsubmitted to parliament, an acceptance. These two documents the only ones which\\nare as yet knoicn to have passed on the conclusion of the dispute cannot be sepa-\\nrated in reasoning on their contents, but must be taken together, as forming 07ie con-\\nvention, admitted by both parties for it will not be pretended that the Spanish ambas-\\nsador delivered his declaration, without full knowledge of the answer which was to\\nbe made to it. The silence of the British minister on the subject of the reservation\\namounts, at least, to an acknowledgment that the fact of the restitution of Port Egmont\\nwas not regarded as a surrender by Spain of her claim cf sovereignty over the Islands,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "112 SPANISH COLONIES IN NEW CALIFORNIA. [1 3^^4.\\nof the dispute. Bucareli, the governor of Buenos Ayres, whose acts\\nhad been disavowed by his sovereign, was raised to the high and\\nlucrative post of viceroy of Mexico.\\nThe issue of this dispute between Great Britain and Spain, served\\nto impress upon the government of the latter power still more\\nstrongly, the conviction of the necessity of occupying the vacant\\ncoasts and islands of America adjoining its settled provinces.\\nEfforts for this purpose were accordingly made, not only on the\\ncoasts of California, but also on those of Texas, of the Mosquito\\ncountry, and of Patagonia, and were continued, at great expense,\\nthough with little effect, until 1779, when they were abandoned, in\\nconsequence of the wars excited by the revolution which ended in\\nthe independence of the United States.\\nThe efforts of the Spanish government were, however, specially\\ndirected towards the west coasts of North America and, in order\\nto give them efficiency, a particular branch of the administration of\\nMexico was created, under the title of the Marine Department of\\nSan Bias, which was charged with the superintendence and ad-\\nvancement of the establishments in that quarter. The port of San\\nBias, in Mexico, at the entrance of the Cahfornian Gulf, was made\\nthe centre of the operations for these purposes arsenals, ship-\\nyards, and warehouses, were erected there all expeditions for the\\ncoasts farther north were made from it, and all orders relative to\\nthem passed through the chief of the department, who resided at\\nthat port.\\nIn this manner, before 1779, eight establishments were formed,\\nby the Spaniards, on the Pacific coast of America, between the\\nCalifornian peninsula and Cape Mendocino the southernmost of\\nwhich was San Diego, near the 32d degree of latitude, and the\\nnorthernmost, San Francisco, on the great bay of the same name,\\nnear the 38th. These establishments were, in their character,\\nalmost exclusively military and missionary being intended solely\\nfor the occupation of the country, which it was proposed to effect,\\nas far as possible, by the conversion of the aborigines to the\\nCatholic religion^ and to the forms and customs of civilized life.\\nThe military arrangements were all on the most miserable scale.\\nThe forts, some of them dignified with the name of castles, were\\nof mud the artillery were a few old pieces, of various sizes,\\ngenerally ineffective, and the garrisons were all slender the men\\nwere badly armed, badly clothed, and seldom or never exercised,\\nthough they were well fed, as the country was covered with cattle.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "1774.] SPANISH COLONIES IN NEW CALIFORNIA. 113\\nthe descendants of the herds brought thither by the Spaniards in\\n1770 and the ground yielded, with httle cultivation, as much\\nIndian corn, beans, and red pepper, as could be consumed. The\\nmissions were, for the most part, in the vicinity of the military\\nstations, and, like those of the Jesuits, they each contained a church,\\ngenerally well built, with some ruder edifices, for the accommoda-\\ntion of the priests and their converts, and for store and work-\\nhouses. The public farms were worked by the natives, under the\\ndirection of the missionaries or soldiers, and merely produced the\\nfood required in the establishments, and, in some places, a little\\nwine. Towns were afterwards formed, some of which were\\nendowed with the privileges of a corporation but none of them\\nattained a large size.\\nThe missionaries were, as already stated, of the Franciscan\\norder, the members of which are incapacitated, by their vows, from\\nholding any property as individuals. They were, for the most part,\\nplain, uneducated men taken from the lower classes of society, and\\nknowing no books but their breviaries, and the biographies of their\\nsaints who devoted themselves conscientiously and heroically to\\nthe task of reclaiming and guiding the barbarous natives of that\\nremote region without any expectation of acquiring wealth or\\nhonors unsupported by the ambition and pride of order which\\nanimated the Jesuits and uncheered by those social pleasures and\\nconsolations which our Protestant apostles derive from their fam-\\nilies, wherever they may be placed. To their virtuous conduct and\\nself-denial all the enlightened travellers* who have visited their\\nmissions bear unqualified testimony.\\nThese missionaries soon succeeded in reducing a large number\\nof the natives of California to a certain degree of conformity with\\nthe customs of social life. The neophytes were obtained, gener-\\nally when young, from their parents, by persuasion, or by purchase,\\nor, in some cases, by force, and were never suffered to return to\\ntheir savage friends, if it could be prevented. They were all, at\\nfirst, treated as children the nature and hours of their labors, their\\nstudies, their meals, and their recreations, being prescribed by their\\nsuperintendents and they were punished when negligent or re-\\nfractory, though not with severity. After remaining ten years in\\nthis state of pupilage, they might obtain their liberty, and have\\nground allotted to them but comparatively few availed themselves\\nLa Perouse, Vancouver, Kotzebue, Beechey, c.\\n15", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "114 VOYAGE OF JUAN PEREZ. [1774,\\nof the permission, and those who did so, fcfr the most part, sunk into\\nsloth and misery, or returned to the wilds, and resumed the savage\\nlife. In the latter cases, the Spaniards employed every means in\\ntheir power to retake the fugitives, who were, indeed, often sent\\nback by the barbarians, as unworthy of enjoying the privileges of\\nfreemen.\\nThe Franciscans did not, like the Jesuits, exert themselves in\\nprocuring information respecting the countries in which they\\nresided and nothing has been learnt from them of the geogra-\\nphy or natural history of the part of California which they occupied.\\nIn 1775, Friars Font and Garzes travelled, by land, from Mexico,\\nthrough Sonora, and the country of the Colorado River, to the\\nmission of San Gabriel, in California, making observations on their\\nway, with the view to the increase of intercourse between Mexico\\nand the establishments in the latter region. They were, however,\\ncoldly received by their brethren, who informed them that they had\\nno desire to have such communications opened and their journal\\nwas never made public. In the same year. Friars Dominguez and\\nEscalante, of the same order, attempted to penetrate westward\\nfrom Santa Fe, in New Mexico, to the Pacific but, after proceed-\\ning about half the distance, they turned back. The journals of\\nboth these expeditions are still preserved, in manuscript, in Mexico,\\nwhere they have been consulted by Humboldt and other travellers\\nbut they are, from all accounts, of no value.\\nBetween 1774 and 1779, three exploring voyages were made,\\nby order of the Spanish government, in which the west coasts of\\nAmerica were examined, as far north as the 60th degree of latitude.\\nThe first of these voyages was conducted by Ensign Juan Perez,\\nwho had been long employed in the Manilla trade, and afterwards\\nin the vessels sailing between San Bias and the new establishments\\non the Californian coast. He was accompanied by Estevan Marti-\\nnez, as pilot, and Friars Pena and Crespi, as chaplains, from whose\\njournals, as well as from those of the commander, the following\\naccount of the voyage is derived.*\\nPerez sailed from San Bias in the corvette Santiago, on the 25th\\nThe authorities for the account of this expedition are the Narrative composed by\\nPerez for the viceroy the Journal of Friar Tomas de la Pena and the Observations\\nof the pilot Martinez manuscript copies of which have been procured from Madrid.\\nThe Journal of Friar Crespi was examined by Humboldt, who has given some par-\\nticulars derived from it in his Essay on Mexico. Of this voyage no account was ever\\ngiven to the world until 1802, when a short notice of it appeared in the Introduction\\nto the Journal of the Sutil and Mexicana.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "1774.] VOYAGE OF JUAN PEREZ. 1 15\\nof January, 1774, with orders, from the viceroy of Mexico, to\\nproceed, as soon as possible, northward, to the 60th degree of\\nlatitude, and then to survey the coasts of America from that paral-\\nlel, southward, to Monterey, taking possession, for the king, of\\nevery place at which he might land. From San Bias he went first\\nto San Diego, and thence to Monterey, from which latter place he\\ntook his departure, on the 1 6th of June, for the north. The\\nweather, as usual in that part of the Pacific, proved stormy, the\\nwinds blowing almost constantly from the north-west so that it was\\nnot until the 18th of July that the Santiago reached the 54th par-\\nallel of latitude, under which land was first seen in the east. The\\ncoast thus observed was high and rocky, extending southward as far\\nas the eye could penetrate, and terminating, in the north, in a point,\\nto which Perez gave the name of Cope Santa Margarita. In the\\ninterior was seen a lofty, snow-covered range of mountains, which\\nhe called the Sierra de San Cristoval. On approaching the shore,\\nthe Spaniards could find no place where it would be safe to anchor\\nand, on rounding the cape, the coast beyond it was found to stretch\\ndirectly westward. By this time, the crew were beginning to show\\nsymptoms of scurvy, the weather was tempestuous, and the vessel\\nwas small, and badly provided in every resnect under which cir-\\ncumstances, it was determined that no attempt should be made to\\ngo farther north. The Spaniards accordingly steered southward,\\nalong the coast, for about a hundred miles, and were then driven\\nofl by a storm before leaving it, however, they met some of the\\nnatives, in their canoes, with whom they traded, receiving sea-otter\\nand other valuable skins in return for old clothes, knives, shells,\\nand other trifles.\\nThe land thus discovered was the west side of the large island\\nafterwards named Quee7i Charlotte s Island by the British Cape\\nSanta Margarita being the north-easternmost point, now called, on\\nEnglish maps. Cape North, at the entrance of Dixon s Channel.\\nMany particulars respecting the people of these coasts are recorded\\nin the journals of the Spaniards, which agree precisely with the\\naccounts of subsequent navigators.\\nOn the 9th of August, Perez again made the land, and discov-\\nered, under the parallel of 49 degrees 30 minutes, a deep bay, at\\nthe entrance of which he anchored, between two high points, one\\nbearing six leagues north-west, the other two leagues south-east.\\nEre long, his vessel was surrounded by canoes, filled with natives of\\nthe country, who readily engaged in trade with his crew they are", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "116 VOYAGE OF JUAN PEREZ. [1774.\\nrepresented, in the journal of Friar Peiia, as having Hghter complex-\\nions than other aborigines of America like those farther north,\\nthey were clad in skins, their hats being, however, made of rushes,\\ncuriously plaited and painted, of a conical shape, with a knob on the\\ntop. To the surprise of the Spaniards, they had many knives,\\narrow-points, and other articles, of iron and copper, though it did\\nnot appear that they had held any intercourse with civilized people.\\nTo this bay Perez gave the name of Port San Lorenzo, in honor\\nof the saint on whose day it was first seen it is undoubtedly the\\nsame which, four years afterwards, received, from Captain Cook,\\nthe appellation of King George^s or Nooika Sound. The point\\nnorth-west of its entrance, called, by the Spaniards, Cape Santa\\nClara, is the Woody Point of the English and the other point\\nthe Cape San Estcvan of Perez corresponds precisely, in situa-\\ntion and all other particulars, as described, with the Point Breakers\\nof the English navigator.\\nFrom Port San Lorenzo, the Spaniards sailed along the coast\\nsouthward and, in the latitude of 47 degrees 47 minutes, they\\nbeheld, at a distance in the interior, on the east, a lofty mountain,\\ncovered with snow, which they named Sierra de Santa Rosalia\\nprobably the Mount Olympus of the English maps. Martinez, the\\npilot of the Santiago, many years after, thought proper to remem-\\nber that he had also observed, between the 48th and the 49th\\nparallels, a wide opening in the land, and that he had given his own\\nname to the point on the south side of its entrance. Of this\\nobservation no note appears in the journals of the voyage yet,\\nupon the strength of the tardy recollection of the pilot, his country-\\nmen have claimed for him the merit of rediscovering the Strait of\\nJuan de Fuca, and have affixed the name of Cape Martinez, in\\ntheir charts, to the point of the continent where that passage joins\\nthe Pacific. Continuing his voyage to the south, Perez, on the 21st\\nof August, passed in sight of Cape Mendocino, the true latitude of\\nwhich he first determined and, on the 27th, he arrived at Mon-\\nterey, whence he, after some time, went on to San Bias,\\nIn this voyage, the first made by the Spaniards along the north-\\nwest coasts of America after 1603, very little was learned, except\\nthat there was land, on the eastern side of the Pacific, as far north\\nas the latitude of 54 degrees. The government of Spain, perhaps,\\nacted wisely in concealing the accounts of the expedition, which\\nreflected little honor on the courage or the science of its navigators\\nbut it has thereby deprived itself of the means of establishing", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "1775.] VOYAGE OF HECETA AND BODEGA. 117\\nbeyond question the claim of Perez to the discovery of the important\\nharbor called Nootka Sound, which is now, by general consent,\\nassigned to Captain Cook.\\nImmediately after the return of Perez to Mexico, the viceroy\\nBucareli (the same officer who, as governor of Buenos Ayres, had\\nexpelled the British from the Falkland Islands in 1770) ordered that\\nanother expedition should be made for the purpose of examining\\nthose coasts as far as the 65th degree of latitude, to which they\\nwere believed to extend continuously north-westward. With this\\nobject the Santiago was placed under the command of Captain\\nBruno. Heceta, under whom Perez was to go as ensign and she\\nwas to be accompanied by a small schooner, called the Sonora, of\\nwhich Juan de Ayala was to have the command, and Antonio\\nMaurelle to be pilot. These two vessels, having been equipped,\\nand provided with the History of California by Venegas, and a chart\\nof the whole north-west coast of America, constructed according to\\nthe fancy of the French geographer Bellin, in 1766,* sailed together\\nfrom San Bias, on the 15th of March, 1775, in company with the\\nschooner San Carlos, bound for Monterey, f Ere they had lost sight\\nof the land, however, the captain of the San Carlos became delirious,\\nin consequence of which Ayala was ordered to take his place, the\\ncommand of the Sonora being transferred to Lieutenant Juan Fran-\\ncisco de la Bodega y Quadra. These circumstances are mentioned,\\nbecause, in nearly all the abstracts of the accounts of this voyage\\nhitherto published, Ayala appears as the chief of the expedition\\nwhereas, in fact, he only accompanied the exploring vessels to a\\nshort distance from San Bias.\\nCarte reduite de TOcean septentrional, compris entre I Asie ct rAmerique,\\nsuivant les Decouvertes faites par les Russes. Par N. Bellin. Paris, 17G6.\\nt Of this expedition no less than five separate accounts are found among the\\nmanuscripts obtained from Madrid, viz. tlie official narrative of the wliole, drawn\\nup for the viceroy of Mexico the Journal of Bodega part of the Journal of\\nHeceta, showing his course after his parting with Bodega a concise narrative by\\nBodega and, lastly, the Journal of Maurelle, the pilot of the Sonora. A copy of\\nMaurelle s Journal was obtained in Madrid, soon after the conclusion of the voyage,\\nfrom which an English translation was published at London, in 1781, by the Hon.\\nDainos Barrington, among his Miscellanies. This translation, though very inaccurate\\nand incomplete, attracted much attention at the time of its appearance, and from it,\\nand the short account given in the Introduction to the Journal of Galiano and\\nValdcs, all the information respecting the ^soyage has been hitherto obtained. Bar-\\nrington s Miscellanies is, however, a rare book; and the notices of this expedition\\ncontained in the various memoirs, reports, correspondence, c., relative to the north-\\nwest coast, are, for the most part, taken directly, or at second hand, from the abstracts\\nof the Journal, given by Fleurieu in his instructions to La Perouse, and his Intro-\\nduction to the Journal of Marchand, which are both filled with errors.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "118 VOYAGE OF HECETA AND BODEGA. [1775.\\nThe exploring vessels, after parting with the San Carlos, doubled\\nCape Mendocino, and, on the 10th of June, anchored in a small\\nroadstead beyond that promontory, in the latitude of 41 degrees\\n10 minutes. The officers, priests, and a portion of the men, imme-\\ndiately landed, and took possession of the country, in the name\\nof their sovereign, with religious solemnities, bestowing upon the\\nharbor the name of Port Trinidad; and they then engaged in\\nrepairing their vessels and obtaining a supply of water, which\\nafforded them employment for nine days.\\nDuring this period, the Spaniards held frequent communications\\nwith the people of the country, who dwelt principally on the banks\\nof a small stream, named by the navigators Rio de las Tortolas,\\nPigeon River, from the multitude of those birds in its vicinity.\\nThe Indians conducted themselves uniformly in the most peace-\\nable manner, and appeared to be, on the whole, an inoffensive and\\nindustrious race. They were clothed, for the most part, in skins,\\nand armed with bows and arrows, in the use of which they were\\nvery expert their arrows were, in general, tipped with copper\\nor iron, of which metals they had knives and other implements\\nwhence procured the Spaniards could not learn. No signs of\\nreligious feelings, or ceremonies of any kind, could be discovered\\namong them, unless their howling over the bodies of the dead may\\nbe considered in that light.\\nHaving completed their arrangements, Heceta and Bodega sailed\\nfrom Port Trinidad on the 19th of June, leaving a cross erected\\nnear the shore, with an inscription, setting forth the fact of their\\nhaving visited the place and taken possession of it for their sove-\\nreign this monument the Indians promised to respect and they\\nkept their word, for Vancouver found it there untouched in 1793.\\nThe Spaniards considered the discovery of the place important the\\nharbor being, according to their journals, safe and spacious, and\\npresenting facilities for communication between vessels and the\\nshore and the surrounding country fruitful and agreeable. Van-\\ncouver, however, gives a much less favorable view of the harbor,\\nwhich he pronounces to be in no respect a secure retreat for\\nvessels, as it is entirely open to the south-west winds, which blow\\non that coast with the utmost violence at certain seasons of the\\nyear. The other accounts of the Spaniards, respecting the place\\nand its inhabitants, are, in general, confirmed by those of the British\\nnavigator.\\nThe Spaniards, after leaving Port Trinidad, were obliged to keep", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "1775.] VOYAGE OF HECETA AND BODEGA. 119\\nat a distance from the coast for three weeks, at the end of which\\ntime they again came in sight of it, in the latitude of 48 degrees\\n27 minutes. From that parallel they examined the shore towards\\nthe south, in search of the strait said to have been discovered by\\nJuan de Fuca in 1592, the entrance of which was placed, in Bellin s\\nchart, between the 47th and the 48th degrees of latitude and, having\\nsatisfied themselves that no such opening existed there, the two\\nvessels cast anchor near the land, though at some distance from\\neach other, in order to obtain water and to trade with the natives.\\nHere a severe misfortune befell the schooner on the 14th of July.\\nSeven of her men, who had been sent ashore in her qnly boat,\\nthough well armed, were attacked and murdered, immediately on\\nlanding, by the natives and the schooner was herself in much\\ndanger of being taken by those savages, who surrounded her, during\\nthe whole day, in great numbers, in their canoes, and were with\\ndifficulty prevented from boarding her. In conuuemoration of this\\nmelancholy event, the place at which it occurred was called Punta\\nde Martires Martyis Point it is in the latitude of 47 degrees\\n20 minutes, and on English maps is called Grenville s Point. A\\nsmall island, situated a few miles farther north, the only one de-\\nserving that name between Cape Mendocino and the Strait of Fuca,\\nwas also named Isla de Dolores Isle of Sorroivs twelve years\\nafterwards, this same isle received, from the captain of the ship\\nImperial Eagle, of Ostend, the appellation of Destruction Island,\\nin consequence of a similar massacre of some of his crew by the\\nIndians, on the main land opposite.\\nThis disaster, together with the wretched condition of the\\nschooner, and the appearance of scurvy in the crews of both ves-\\nsels, occasioned a debate among the officers, as to the propriety of\\ncontinuing the voyage. The commander, Heceta, was desirous to\\nreturn to Monterey, in which, however, he was opposed by his own\\npilot, Juan Perez, and by Bodega, the captain, and Maurelle, the\\npilot, of the schooner; and, their opinions having been given, as\\nusual in the Spanish service, in writing, the unwilling assent of the\\ncommander was obtained, and the voyage towards the north was\\nresumed on the 20th of July. Ere they had proceeded far in that\\ndirection, the vessels were separated in a storm whereupon Heceta\\nseized the opportunity to go back to Monterey, whilst Bodega per-\\nsevered in his determination to accomplish, as far as possible, the\\nobjects of the expedition.\\nHeceta, after parting with the schooner, made the land near the\\ni", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "120 HECETA DISCOVERS A GREAT RIVER. [1775.\\n50th degree of latitude, (on the south-west side of the great island\\nof Vancouver and Quadra,) and, passing by the Port San Lorenzo,\\n(Nootka Sound,) discovered in the previous year by Perez, he came\\non the coast of the continent near the 48th parallel, without observ-\\ning the intermediate entrance of the Strait of Fuca, for which he,\\nhowever, sought between the 47th and 48th parallels. Thence he\\nran along the shore towards the south^ and, on the 15th of August,\\narrived opposite an opening, in the latitude of 46 degrees 17 min-\\nutes, from which rushed a current so strong as to prevent his enter-\\ning it. This circumstance convinced him that it was the mouth of\\nsome great river, or, perhaps, of the Strait of Fuca, which might\\nhave been erroneously placed on his chart: he, in consequence,\\nremained in its vicinity another day, in the hope of ascertaining\\nthe true character of the place but, being still unable to enter the\\nopening, he continued his voyage towards the south.*\\nOn the opening in the coast thus discovered Heceta bestowed\\nthe name of Ensenada de Asuncion-\\\\ Assumption Inlet calling the\\npoint on its north side Cape San Roque, and that on the south Cape\\nFrondoso Leafy Cape. In the charts published at Mexico, soon\\nafter the conclusion of the voyage, the entrance is, however, called\\nEnsenada de Heceta Heceta s Inlet and i?io de San Roque\\nRiver of St. Roc. It was, undoubtedly, the mouth of the greatest\\nriver on the western side of America the same which was, in 1792,\\nfirst entered by the ship Columbia, from Boston, under the command\\nof Robert Gray, and has ever since been called the Columbia.\\nThe evidence of its first discovery by Heceta, on the 15th of August,\\n1775, is unquestionable.\\nFrom Assumption Inlet, Heceta continued his course, along the\\nshore of the continent, towards the south, and arrived at Monterey,\\nwith nearly two thirds of his men sick, on the 30th of August. In\\nhis journal, he particularly describes many places on this part of the\\ncoast which are now well known such as the remarkable promon-\\ntory, in the latitude of 45J degrees, with small, rocky islets in front,\\nnamed by him Cape Falcon, the Cape Lookout of our maps the\\nflat-topped mountain, overhanging the ocean, a little farther south,\\nnoted, in his journal, as La Mesa, or The Table, which, in 1805,\\nSee extract from the Journal of Heceta, among the Proofs and Illustrations,\\nunder the letter E, in the latter part of this volume.\\nt The 15th of August is the day of the Assumption, and the 16th is the day of St.\\nRoque, or Roc, and St. Jacinto, or Hyacinth, according to the Roman Catholic\\ncalendar.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "1775.] VOYAGE OF BODEGA AND MAURELLE. 121\\nreceived, from Lewis and Clarke, the name of Clarke s Point of\\nView and the numerous rocky points and reefs bordering the\\nshore, between those places and Cape Mendocino.\\nMeanwhile. Bodega and Maurelle, in their little vessel, were\\nstriving, if possible, to reach the 65th degree of latitude, agreeably\\nto the instructions of the viceroy. With this object, after their\\nseparation from Heceta, they advanced towards the north, without\\nseeing land, until they had passed the 56th degree of latitude, when\\nthey unexpectedly beheld it, on the 16th of August, at a great dis-\\ntance in the north, and much nearer on the east though, by\\nBellin s chart, and their own calculations, they should have been\\none hundred and thirty-five leagues from any part of America.\\nSteering towards the east, they discovered a lofty mountain, rising\\nfrom the ocean in the form of a beautiful cone, and covered with\\nsnow, occupying the whole of what seemed to be a peninsula,\\nprojecting from the main land of an extensive and elevated ter-\\nritory this mountain immediately received the name of San Jacinto,\\nin honor of St. Hyacinth, on whose day it was discovered, the pro-\\njecting point of land which it occupied being called Cape Engano,\\nor False Cape. In the angles between this supposed peninsula and\\nthe main land were two bays, or sounds, of which the northernmost\\nwas named Port Remedios, and the other Port Guadelupe, after\\nthe two celebrated shrines in the vicinity of the city of Mexico.\\nThere is no difficulty in identifying any of these places, as described\\nin the journals of the Spanish voyage. They are situated on the\\nwest side of the largest island of the group distinguished, on\\nEnglish maps, as King George IH. s Archipelago Mount San\\nJacinto was, three years afterwards, named by Cook Mount\\nEdgecumb Port Remedies is the Bay of Islands of the same\\nnavigator, and Port Guadelupe is the JSorfolk Sound of the\\nEnglish geographers. The two bays have since been found to com-\\nmunicate with each other by a narrow passage, which completely\\nseparates the main land from the mountain. The Spaniards landed\\non the shore of Port Remedies, where they took possession of the\\ncountry agreeably to the formalities prescribed, and obtained some\\nwater and salmon for the supply of their vessel. While thus en-\\ngaged, they were surrounded by a crowd of natives of the country,\\nwho appeared to be more savage and determined than those of any\\nother part of the coast, and also to entertain very distinct ideas\\nof their own superior rights of property and domain. Thus the\\nSpaniards were obliged to pay, not only for the fish, but also for\\n16", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "122 THE SPANIARDS ON THEIR RETURN. [1775.\\nthe water taken away by them and the cross, and other marks\\nwhich they planted on the shore, were torn up immediately on their\\ndeparture, and treated with every indignity by the savages.\\nThe voyage was resumed on the 20th of August, and was con-\\ntinued along the coast, to the 58th degree of latitude, beyond which\\nit was found impossible to proceed, as nearly all on board were, from\\nfatigue and sickness, incapable of performing duty, whilst the winds\\nwere daily increasing in violence, and rendering greater exertions\\nnecessary. They accordingly, on the 22d, turned towards the south\\nand, having passed Mount San Jacinto, they approached the coast,\\nin order to seek for the Rio de Reyes, the great river through which\\nAdmiral Fonte was said to have penetrated far into the interior\\nof the American continent, in 1640. With this intent, writes\\nMaurelle, in his journal, we examined every bay and recess of the\\ncoast, and sailed around every head-land, lying to, during the night,\\nin order that we might not miss this entrance after which exer-\\ntions, we may safely pronounce that no such passage is to be\\nfound. This conclusion was certainly correct, but it was as\\ncertainly not established by the exertions of the Spaniards on this\\noccasion for, in the first place, they confined their search to the\\npart of the coast north of the 54th parallel, whereas, in the\\naccount of Fonte s voyage, the Rio de Reyes is made to enter the\\nPacific under the 53d and, had their observations been as minute\\nas Maurelle represents them, several passages would have been\\nfound, leading from the ocean towards the north and east, for the\\ncomplete examination of any one of which, more time would have\\nbeen required than was spent by the Spaniards in their whole\\nsearch. Of the many openings in that part of the coast, the only\\none penetrated by these navigators was the extensive bay, named,\\nby them, Port Bucareli, in the latitude of 55J degrees, on the\\nwest side of the largest island of the group called, on English\\nmaps, the Prince of Wales s Archipelago, where they landed, and\\ntook possession, on the 24th of August. Thence proceeding south-\\nward, they made the north-east extremity of Queen Charlotte s\\nIsland, which had received, from Perez, in the preceding year, the\\nname of Cape Santa Margarita and they observed, immediately\\nnorth of that point, the wide passage which they called Enirada de\\nPerez the Dixon s Entrance of the English maps, separating\\nQueen Charlotte s from the Prince of Wales s Islands.\\nFrom Cape Santa Margarita, the Spaniards sailed slowly towards\\nthe south, frequently seeing the land, though always at too great a", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "1775.] RETURN OF BODEGA. 123\\ndistance to be able to make any useful observations, except as to the\\ngeneral direction of the shores, until the 19th of September, when\\nthey found themselves opposite the spot, near the 4Tth degree of\\nlatitude, where their men had been murdered by the natives two\\nmonths before. Leaving that place, they next came on the coast\\nin the latitude of 45 degrees 27 minutes, from which parallel they\\ncarefully examined the shores southward, to the 42d, in search of\\nthe great river, said to have been seen by Martin de Aguilar, in\\n1603, as related in the account of Vizcaino s voyage. Their obser-\\nvations induced them to conclude that no such river entered the\\nPacific from that part of the continent, though they perceived\\nstrong currents outsetting from the land in several places they,\\nhowever, believed that they recognized the Cape Blanco of Aguilar,\\nnear which the mouth of his river was said to be situated, in a high,\\nflat-topped promontory, with many white cliffs upon it, projecting\\nfar into the sea, under the parallel of 42 degrees and 50 minutes\\nthe same, no doubt, afterwards named Cape Orford by Vancouver.\\nHaving completed this examination, they bore off to sea, and,\\nrounding Cape Mendocino, they, on the 3d of October, discovered\\na bay a little north of the 3Sth degree of latitude, which they\\nentered, supposing it to be Port San Francisco but it proved to be\\na smaller bay, not described in any previous account, and Bodega\\naccordingly bestowed on it his own name, which it still bears.\\nHaving made a hasty survey of Port Bodega, the Spaniards sailed\\nto Monterey, and thence to San Bias, where they arrived on the\\n20th of November, after a voyage of more than eight months.\\nIn this expedition, the commander, Heceta, certainly acquired no\\nlaurels, though he effected, at least, one discovery, from which a nation\\nmore enterprising and powerful than Spain might have derived im-\\nportant advantages. Bodega and Maurelle, however, nobly vindicated\\nthe character of their countrymen, by their constancy and persever-\\nance in advancing through unknown seas, at a stormy period of the\\nyear, in their small and miserably-equipped vessel, with a diminished\\ncrew, the greater part of whom were laboring under that most debil-\\nitating and disheartening of diseases, the scurvy. Fortunately for\\ntheir reputation, a copy of Maurelle s journal escaped from its\\nprison-house in the archives of the Indies at Madrid, and was given\\nto the world, in an English version, before the appearance of any\\nother authentic account of the parts of the world which they had\\nexplored and, by this means, together with the publication of their\\nchart about the same time, their claims as discoverers were estab-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "124 IMPORTANCE OF THESE DISCOVERIES. [1775.\\nlished beyond all cavil. Thus, without reference to the voyage of\\nPerez, it is conclusively proved that the Spaniards, in 1775, exam-\\nined with minuteness the whole western shore of the American\\ncontinent, from Monterey, near the 37th degree of latitude, north-\\nward, to and beyond the 48th degree, and determined the general\\ndirection of the west coasts of the westernmost islands, bordering\\nthe continent between the 48th parallel and the 58th. Of these\\ncoasts, the portion south of the 43d degree of latitude had been\\nseen by Ferrelo, in 1543, and possibly by Drake, in 1578; Juan de\\nFuca had probably sailed along them to the 53d parallel, in 1592;\\nand the Russians, as will be hereafter shown, had discovered the part\\nnear the 56th parallel, in 1741 but no definite information had been\\nobtained, respecting any point, on the Pacific side of America,\\nbetween Cape Mendocino and Mount San Jacinto, previous to the\\nexpedition of Perez. The geographical positions of the places\\nvisited by the Spanish navigators in 1774 and 1775, were, indeed,\\nleft very uncertain as regards their longitudes, though the latitudes\\nhave been found nearly correct yet the great question as to the\\nextension of North America towards the west was approximately\\nanswered, and useful hints were afforded for the organization and\\nconduct of future voyages.\\nThe results of this expedition were considered, by the Spanish\\ngovernment, as highly important a short notice of them was\\npublished in the official gazette, at Madrid, which was copied, with\\nmany additions, (nearly all of them erroneous,) into the London\\nnewspapers and orders were sent to the viceroy of Mexico, to\\nSeveral Spanish frigates having been sent from Acapulco to make discoveries,\\nand to propagate the gospel among the Indians, to the north of California, in the\\nmonth of July, 1774, they navigated as high up on the coast as the latitude of 58\\ndegrees 20 minutes, six degrees above Cape Blanco Having discovered several\\ngood harbors and navigable rivers upon the west coast of this great continent, they\\nestablished, in one of the largest ports, a garrison, and called the port the Presidio\\n(Ic San Carlos, and, besides, left a mission at every port where the inhabitants were\\nto be found. The Indians they here met with are said to be a very docil? sort of\\npeople, agreeable in their countenance, honest in their traffic, and neat in their dress,\\nbut, at the same time, idolaters to the greatest degree, having never before had any\\nintercourse with Europeans. M. Bucarelli, the viceroy of New Spain, has received\\nhis Catholic majesty s thanks for these discoveries, as they were made under his\\ndii\u00c2\u00abection and the several navy officers upon that voyage have been preferred. It is\\nimngined that those new discoveries will be very advantageous, as the coast abounds\\nwith whales, as also a fish, equal to the Newfoundland cod, known, in Spain, by the\\nname of Baccahio.\\nThe above notice appears in the London Annual Register for 1776, under date of\\nJune 28th, which was a few days before the departure of Captain Cook from England\\nfor the North Pacific.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "1779.] VOYAGE OF ARTEAGA AND BODEGA. 125\\nhave the discovery of the west coasts of America completed with-\\nout delay, under the care of the same officers who had already\\neffected so much for that object. With this view, the viceroy,\\nBucareli, ordered a large ship to be built at San Bias, and another\\nwas, at the same time, constructed at Guayaquil, in Quito. In\\nthese preparations, nearly three years were consumed, so that the\\nvessels were not ready for the expedition until the beginning of\\n1779 they then quitted San Bias, under the command of Captain\\nIgnacio Arteaga, who sailed in the larger ship, the Princesa, the\\nother, called the Favorita, being commanded by Bodega, with Mau-\\nrelle as second officer. Heceta had been transferred to new duties.\\nOf this voyage a short notice will suffice, as all the places dis-\\ncovered in the course of it had been visited, and minutely examined,\\nin the preceding year, 1778, by the English, under Captain James\\nCook.*\\nOn the 7th of February, 1779, Arteaga and Bodega sailed from\\nSan Bias directly for Port Bucareli, which they entered after a\\nvoyage of four months and there they remained nearly two months,\\nengaged in surveying the bay, in refitting their vessels, and in\\ntrading with the natives, of whom very minute and interesting\\naccounts are given in the journals of this voyage. From Port\\nBucareli they sailed northward, on the 1st of July, and in a few\\ndays saw the land stretching before tiiem from north-east to north-\\nwest on approaching it, they beheld rising from the coast a great\\nmountain, higher than Orizaba, which was, no doubt. Mount St.\\nElias and they began their search, west of these places, for a pas-\\nsage leading northwards into the Arctic Sea, as laid down in the\\ncharts of Bellin, which they carried with them. In the course of\\nthis search, they entered a great bay, containing many islands, on\\nthe western side of the largest of which, called by them IsJa de la\\nMagdalena, they found a good harbor, where they cast anchor on\\nthe 25th, and took possession of the whole region for the king of\\nSpain. From this harbor, named by the Spaniards Port Santiago,\\nparties were sent out in boats to explore the coasts but the com-\\nThe papers relative to this voyage, which have been obtained, in manuscript,\\nfrom the hydrographical department at Madrid, are the official account of the whole\\nexpedition and the journals of Bodega and Maurelle accompanied by several tables\\nof the navigation, and vocabularies of Indian languages, and the chart of the coast\\nabout Prince William s Sound, which is utterly worthless. A translation of a part\\nof Maurelle s journal may be found in the first volume of the narrative of the expedi-\\ntion of La Perouse, accompanied by some severe, and not altogether just, reflections\\non the conduct of the Spanish navigators in general.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "126 SPAIN AT WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. [1779.\\nmander, Arteaga, becoming anxious to return to Mexico, soon found\\nthat the men were beginning to suffer from scurvy, that the pro-\\nvisions were faihng, and that there was no probabihty of their dis-\\ncovering any passage, through which they might penetrate farther\\nnorth and he, in consequence, resolved that both vessels should\\nimmediately proceed to Monterey. They accordingly sailed from\\nPort Santiago on the 7th of August on the 15th of October\\nthey entered Port San Francisco, and on the 21st of November\\nthey arrived at San Bias, where, says Fleurieu, with more justice\\nthan usually characterizes his remarks on Spanish voyages, they\\nmight have passed the whole time which they spent in their expedi-\\ntion, without our knowledge in geography having sustained any loss\\nby their inaction. The voyage was, in fact, productive of no\\nbenefit whatsoever, and the Spanish government should have been\\nmortified at its results instead of which, however, the officers\\nengaged in it were all promoted, for their good conduct and\\nexertions.\\nOf the places visited by Arteaga and Bodega, after leaving Port\\nBucareli, the great bay, called by them Ensenada de Regla, is now\\ngenerally known by the name of Prince William s Sound, and their\\nIsla de la Magdalena is the Montague s Island of the English maps.\\nIt is needless to mention any other of the many appellations given\\nby the Spaniards to capes, bays, islands, and mountains, in that\\npart of America, as they have fallen into disuse.\\nIn 1779, Spain became involved in war with Great Britain, and\\nher flag did not again appear on the coasts north of Cape Mendo-\\ncino until 1788. Before relating the events which occurred in that\\ninterval, it will be proper to present an account of the discoveries\\neffected in the North Pacific, since the commencement of the cen-\\ntury, by the Russians occupying the north-eastern extremity of\\nAsia.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "127\\nCHAPTER V.\\n1711 TO 1779.\\nDiscoveries of the Russians from Kamtchatka Voyages of Bering and Tchirikof to\\nthe Arctic Sea and to the American Continent Establishments of the Russian\\nFur Traders in the Aleutian Islands Voyages of Synd, Krenitzin, and Levashef\\nFirst Voyage from Kamtchatka to China, made by Polish Exiles under Ben-\\nyowsky General Inaccuracy of the Ideas of the Russians respecting the Geogra-\\nphy of the northernmost Coasts of the Pacific, before 1779.\\nAt the beginning of the eighteenth century, the coasts of Asia\\non the Pacific, north of the 40th parallel of latitude, were as little\\nknown as those of America on the opposite side of the ocean.\\nIn 1643, Martin Geritzin de Vries and Hendrick Schaep, two\\nDutch navigators, commanding the ships Kastrikom and Breskens,\\nexplored the seas near Japan, as far north as the 48th degree of\\nlatitude, and probably entered the great gulf, called the Sea of\\nOchotsk, between the main land of Asia on the west, and Kamt-\\nchatka and the Kurile chain of islands on the cast. It is also\\nrelated, that Thomas Peche, an English bucanier, sailed along the\\nsame coasts in 1673, while in search of the Strait of Anian, the\\nentrance of which he was said to have found north of Japan,\\nthough he was unable to pass through it, on account of the violence\\nof the winds from the north.\\nFrom such imperfect accounts the maps of that part of tlie world\\nwere generally constructed, before 1750. In those maps, Jesso, the\\nnorthernmost of the Japan Islands, appears as part of the Asiatic\\ncontinent, and Kamtchatka and the Kurile Islands are represented\\nas one extensive territory, under the name of the Compant/s Land,\\nunited to America on the east, and separated from Jesso on the\\nwest, by a narrow passage called the Strait of Vries, or the Strait\\nof Anian.\\nIn 1711, the whole of Northern Asia had been completely sub-\\njugated by the Russians, to whom the rich furs* abounding in those\\nSee the article on Furs and the Fur Trade, among the Proofs and Illustrations at\\nthe concluding part of this volume, under the letter B.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "128 PLANS OF PETER THE GREAT. [1728.\\nregions proved as attractive as the gold and silver of America were\\nto the Spaniards. In the course of their expeditions, the Russians\\nhad traced the northern shores of Asia, to a considerable distance\\neastward from Europe, and they had formed establishments on those\\nof the peninsula of Kamtchatka. But they had not yet, by their\\ndiscoveries, afforded the means of determining whether Asia and\\nAmerica were united on the north into one continent, or were sepa-\\nrated by a direct communication between the Pacific and the ocean\\nnorth of Asia, called the Arctic or Icy Sea nor, indeed, was it\\nascertained that the sea around Kamtchatka was a part of the\\nPacific, though it was generally believed to be so, from the traditions\\npreserved by the natives of that peninsula, of large ships having\\nbeen wrecked on their coasts.*\\nBy these conquests the Russians had been enabled to secure, in\\naddition to the other advantages, a commercial intercourse with\\nChina, which was carried on, agreeably to a treaty concluded in\\n1689, by caravans, passing between certain great marts in each\\nempire. But the ambitious czar Peter, who then filled the Russian\\nthrone, was not content with such acquisitions he yvas anxious to\\nknow what territories lay beyond the sea bounding his dominions\\nin the east, and whether he could not, by directing his forces in\\nthat way, invade the establishments of the French, the British, or\\nthe Spaniards, in America. With these views, he ordered that\\nvessels should be built in Kamtchatka, and equipped for voyages of\\ndiscovery, to be made according to instructions which he himself\\ndrew up while, at the same time, other vessels should proceed\\nfrom Archangel, on the White Sea, eastward, to explore the ocean\\nnorth of Europe and Asia, in search of a navigable communication,\\nor north-east passage, through it from the Atlantic to the Pacific.\\nVarious circumstances prevented the execution of any of these\\nprojects d .uing the lifetime of Peter. His widow and successor,\\nCatharine, ho.vever, resolved to carry them into fulfilment; and a\\nsmall vessel was, at length, in 1728, completed and prepared at the\\nmoutli of the Pviver of Kamtchatka, on the north-east side of that\\npeninsula, for a voyage of discovery, to be made agreeably to the\\ninstructions of the great czar. The command of the expedition\\nwas intrusted to Vitus Bering, a Dane, who had been selected for\\nThe particulars related in the present chapter are derived, principally, from the\\nHistory of Kamtchatka, by Kraschcninikof the Account of the Russian Voyages\\nfrom Asia to America, by MuUer and the Account of the Discoveries of the Russians\\nin the North Pacific, by Coxe, the last edition of which, published in 1803, is the\\nmost complete work on the eubject.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "1728.] Bering s voyage to the arctic sea. 129\\nthe purpose by Peter, on account of his approved courage and\\nnautical skill his lieutenants were Alexei Tchirikof, a Russian, and\\nMartin Spangberg, a German, each of whom afterwards acquired\\nreputation as a navigator.\\nBering was instructed, first to examine the coasts north and\\neast from Kamtchatka, in order to determine whether or not they\\nwere connected with, or contiguous to, America; and next to\\nreach, if possible, some port belonging to Europeans on the same\\nsea. With these objects he sailed from Kamtchatka River, on the\\n14th of July, 1728, and, taking a northward course along the Asiatic\\nshore, he traced it to the latitude of 67 degrees 18 minutes: there\\nhe found the coast turning almost directly westward, and presenting\\nnothing but rocks and snow, as far as it could be perceived, whilst\\nno land was visible in the north or east. From these circumstances\\nthe navigator concluded that he had reached the north-eastern ex-\\ntremity of Asia, that the waters in which lie was sailing were those\\nof the Icy or Arctic Sea, bounding that continent on the north, and,\\nconsequently, that he had ascertained the fact of the separation of\\nAsia from America. Being satisfied, therefore, that he had attained\\nthe objects of his voyage in that direction, and fearing that, if he\\nshould attempt to advance farther, he might be obliged to winter in\\nthose desolate regions, for which he was unprepared, he returned\\nto Kamtchatka, where he arrived on the 2d of September. All his\\nconclusions have been since verified he, however, little suspected\\nthat he had, as was the fact, twice passed within a few leagues of\\nthe American continent, through the only channel connecting the\\nPacific with the Arctic Sea. When the existence of this channel\\nwas satisfactorily determined, it received, by universal consent, the\\nname of Bering^s Strait, which it still bears.\\nIn the ensuing year, Bering attempted to reach the American\\ncontinent, by sailing directly eastward from Kamtchatka but, ere\\nhe had proceeded far in that course, he was assailed by violent\\nadverse storms, which forced his vessel around the southern extrem-\\nity of the peninsula, into the Gulf of Ochotsk. He then went to\\nSt. Petersburg, from which he did not return to engage in another\\nvoyage of discovery until twelve years afterwards.\\nWhile Bering thus remained at the Russian capital, the existence\\nof a direct communication between the sea which bathes the shores\\nof Kajiitchatka and the Pacific was proved, first, in 1729, by the\\nwreck of a Japanese vessel on the coast of the peninsula, and, ten\\nyears afterwards, by the voyages of two Russian vessels, under\\n17", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "130 DISCOVERIES OF SPANGBERG AND KRUPISCHEF. [1740.\\nMartin Spangberg and William Walton, from Ochotsk, through the\\npassages between the Kurile Islands, to Japan. Within the same\\nperiod, also, the connection of the Pacific with the Atlantic, by the\\nArctic Sea, north of Europe and Asia, had been ascertained by\\nmeans of expeditions, partly on land and partly on sea, along the\\nnorthernmost shores of the continents though all the attempts\\nmade then, and since, to pass, in one vessel, around those coasts,\\nfrom Europe to the Pacific, have proved abortive. Moreover, a\\nRussian commander, named Krupischef, had sailed, in 1732, from\\nKamtchatka, northward, as far as the extreme point of Asia, which\\nhad been reached by Bering in his first voyage and he had thence\\nbeen driven, by storms, eastward, upon the coast of an extensive\\nmountainous territory, which was supposed to be, and doubtless\\nwas, a part of America. Thus the great geographical fact of the\\nentire separation of Asia and America was supposed to be deter-\\nmined and all doubts as to the practicability of navigating between\\nthe Russian dominions, in the former continent, and those of Spain,\\nin the latter, were dissipated.\\nThese discoveries encouraged the empress Anne, who had suc-\\nceeded to the throne of Russia in 1730, to persevere in endeavoring\\nto extend her authority farther eastward and she accordingly\\ncommissioned Bering, in 1740, to make another expedition from\\nKamtchatka, in search of America. For this purpose, two vessels\\nwere built in the Bay of Avatscha, on the south-east side of Kamt-\\nchatka, which had been selected for the establishment of a marine\\ndepot and scientific men were engaged, in France and Germany,\\nto accompany Bering, in order that precise information might be\\nobtained on all points connected with the seas and territories to be\\nexplored.\\nBefore the preparations were completed, the empress Anne died\\nbut her successor, Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great,\\nimmediately declared her determination to prosecute the enterprise\\nand, no delays being experienced, the vessels sailed together from\\nthe Bay of Avatscha, on the 4th of June, 1741. The larger vessel,\\ncalled the St. Peter, was commanded by Bering the other, the St.\\nPaul, by Tchirikof, who had accompanied the Dane in his previous\\nvoyages. On leaving the harbor, they took an eastern course, and\\ncontinued together until the 21st of the month, when they were\\nseparated during a violent gale, after which they never met again.\\nOf Bering s voyage, after his separation from Tchirikof, the only\\ndefinite accounts are contained in the journal of Steller, the surgeon", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "1741.] Bering s voyage to America. 131\\nand naturalist of the ship, wliich was first pubhshed, in the original\\nGerman, by Professor Pallas, in 1795. Before that year, all that\\nwas known on the subject was derived from a meagre and incorrect\\nabstract of the same journal, in Muller s collections of Russian\\nhistory. StcUer is by no means precise on points of navigation\\nand geography, in consequence of which very few spots described\\nby him can now be identified, although the general course of the\\nvoyage may be ascertained.\\nFrom Steller s journal, we learn that Bering, after parting with\\nTchirikof, sailed south-eastward, as far as the 46th degree of lati-\\ntude and, not reaching America, he then altered his course to the\\nnorth-east, in which he continued until the ISth of July, when land\\nwas seen ahead, nearly under the 60th parallel of latitude. The\\npoint first descried by the Russians was a mountain of such extra-\\nordinary height, as to be visible at the distance of more than eighty\\nmiles on advancing towards it, other peaks, and then ridges,\\nappeared, stretching along the coast, and into the interior, to the\\nutmost limits of the view and, on entering a narrow passage,\\nbetween the main land and an island, where they anchored on the\\n20th, they perceived a strong current of discolored water issuing\\nfrom it, which convinced them that a large river emptied into the\\nsea in its vicinity. From these indications of the.extensiveness of\\nthe territory, together with its geographical position, they concluded\\nthat they had, at length, reached the American continent and the\\nofficers thereupon entreated their commander to pursue the dis-\\ncovery towards the south-east, in which direction the coast trended.\\nBut Bering was then enfeebled in mind, as well as in body, by\\nsevere illness, and was anxious to return to Kamtchatka in conse-\\nquence of which, he resisted their entreaties, and, after a supply of\\nwater had been obtained from the island, they set sail for the west.\\nNone of the crew were allowed to go on the main land, lest they\\nshould be cut oft by savages. On the island were found several\\nhuts, which seemed to have been recently abandoned, and various\\nimplements of fishing, hunting, and cooking, similar to those used\\nby the Kamtchatkans of the natives, however, not one was seen.\\nAccording to Steller, the name of Cope St. Elias was, much to\\nhis discontent, bestowed on this island, or some other in its vicinity,\\nbecause it was reached on the day of St. Elias, agreeably to the\\nRussian calendar. The old accounts of the expedition, however,\\nstate that Bering honored with the name of that saint the lofty\\nmountain which had first attracted his attention and, under this", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "132 BERING ON THE AMERICAN COAST. [1741.\\nimpression, Cook, when he explored the north-west coast of Amer-\\nica, in 1778, appUed the name of Mount St. Elias to a stupendous\\npeak which he observed, rising from the shore, under the 60th\\nparallel, believing it to be, as it most probably was, the same dis-\\ncovered by the Russians in 1741. Vancouver, who examined this\\ncoast minutely in 1794, was convinced that the place where the\\nRussians first anchored is on the eastern side of a bay at the foot\\nof Mount St. Elias, on the east, which is called Admiralty or\\nBering s Bay, on English maps, and Yakutat on those of the\\nRussians. The current of discolored water, setting out from that\\npart of the coast, was observed, in 1838 by Belcher.\\nAfter their departure from the island, the Russians continued\\nsailing westward, occasionally seeing the land in the north, until the\\n3d of August, when, in the latitude of 56 degrees, they beheld a\\nchain of high mountains, (those of the great peninsula of Aliaska,\\nand the contiguous island of Kodiak,) stretching before them from\\nnorth to south. Upon discovering this impediment to their prog-\\nress, they turned to the south-west, in order to reach the 53d\\nparallel, under which they were sure, from their observations in\\ncoming out, that they should find an open sea to Kamtchatka but\\ntheir course was so much retarded by violent opposing winds, that\\nthey had scarcely advanced sixty miles before the end of the month\\nand, being then exhausted by fatigue and sickness, they anchored\\namong a group of small islands, on one of which they remained\\nashore several days. There they first saw natives of America, who\\nresembled the aborigines of Northern Asia in their features and\\nhabits, and were provided with knives, and other articles of iron\\nand copper; although they appeared never before to have held\\nany intercourse with civilized people. There, also, occurred the\\nfirst death among the Russians, in commemoration of which, the\\nname of the deceased sailor, Schwnagin, was bestowed on the\\ngroup. The islands now so called are about ten in number, situated\\nnear the latitude of 55^ degrees, on the eastern side, and not far\\nfrom the extremity of Aliaska.\\nOn quitting the Schumagin Islands, the Russians continued their\\ncourse south-westward, and passed by other islands, which were\\nthose of the Aleutian Archipelago, extending westward from Aliaska,\\nnearly under the 53d parallel. They were then assailed by furious\\nstorms, and were, for nearly two months, driven over the seas at\\nrandom, while famine, disease, and despair, were daily lessening\\ntheir numbers. Tjie general distress and mortality, says Steller,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "1741.] DEATH OF BERING. 133\\nincreased so fast, that not only the sick died, but those who pre-\\ntended to be healthy, when relieved from their posts, fainted and\\nfell down dead of which the scantiness of the water, the want of\\nbiscuits and brandy, cold, wet, nakedness, vermin, and terror, were\\nnot the least causes. At length, on the 5th of November, they\\nagain saw land, which proved to be an island, in the latitude of 55\\ndegrees and on it they resolved, at all hazards, to pass the winter.\\nWith this view, they anchored in the most secure place which could\\nbe found, close to the shore, and, having landed their stores and\\nother necessaries, they began the construction of huts out of sails\\nand spars but they soon had an abundant supply of materials from\\nthe wreck of their vessel, whicli was dashed in pieces on the island\\nby the waves.\\nOn the 8th of December Bering expired, worn down by sickness,\\nfatigue, and disappointment, and thirty of the crew were consigned\\nto their graves on the island before the ensuing summer. The sur-\\nvivors recovered their health, and obtained a sufficiency of food, by\\nhunting the sea and land animals, which were found in great num-\\nbers on and about the shores. As soon as the mild season returned,\\nthey collected the pieces of the wreck, of which they made a small\\nvessel and, having provisioned it as well as they could, they set\\nsail from the western side of the island on the 14th of August, 1742.\\nTwo days after, they made the coast of Kamtchatka; and, continuing\\nalong it towards the south, they, on the evening of the 27th, landed,\\nforty-six in number, at the place in the Bay of Avatscha from which\\nthey had taken their departure fifteen months before. The island,\\non which they had thus passed more than nine months, is situated\\nabout eighty miles from the eastern shore of Kamtchatka, between\\nthe latitudes of 54i and 55J degrees, and has, ever since its dis-\\ncovery, been called Bering s Isle; it consists entirely of granite\\nmountains.\\nSuch were the occurrences, and the unfortunate termination, of\\nBering s voyage.\\nTchirikof, likewise, pursuing an eastward course, discovered land\\nin the latitude of 56 degrees. It was a mountainous territory, with\\nsteep, rocky shores, extending on the ocean from north to south\\nand, the weather being unfavorable for approaching it, ten men were\\nsent in a boat to make examinations. As these did not return, after\\nsome time, nor make any signal from the shore, six others were\\ndespatched in search of them, whose reappearance was also ex-\\npected in vain and Tchirikof was obliged, at length, to quit the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "134 VOYAGE OF TCHIRIKOF. [1741.\\ncoast without learning what had befallen any of them. In the\\nmean time, the scurvy had broken out among his crew and as the\\nstormy season was approaching, he resolved to hasten back to Kamt-\\nchatka. His voyage thither was attended with great difficulties,\\nand before the 8th of October, when he reached Avatscha, he had\\nlost twenty-one men by sickness, including the distinguished French\\nnaturalist Delile de Croyere, in addition to the sixteen whose fate\\nwas undetermined. The land discovered by him must have been,\\nagreeably to the account given of its latitude and bearings, the\\nwestern side of one ef the islands, named, on English maps, the\\nPrince of Wales s Archipelago^ the inhabitants of which are remark-\\nable for their fierceness and hatred to strangers. It is, therefore,\\nmost probable that the men sent ashore by Tchirikof were murdered\\nas soon as they landed.\\nThese discoveries of the Russians excited some attention in\\nEurope, where they were made known, first, by the periodical pub-\\nlications of France, England, and Germany, and afterwards more\\nfully, by the scientific men and historians of those countries. In\\n1750, a long memoir on the subject was read by the French geog-\\nrapher Delisle, before the Academy of Sciences of Paris,* wherein\\nhe gives the highest praise to the Russian navigators, and pro-\\nnounces, as proved by their expeditions, that the eastern portion\\nof Asia extends under the polar circle, towards the western part of\\nAmerica, from which it is separated by a strait about thirty leagues\\nwide this strait is often frozen over, but, when free from ice, it\\naffords communication for vessels into the Frozen Ocean.\\nThe Russian government did not, however, consider the dis-\\ncoveries of its subjects as sufficiently important to justify the imme-\\ndiate despatch of other vessels in the same direction and no\\nfurther attempts to explore the North Pacific were made by its\\nauthority until 1766. In the mean time, accidental circumstances,\\nconnected with Bering s last voyage, had drawn the attention of\\nindividuals in Eastern Asia to the islands seen by that navigator,\\non his return towards Kamtchatka and the part of the ocean in\\nwhich those islands lie had been thoroughly searched.\\nIt has been mentioned, that the crew of Bering s vessel, during\\nthe period passed by them in the island, near Kamtchatka, had sub-\\nsisted chiefly on the flesh of the sea and land animals found there.\\nThe skins of these animals, particularly of the black foxes and sea\\notters, were preserved by the men, and carried with them to Kamt-\\nHistoire de TAcademie Royale des Sciences, for 1750, p. 142.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "1760.] VOYAGES OF RUSSIAN FUK TRADERS. 135\\nchatka, where they were sold at such high prices, that several of\\nthe seamen, as well as other persons, were induced immediately to\\ngo to the island and procure further supplies. In the course of the\\nvoyages made for this purpose, other islands, farther east, which had\\nbeen seen by Bering and Tchirikof, were explored, and found to\\noffer the same advantages and the number of persons employed in\\nseeking furs was constantly increasing.\\nThe trade thus commenced was, for some time, carried on by\\nindividual adventurers, each of whom was alternately a seaman, a\\nhunter, and a merchant; at length, however, some capitalists in\\nSiberia employed their funds in the pursuit^ and expeditions to the\\nislands were, in consequence, made on a more extensive scale, and\\nwith greater regularity and efficiency.* Trading stations were estab-\\nlished at particular points, where the furs were collected by persons\\nleft for that object and vessels were sent, at stated periods, from\\nthe ports of Asiatic Russia, to carry the articles required for the use\\nof the agents and liunters, or for barter with the natives, and to\\nbring away the skins collected.\\nThe vessels employed in this commerce were, in all respects,\\nwretched and insecure, the planks being merely attached together,\\nwithout iron, by leathern thongs and, as no instruments were used\\nby the traders for determining latitudes or longitudes at sea, their\\nideas of the relative positions of the places which they visited were\\nvague and incorrect. Their navigation was, indeed, performed in\\nthe most simple and unscientific manner possible. A vessel sailing\\nfrom the Bay of Avatscha, or from Cape Lopatka, the southern ex-\\ntremity of Kamtchatka, could not have gone far eastward, without\\nfalling in with one of the Aleutian Islands, which would serve as a\\nmark for her course to another and thus she might go on, from\\npoint to point, throughout the whole chain. In like manner she\\nwould return to Asia, and, if her course and rate of sailing were\\nobserved with tolerable care, there could seldom be any uncertainty\\nas to whether she were north or south of the line of the islands.\\nMany vessels were, nevertheless, annually lost, in consequence of\\nThe islands discovered and frequented by the Russian fur traders were those\\ncalled the Alcyutsky, or Jllcutian, extending in a line nearly along the 5;]d parallel\\nof latitude, from the south-west extremity of the peninsula Aliaska, across the sea,\\nto the vicinity of Kamtchatka. Aliaska was, likewise, supposed to be an island,\\nuntil 1778, when its connection with the American continent was ascertained by\\nCook. The inhabitants of these islands were a bold race, who, for some time,\\nresisted the Russians, but were finally subdued, after their numbers had been con-\\nsiderably reduced.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "136 VOYAGES OF RUSSIAN FUR TRADERS. [1760.\\nthis want of knowledge of the coasts, and want of means to ascer-\\ntain positions at sea and a large number of those engaged in the\\ntrade, moreover, fell victims to cold, starvation, and scurvy, and to the\\nenmity of the bold natives of the islands. Even as lately as 1806,*\\nit was calculated that one third of these vessels were lost in each\\nyear. The history of the Russian trade and establishments on the\\nNorth Pacific, is a series of details of dreadful disasters and suffer-\\nings and, whatever opinions may be entertained as to the humanity\\nof the adventurers, or the morality of their proceedings, the courage\\nand perseverance displayed by them, in struggling against such\\nappalling difficulties, must command universal admiration.\\nThe furs collected, by these means, at Avatscha and Ochotsk, the\\nprincipal fur-trading ports, were carried to Irkutsk, the capital of\\nEastern Siberia, whence some of them were taken to Europe the\\ngreater portion were, however, sent to Kiakta, a small town just\\nwithin the Russian frontier, close to the Chinese town of Maimatchin,\\nthrough which places all the commerce between these two empires\\npassed, agreeably to a treaty concluded at Kiakta, in 1728. In\\nreturn for the furs, which brought higher prices in China than any\\nwhere else, teas, tobacco, rice, porcelain, and silk and cotton goods,\\nwere brought to Irkutsk, whence all the most valuable of those\\narticles were sent to Europe. These transportations were effected\\nby land, except in some places, where the rivers were used as the\\nchannel of conveyance no commercial exportation having been\\nmade from Eastern Russia, by sea, before 1779: and, when the\\nimmense distances,! between some of the points above mentioned,\\nare considered, it becomes evident that none but objects of great\\nvalue, in comparison with their bulk, at the place of their con-\\nsumption, could have been thus transported, with profit to those\\nengaged in the trade, and that a large portion of the price paid by\\nthe consumer must have been absorbed by the expense of trans-\\nportation. A skin was, in fact, generally worth, at Kiakta, three\\ntimes as much as it cost at Ochotsk.\\nThe Russian government appears to have remained almost en-\\ntirely unacquainted with the voyages and discoveries of its subjects,\\nKrusenstern s journal of his voyage to the North Pacific.\\nt In tho following table, each number expresses nearly the distance, in geographical\\nmiles, between the places named on either side of it\\nSt. Petersburg, 460, Moscow, 1500, Tobolsk, 1300, Irkutsk, 1550, Yakutsk, 600,\\nOchotsk, 1300, Petropawlowsk, on the Bay of Avatscha; Irkutsk, 300, Kiakta,\\n1000, Pekin.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "1768.] VOYAGE OF KRENITZIN AND LEVASCHEF. 137\\nengaged in the fur trade of the North Pacific, until 1764, when the\\nempress Catharine II. ordered that proper measures should be\\ntaken to procure exact information witli regard to the islands, and\\nthe American coasts, opposite her dominions in Asia. This am-\\nbitious sovereign had then just ascended the throne, and was, or\\nchose to appear, determined to carry out the views of Peter the\\nGreat for the extension of the Russian empire eastward beyond the\\nPacific.\\nAgreeably to the orders of Catharine, Lieutenant Synd sailed, in\\n1766, from Ochotsk, and advanced northward, along the coast of\\nKamtchatka, as far as the 66th degree of latitude and, in the fol-\\nlowing year, he made another voyage in the same direction, in\\nwhich he is supposed to have landed on the American continent.\\nVery few particulars respecting his expeditions are, however, known,\\nas the Russian government appears to have suppressed all accounts\\nof them, for reasons which have been suggested, but which it is\\nunnecessary here to repeat.\\nIn 1768, another expedition was commenced, for the purpose of\\nsurveying the islands. With this object, Captains Krenitzin and\\nLevaschef quitted the mouth of Kamtchatka River, in July, each\\ncommanding a small vessel and, after cursorily examining Bering s\\nIsle, and others near the coast of the peninsula, they stretched\\nacross to the Fox Islands, the largest and easternmost of the Archi-\\npelago, among which they passed the winter. Before the ensuing\\nsummer, nearly half the crews of both vessels had perished from\\nscurvy and, when the navigators returned to Kamtchatka, in\\nOctober, 1769, they had done nothing more than to ascertain, ap-\\nproximately, the geographical positions of a few points in the Aleu-\\ntian chain. It appears, indeed, that Krenitzin had employed him-\\nself exclusively in collecting furs, with which his vessel was laden\\non her arrival from her voyage. The only valuable information ob-\\ntained by the Russian government, through this costly expedition,\\nrelated to the mode of conducting the fur trade between Kamt-\\nchatka and the islands upon which subject the reports of Levaschef\\nwere curious and instructive, and served to direct the government\\nin its first administrative dispositions, with regard to the newly-\\ndiscovered territories.\\nThe expedition of Krenitzin and Levaschef was the last made by\\nthe Russians in the North Pacific, for purposes of discovery or\\ninvestigation, before 1783. In 1771, however, took place the first\\nvoyage from the eastern coast of the empire, to a port frequented\\n18", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "138 VOYAGE OF BENYOWSKY. [1771.\\nby the ships of European nations and, strange to say, this voyage\\nwas conducted under the Polish flag In the month of May of\\nthat year, a few persons, chiefly Poles, who had been exiled to\\nKamtchatka for political reasons, succeeded in overpowering the\\ngarrison of the small town of Bolscheretsk, on the south-west side\\nof Kamtchatka, where they were detained, and escaped to sea in\\na vessel then lying in the harbor. They were directed in their\\nenterprise by Count Maurice de Benyowsky, a Hungarian, who had\\nbeen an officer in the Polish service, and from whose history of his\\nown hfe, afterwards published, all the accounts of their adventures\\nare derived. From these accounts, it appears that the fugitives, on\\nentering the Pacific, were driven northward as far as the 66th\\ndegree of latitude during which part of their voyage, they fre-\\nquently saw the coasts of both continents, and visited several of\\nthe Aleutian Islands. At Bering s Isle they found a number of\\nfugitive exiles, like themselves, established in possession, under the\\ncommand of a Saxon and at Unalashka, the largest of the group,\\nthey discovered crosses, with inscriptions, erected by Krenitzin, in\\n1768. I roceeding thence towards the south, they touched at\\nseveral places in the Kurile, Japan, and Loochoo Islands, as also\\nat Formosa; and, at length, in September, they arrived at Canton,\\nwhere they carried the first furs which ever entered that city by sea.*\\nA circumstantial account of the principal voyages and discoveries\\nof the Russians, made between 1741 and 1770, drawn from original\\nsources, was published at St. Petersburg, in 1774, by J. L. Stcehlin,\\ncouncillor of state to the empress.f These records are curious and\\ninteresting, but they throw very little light on the great geographical\\nquestions relative to that part of the world, which then remained\\nunsolved and the accompanying chart only serves, at present, to\\nshow more conspicuously the value of the discoveries effected by\\nother nations. According to this chart, the American coast ex-\\ntended, on the Pacific, in a line nearly due north-west from Cali-\\nMemoirs and Travels of Maurice Augustus Count de Benyowsky, written by\\nhimself, published at London, in 1790. Benyowsky s account of his escape from\\nKamtchatka, and his voyage to China, were for some time discredited but they have\\nsince been confirmed, at least as regards the principal circumstances. He afterwards\\nhad a variet3^of adventures, especially in Madagascar, of which he pretended to be\\nthe rightful sovereign and he was, at length, killed at Foul Point, in that island, in\\nMay, 1786, while at the head of a party of Europeans and natives, in a contest with\\nthe French from the Isle of France.\\nt Description of the newly-discovered Islands in the Sea between Asia and\\nAmerica. A translation of the greater part of this work may be found in the last\\nedition of Coxe s History of Russian Discoveries.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "1776.] ERRORS IN THE EARLY RUSSIAN MAPS. 139\\nfornia, to the 70th degree of latitude, and was separated from the\\nopposite coast of Asia by a wide expanse of sea, containing many\\nislands, several of which correspond in name with those of the\\nAleutian Archipelago, though the positions assigned to them are\\nfar from correct the largest of the islands there represented,\\ncalled Alascha, lies under the 67th parallel, between the western-\\nmost point of America and the most eastern of Asia. In the beau-\\ntiful map of the Russian empire, published at St. Petersburg by\\nTreschot and Schmidt, in 1776, no land, except some islands, ap-\\npears within twenty-five degrees of longitude east of Kamtchatka.\\nOther maps, however, which appeared at a much earlier period,\\noffer a view more nearly correct of the extreme north-western coasts\\nof America, although the geographer who constructed them must\\nhave been guided almost entirely by suppositions.\\nThe errors of latitude, in all these maps, were very great, amount-\\ning to ten degrees, in some instances and those of longitude were,\\nas may be readily supposed, much more considerable. Indeed,\\nbefore 1778, when Cook made his voyage through the North\\nPacific, the differences in longitude, between places in that part\\nof the ocean, had never been estimated otherwise than by the dead\\nreckoning, which, however carefully observed, cannot afford accurate\\nresults nor had any relation, which could be considered as nearly\\ncorrect, been established between the meridian of any point on the\\nAtlantic and that of any point on the North Pacific.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "140\\nCHAPTER VI.\\n1763 TO 1780.\\nGreat Britain obtains Possession of Canada Journey of Carver to the Upper Mis-\\nsissippi First Mention of the Oregon River Inaccuracy of Carver s Statements\\nJourneys of Hearne through the Regions west of Hudson s Bay Voyage of\\nCaptain Cook to the North Pacific His important Discoveries in that Quarter,\\nand Death Return of his Ships to Europe Occurrences at Canton during their\\nStay in that Port.\\nWhilst the Russians were thus prosecuting the fur trade on\\nthe north-westernmost coasts of America, the British were engaged\\nin the same pursuit on the north-eastern side of the continent.\\nIt has been already mentioned that King Charles II. of England,\\nin 1669, granted to an association of gentlemen and merchants of\\nLondon the possession of all the territories surrounding Hudson s\\nBay, and the exclusive trade in those regions, with the object, ex-\\npressed in the charter, of encouraging his subjects to prosecute the\\nsearch for a north-west passage for ships from that sea to the Pacific\\nOcean. Under the protection of this charter, the Hudson s Bay\\nCompany erected forts and trading establishments on the shores of\\nthe bay, and carried on an extensive and profitable trade with the\\nnatives of that part of America, to the annoyance of the French,\\nwho, also, claimed the country as part of Canada, and more than\\nonce dislodged the British traders. It was, indeed, provided by\\nthe treaty of Utrecht, in 1714, that the Hudson s Bay territories\\nshould belong to the former nation, and that commissaries should\\nbe appointed, on both sides, to settle the line separating those terri-\\ntories from Canada but no such boundary was ever fixed, by\\ncommissaries or otherwise, as will be shown hereafter and the\\nlimits of the Hudson s Bay territories remained undetermined in\\n1763, when Canada, with all the other dominions of France in\\nNorth America, east of the Mississippi, were ceded to Great Britain\\nby the treaty of Paris,\\nSee chap, xiii., and Proofs and Illustrations, letter F.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "1766.] CANADA CEDED TO GREAT BRITAIN. 141\\nHow far the Hudson s Bay Company, also, endeavored to fulfil\\nthe intention expressed in the charter, of promoting the search\\nfor a north-west passage, it is unnecessary here to inquire suffice\\nit to say, that, at the end of a century from the date of the con-\\ncession, the question, as to the existence of such a channel, was\\nnearly in the same state as at the commencement of that period.\\nHudson s Bay had been navigated by Middleton, in 1741, to the\\n66th degree of latitude, beyond which it was known to extend\\nBaffin s Bay had not been visited since the beginning of the seven-\\nteenth century, when it was examined imperfectly to the 74th\\nparallel. The territories west of both these seas were entirely unex-\\nplored but accounts, which seemed to merit some credit, had been\\nreceived from the Indians, of great rivers and other waters in that\\ndirection. The desired communication with the Pacific might,\\ntherefore, exist or the Pacific, or some navigable river falling into\\nit, might be found within a short distance of places on the Atlantic\\nside of the continent, accessible to vessels from Europe and the\\ndetermination of these questions became infinitely more important\\nto Great Britain, after the acquisition of Canada.\\nThe region extending south-west, from Hudson s Bay to the\\ngreat lakes, and the head waters of the Mississippi, had long been\\nfrequented by the traders from Canada and Louisiana, and had been\\npartially surveyed by French officers and missionaries, by whom\\nseveral journals, histories, and maps, relating to those countries,\\nhad been given to the world. This region was also visited, imme-\\ndiately after the transfer of Canada to Great Britain, by an Amer-\\nican, whose travels are here mentioned, because he is supposed to\\nhave thrown much light upon the geography of North-west America\\nby his own observations, and by information collected from the\\nIndians of the Upper Mississippi.\\nThis traveller. Captain Jonathan Carver, of Connecticut, who\\nhad served with some credit in the war against the French, partic-\\nularly in the country about Lakes Champlain and George, set out\\nfrom Boston in 1766, and proceeded, by way of Detroit and\\nMichilimackinac, to the regions of the Upper Mississippi, now\\nforming the territories of Wisconsin and Iowa, where he spent\\ntwo years among the Indians. His object was, as he says in the\\nintroduction to his narrative, after gaining a knowledge of the\\nmanners, customs, languages, soil, and natural productions, of the\\ndifferent nations that inhabit the back of the Mississippi, to ascer-\\ntain the breadth of the vast continent which extends from the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "142 TRAVELS OF CARVER. [1766.\\nAtlantic to the Pacific Ocean, in its broadest part, between the 43d\\nand the 46th degrees of northern latitude. Had I been able, he\\ncontinues, to accomplish this, I intended to have proposed to\\ngovernment to estabHsh a post in some of those parts, about the\\nStrait of Anian, which, having been discovered by Sir Francis\\nDrake, of course belongs to the English. This, I am convinced,\\nwould greatly facilitate the discovery of a north-west passage, or\\ncommunication between Hudson s Bay and the Pacific Ocean.\\nThis extensive plan he v^as, however, unable to pursue, having\\nbeen disappointed in his intention to purchase goods, and then to\\npursue his journey from the Upper Mississippi, by way of the\\nLakes Dubois, Dupluie, and Ouinipique, [the old French names of\\nRainy Lalce, Lake of the Woods, and LaJce Winyiijteg,] to the head\\nwaters of the Great River of the West, which falls into the Strait of\\nAnian.\\nThis Great River of the West is several times mentioned by Carver,\\nunder the name of Oregon, or Origan. In another part of his\\nintroduction, he refers to his account, in the journal, of the\\nsituation of the four great rivers that take their rise within a few\\nleagues of each other, nearly about the centre of the great con-\\ntinent, viz., the River Bourbon, [Red River of the north,] which\\nempties itself into Hudson s Bay, the waters of the St. Lawrence,\\nthe Mississippi, and the River Oregon, or River of the West, that\\nfalls into the Pacific Ocean at the Straits of Anian. At the con-\\nclusion of his work, also, in speaking of a project which had been\\nformed, in 1774, by himself, Mr. Whitworth, a member of the\\nBritish parliament, and other persons in London, to cross the\\nAmerican continent, lie says that they would have proceeded up\\nthe River St. Pierre, [^S*^. Peter^s,] and from thence up a branch\\nof the River Messorie, till, having discovered the source of the\\nOregon, or River of the West, on the other side of the summit of the\\nlands that divide the waters which fall into the Gulf of Mexico\\nfrom those that fall into the Pacific Ocean, they would have sailed\\nTravels throughout the interior Parts of North America, in 1766 8, by Jona-\\nthan Carver, London, 1778. It consists of an introduction, showing what the\\nauthor had done and wished to do a journal of his travels, with descriptions of the\\ncountries visited, and an account of the origin, habits, religion, and languages,\\nof the Indians of the country about the Upper Mississippi, which account occupies\\ntwo thirds of the work, and is extracted almost entirely, and, in many parts, verbatim,\\nfrom the French journals and histories. The book was written, or rather made up,\\nat London, at the suggestion of Dr. Lettsom and other gentlemen, and printed for\\nthe purpose of relieving the wants of the author, who, however, died there, in misery,\\nin 1780, at the age of 48.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "1766.] OREGON, OR RIVER OF THE WEST. 143\\ndown that nver, to the place where it is said to empty itself, near\\nthe Straits of Anian.\\nFrom these declarations, it has been supposed, by many, that\\nCarver was the first to make known to the world the existence of\\nthe great stream since discovered, and named the Columbia, which\\ndrains nearly the whole region, on the Pacific side of America,\\nbetween the 40th and the 54th parallels of latitude and tiiat stream\\nis, in consequence, frequently called the Oregon. On examining\\nthe journal of the traveller, however, we find no further mention\\nof, or allusion to, his river than is contained in the following pas-\\nsages From these nations, [called by him the Naudowcssies,\\nthe Assinipoils, and the KilUstinoes,] together with my own obser-\\nvations, I have learned that the four most capital rivers on the\\ncontinent of North America viz., the St. Lawrence, the Missis-\\nsippi, the River Bourbon, and the Oregon, or River of the West, (as\\nI hinted in my introduction) have their sources in the same\\nneighborhood. The waters of the three former are within thirty\\nmiles of each other the latter, however, is rather farther west.\\nThis shows that these parts are tiie highest in North America and\\nit is an instance not to be paralleled in the other three quarters of\\nthe world, that four rivers of such magnitude should take their rise\\ntogether, and each, after running separate courses, discharge their\\nwaters into different oceans, at the distance of two thousand miles\\nfrom their sources for, in their passage from this spot to the Bay\\nof St. Lawrence east, to the Bay of Mexico south, to Hudson s\\nBay north, and to the bay at the Straits of Anian west, each of\\nthese traverse upwards of two thousand miles. The elevated part,\\nto which Carver here alludes, is no otherwise described by him than\\nas being near the Shining Mountains, which begin at Mexico, and,\\ncontinuing northward, on the back; or to the east, of California,\\nseparate the waters of those numerous rivers that fall into the Gulf\\nof Mexico or the Gulf of California. From thence, continuing\\ntheir course still northward, between the sources of the Mississippi\\nand the rivers that run into the South Sea, they appear to end in\\nabout 47 or 48 degrees of north latitude, where a number of rivers\\narise, and empty themselves either into the South Sea, into Hud-\\nson s Bay, or into the waters that communicate between these\\ntwo seas.\\nIn the preceding extracts from Carver s book, embracing all that\\nhe has said respecting his Oregon, or Great River of the West, there\\nis certainly nothing calculated to establish the identity of the stream.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "144 MISREPRESENTATIONS OF CARVER. [1766.\\nto which those vague descriptions and allusions apply, with the\\nColumbia, or with any other river. The Columbia does not rise\\nwithin a few leagues, or a few hundred leagues, of the waters of\\nthe Red River, the St. Lawrence, or the Upper Mississippi, which\\nlatter Carver carefully distinguishes from the Missouri; nor does\\neither of those rivers, flowing to the Atlantic, rise near the great\\ndividing ridge of the Shining Mountains which ridge, moreover,\\ndoes not end about the 48th degree of latitude, but continues more\\nthan a thousand miles farther north-westward. If, under circum-\\nstances so different, we consider the head-waters of the Columbia\\nto be the same described by Carver as the head-waters of the\\nOregon, we should, a fortiori, admit the mouth of the Columbia to\\nbe the same mouth of a river which Aguilar is said to have discov-\\nered in 1603.\\nCarver s descriptions of places, people, and things, in the Indian\\ncountries, are vague, and often contradictory and, where they can\\nbe understood, they are, for the most part, repetitions of the\\naccounts of those or of other parts of America, given by the old\\nFrench travellers and historians, whose works he, nevertheless, takes\\ngreat pains to disparage, whenever he mentions them.* In many of\\nthose works, the belief in the existence of a great river, flowing\\nfrom the vicinity of the head-waters of the Mississippi, westward,\\nto the Pacific, is distinctly affirmed, as founded on the reports of the\\nIndians and on nearly all maps of North America, published\\nduring the early part of the last century, may be found one or more\\nof such streams, under the names of River of the West, River of\\nIn proof that no injustice is here done to Carver s memory, read his magisterial\\nand contemptuous remarks on the works of Hennepin, Lahontan, and Charlevoix, in\\nthe first chapter of his account of the origin, manners, c., of the Indians; and\\nthen compare his chapters describing, as from personal observation, the ceremonies\\nof marriage, burial, hunting, and others, of the natives of the Upper Mississippi coun-\\ntries, with tliose of Lahontan, showing the conduct of the Iroquois, of Canada, on\\nsimilar occasions, by which it will be seen that Carver has simply translated from\\nLaliontnn the whole of the accounts, even to the speeches of the chiefs. Carver s chapter\\non the origin of tlie Indians is merely an abridgment from Charlevoix s Disserta-\\ntion on the same subject. His descriptions of the language, manners, and customs,\\nof the inhabitants of the Upper Mississippi regions, are entirely at variance with those\\nof the same tribes at the present day, as clearly shown by the observations of Pike,\\nLong, and other persons of unquestionable character, who have since visited that part\\nof America. Keating, in his interesting narrative of Long s expedition in 1823,\\nexpresses his belief that Carver ascended the Mississippi to the Falls of St. Anthony,\\nthat he saw the St. Peter, and that he may have entered it but, had he resided five\\nmonths in the country, and become acquainted with the language of the people, he\\nwould not have applied to them the name of Kaudowessies, and omitted to call them\\nthe Dacota Indians, as they style themselves.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "1770.] moncaciitabk s account of a great river. 145\\nAguilar, River Thegayo, or some other, represented on the author-\\nity of accounts received from Indians, or of erroneous or fabulous\\nnarratives of voyages along the North Pacific coasts. When we\\nconsider the many and glaring plagiarisms, from the works above\\nmentioned, committed by Carver, we certainly have a right to sus-\\npect, if not to conclude, that he derived from the same source\\nevery thing relating to his River of the West, which he pretends to\\nhave collected from the Indians of the Upper Mississippi. As to\\nthe name Oregon, or the authority for its use, the traveller is silent\\nand nothing has been learned from any other source, though much\\nlabor has been expended in attempts to discover its meaning and\\nderivation it was, most probably, invented by Carver.\\nThe most distinct and apparently authentic of these Indian\\naccounts of great rivers flowing from the central parts of North\\nAmerica to the Pacific, is that recorded by the French traveller\\nLepage Dupratz, as received from a native of the Yazoo country,\\nnamed Moncachtahc. The amount of this statement is that the\\nIndian ascended tiie Missouri north-westward, to its source, beyond\\nwhich he found another great river, running towards the setting\\nsun this latter he descended to a considerable distance, though\\nnot to its termination, which he was prevented from reaching by\\nwars among the tribes inhabiting the country on its banks though\\nhe learned, from a woman who had been made prisoner by the tribe\\nwith which he took part, that the river entered a gi eat water, where\\nships had been seen, navigated by white men with beards. All this\\nis related, with many accompanying circumstances, tending to\\nconfirm the probability of the narrative and there is, indeed,\\nnothing about it which should induce us to reject it as false, except\\nthe part respecting the ships and white men, which may have been\\nan embellishment added by Moncachtabe.* The course of this\\nsupposed stream is laid down on several maps of North America,\\npublished about 1 750, in which it is called the Great River of the\\nWest and one of these maps probably formed the basis of Carver s\\nstory.\\nThe first actual discovery of a river in the northernmost section\\nof America, not emptying into the Atlantic or Hudson s Bay, was\\nmade, in 1771, by Mr. Samuel Hearne, one of the agents of the\\nHudson s Bay Company, who also obtained the earliest exact infor-\\nmation respecting the regions west and north-west of that bay.\\nThe account may be found at length in the Mimoires sur la Louisiane, by the\\nAbbe le Mascrier, published at Paris in 1753, vol. ii. p. 246.\\n19", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "146 hearne s travels. [1771.\\nHearne had been commissioned, by the directors of the company, to\\nexplore those regions, in order to determine, if possible, the question\\nas to the existence of a northern passage between Hudson s Bay and\\nthe Pacific and also, more especially, to find a rich mine of copper,\\nwhich was believed, from the accounts of the Indians, to lie on the\\nbanks of a river or strait, called, in their language, the Far-off\\nMetal River. From the general tenor of the instructions given\\nto Hearne, it is evident that the directors were convinced of the\\nnon-existence of such a passage, and that they were merely anxious\\nto have the fact demonstrated, in order to clear themselves from the\\nimputation often cast upon them, of endeavoring to obstruct the\\nprogress of discovery in the regions under their control.\\nAgreeably to these instructions, Hearne made, between 1769 and\\n1772, three journeys from Fort Prince of Wales, the company s\\nchief establishment on the western shore of Hudson s Bay, near\\nthe 60th degree of latitude, through the regions west and north-\\nwest of that place, which he examined, in various directions, to the\\ndistance of about a thousand miles. In his last journey, he dis-\\ncovered the Great Slave Lalce, and other similar collections of fresh\\nwater, from which issued streams flowing northward and westward\\nand he traced one of these streams, which proved to be the Far-off\\nMetal River, since called the Copper Mine River, to its termination\\nin a sea, where the tides were observed, and the relics of whales\\nwere strowed in abundance on the shores. The mouth of this river\\nwas calculated rudely by Hearne to be situated near the 72d degree\\nof latitude, and about 20 degrees of longitude, west of the most\\nwestern known part of Hudson s Bay; and he learned from the\\nIndians that the continent extended much farther west, and that\\nthere were high mountains in that direction. The sea into which\\nthe Copper Mine River emptied was supposed by the traveller to be\\na sort of inland sea, or extensive bay, somewhat like that of\\nHudson and he assured himself, by his own observations, that\\nthe territory traversed by him, between this sea and Hudson s Bay,\\nwas not crossed by any channel connecting the two waters whence\\nit followed, that no vessel could sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific\\nnorth of America, without proceeding beyond the mouth of the\\nCopper Mine River. Hearne also conceived that he had proved\\nthe entire impossibility of the existence of any direct communication\\nbetween Hudson s Bay and the Pacific in which he, undoubtedly,\\nassumed too much, as the northern termination of that bay had not\\nthen, nor has it to this day, been discovered.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "1776.] INSTRUCTIONS TO COOK. 147\\nHearne s journals were not published until 1795, though they\\nwere submitted, immediately after his return from his last journey,\\nto the lords commissioners of the British Admiralty, who did not\\nfail to perceive the importance of the information contained in\\nthem. The commissioners agreed with Hearne in considering the\\nprobability of reaching the Pacific through Hudson s Bay to be\\ndestroyed but they were, on the other hand, induced to hope that\\nthe newly-discovered sea, north of America, might be found to\\ncommunicate, by navigable passages, with Baffin s Bay on the east\\nand the Pacific on the west and it was, in consequence, resolved,\\nthat ships should be sent, simultaneously, to explore the western\\nside of Baffin s Bay and the north-easternmost coasts of the Pacific,\\nin search of the desired channels of connection with the Arctic\\nSea. By an act of parliament, passed in 1745, a reward of twenty\\nthousand pounds had been offered for the discovery of a north-west\\npassage, through Hudsoji s Bay, by ships belonging to his majesty s\\nsubjects and, in order further to stimulate British navigators in\\ntheir exertions, a new act, in 1776, held out the same reward to the\\nowners of any ship belonging to his majesty s subjects, or to the\\ncommander, officers, and crew, of any vessel belonging to his\\nmajesty, which should find out, and sail through, any passage by sea\\nbetween the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, in any direction, or\\nparallel of the northern hemisphere, to the northward of the 52d\\ndegree of latitude.\\nSoon after the adoption of these resolutions, Captain James Cook\\nreturned to England from his second voyage of circumnavigation,\\nin which he had completely disproved all reports of the existence\\nof a habitable continent about the south pole and, his offer to con-\\nduct the proposed expedition to the North Pacific having been\\naccepted by the government, two vessels were soon prepared and\\nplaced under his command for that purpose.\\nIn the instructions delivered to Cook, on the 6th of July, 1776,\\nhe is directed to proceed, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, New\\nZealand, and Otaheite, to the coast of JVeiv Albion, which he was\\nto endeavor to reach, in the latitude of 45 degrees. He was\\nstrictly enjoined, on his way thither, not to touch, upon any part\\nof the Spanish dominions on the western continent of America,\\nunless driven to it by some unavoidable accident; in which case,\\nhe was to stay no longer than should be absolutely necessary, and\\nto be very careful not to give any umbrage or offence to any of the\\ninhabitants or subjects of his Catholic majesty. And if, in his", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "148 INSTRUCTIONS TO COOK. [1776.\\nfarther progress northward, he should find any subjects of any\\nEuropean prince or state, upon any part of the coast which he\\nmight think proper to visit, he was not to disturb them, or give\\nthem any just cause of offence, but, on the contrary, to treat them\\nwith civihty and friendship. This latter sentence bore reference\\nto the Russians the application of the name of New Albion to the\\nnorth-west coast of North America showed that the British govern-\\nment had no intention to resign any rights to that region, which\\nwere supposed, or pretended, to have been acquired by Drake s\\nvisit, in 1579.\\nOn reaching New Albion, Cook was to put into the first con-\\nvenient port to obtain wood, water, and refreshments, and thence\\nto proceed northward along the coast to the latitude of 65 degrees,\\nwhere he was to begin his search for such rivers or inlets as might\\nappear to be of considerable extent, and pointing towards Hudson s\\nor Baffin s Bays. Should he find a passage of that description,\\nhe was to endeavor to sail through it, with one or both of his ships,\\nor with smaller vessels, of which the materials were to be carried\\nout, prepared for being speedily put together should he, however,\\nbe satisfied that there is no such passage to the above-mentioned\\nbays, sufficient for the purposes of navigation, he was to repair to\\nthe Russian establishments in Kamtchatka, and to explore the seas\\nnorth of them, in further search of a north-east or north-west\\npassage, from the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic or the North\\nSea. The instruction, not to begin the examination of the Amer-\\nican coast south of the 65th degree of latitude, was based on the\\nproofs obtained by Hearne, that the continent extended much\\nbeyond that parallel before reaching which, indeed, it was expected\\nthat the coast would be found turning north-eastward, in the direc-\\ntion of the mouth of the Copper Mine River.\\nThe navigator was, likewise, with the consent of tlie natives,\\nto take possession, in the name of the king of Great Britain, of\\nconvenient situations in such countries as he might discover, that\\nhad not been already discovered or visited by any other European\\npower and to distribute, among the inhabitants, such things as will\\nremain as traces of his having been there but, if he should find\\nthe countries so discovered to be uninhabited, he was to take pos-\\nsession of them for his sovereign, by setting up proper marks and\\ninscriptions, as first discoverers and possessors.\\nThe preceding extracts, from the instructions given to Cook, will\\nsuffice to explain the objects and views of the British government,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "1776.] COOK SAILS FOR THE PACIFIC. 149\\nwith regard to the part of America bordering upon the North Pacific\\nOcean which objects and views were, in every respect, conform-\\nable with justice, with the existing treaties between Great Britain\\nand other powers, and with the principles of national law then\\ngenerally admitted in civilized countries. The part of America in\\nquestion was known to Europeans only through the imperfect\\naccounts of the Russian voyages, from which nothing certain was\\nlearned, except that islands and other territories, supposed to be\\nextensive, had been found in the sea east of Kamtchatka. Of the\\ndiscoveries of the Spaniards, the most recent respecting which any\\nexact and authentic details had been communicated, were those\\nmade hy Vizcaino, in 1603 he, however, had not advanced so far\\nnorth as the 45th degree of latitude, where Cook was to begin his\\nobservations and between that parallel and the 56th, the southern-\\nmost limit of the explorations of the Russians, was a vast space of\\nsea and land, concerning which all the accounts, previously given\\nto the world, were generally regarded as fabulous. Before Cook s\\ndeparture, information had indeed reached England, of voyages,\\nmade by Spaniards, along the north-west coasts of America, during\\nthe two preceding years,* and of colonies established by them in\\nthat quarter, which may, perhaps, have rendered the British\\ngovernment more solicitous to have those coasts examined by its\\nown officers this information was, however, too vague to have\\nafforded any light for the direction of Cook s movements and it\\nhas been already shown that no more satisfactory accounts of those\\nrecent Spanish voyages had been obtained in England before 1780.\\nWith these instructions, Cook sailed from Plymouth on the 12th\\nof July, 1776, in his old ship, the Resolution, accompanied by\\nanother called the Discovery, under Captain Charles Clerke. Both\\nvessels were provided with every instrument and other means\\nwhich science or experience could suggest, for the effectual ac-\\ncomplishment of the great objects in view and that the officers\\nand crews were also judiciously selected, the results conclusively\\nproved. Among the lieutenants were Gore, (a native of Virginia,)\\nKing, Bligh, and Burney, who afterwards rose to eminence in their\\nprofession of the inferior members of the body, one deserves to\\nbe named John Ledyard, of Connecticut, who thus passed four\\nyears of his irregular and adventurous life in the humble capacity\\nof a corporal of marines, on board the Resolution.\\nSee page 124 of this History.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "150 COOK REACHES THE AMERICAN COAST. [1778.\\nFrom England, Cook passed around the Cape of Good Hope,\\nand through the Southern Ocean, into the Pacific and, after\\nspending more than a year in examinations about Van Dieman s\\nLand, New Zealand, the Friendly Islands, the Society Islands, and\\nother places in the same division of the great sea, he bent his course\\ntowards the north, in the beginning of 177S. The first fruit of\\nhis researches in the North Pacific, was the discovery, on the 18th\\nof January, of Atooi, (or Kauai,) one of the islands of a group\\nnear the 20th degree of latitude, to which he gave the name of\\nSandtvich Islands, in honor of the first lord of the Admiralty. This\\ndiscovery was by no means the least important of the many eflfected\\nby the great navigator as those islands, situated nearly midway\\nbetween America and Asia, possessing a delightful climate, and a\\nfertile soil, offer invaluable facilities for the repair and refreshment\\nof vessels traversing the vast expanse of sea which there separates\\nthe two continents, and will, no doubt, be made the basis for the\\nexertion of a powerful influence on the destinies of North-west\\nAmerica.\\nFrom the Sandwich Islands, the British exploring ships took their\\ndeparture for the north-west coast of America, in sight of which\\nthey arrived on the 7th of March, 1778, near the 44th degree of\\nlatitude, about two hundred miles north of Cape Mendocino. For\\nseveral days afterwards. Cook was prevented from advancing north-\\nward by contrary winds, which forced him a hundred miles in\\nthe opposite course but he was thereby enabled to see and par-\\ntially examine a larger extent of coast, and to determine the longi-\\ntude of that part of America, which had been left uncertain by all\\nprevious observations. The weather at length permitting, he took\\ntk e desired direction, and, running rapidly northward, at some dis-\\ntance from the land, he was, on the 22d of the month, opposite a\\nprojecting point of the continent, a little beyond the 48th parallel,\\nto which he gave the name of Cape Flattery, in token of the\\nimprovement in his prospects.\\nThe coast south of Cape Flattery, to the 47th degree, was care-\\nfully examined by the English in search of the strait through which\\nJuan de Fuca was said to have sailed to the Atlantic in 1592 and\\nas, in the account of that voyage, the entrance of the strait into the\\nPacific is placed between the 41 th and the 48th parallels, over which\\nspace the American coast was found to extend unbroken, Cook\\ndid not hesitate to pronounce that no such passage existed. Had\\nhe, however, also traced the coast north and east of Cape Flattery,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "1778.] COOK AT ANCHOR IN NOOTKA SOUND. 151\\nhe would have discovered an arm of the ocean, seeming to pene-\\ntrate the continent, tlu ough which he might have sailed many days,\\nere he could have been convinced that the old Greek pilot s account\\nwas not true in all its most essential particulars. This arm of the\\nocean was passed unobserved by the navigators, who, sailing north-\\nwestward, in front of its entrance, doubled a projection of the land,\\nnamed, by them, Point Breakers, from the violence of the surf\\nbeating on it, and found immediately beyond a spacious bay, open-\\ning to the Pacific, in the latitude of 49i^ degrees. Into this bay\\nthey sailed, and anchored on its northern side, at the distance of\\nten miles from the sea, in a safe and commodious harbor, to which\\nthey gav^ the name of Friendltj Cove.\\nThe British vessels remained at Friendly Cove nearly all the\\nmonth of April, in the course of which they were completely\\nrefitted, and supplied with wood and water, and the men were\\nrefreshed, in preparation for the arduous labors of the ensuing\\nsummer. During this period, they were surrounded by crowds of\\nnatives, who came thither from all quarters, by sea and by land, to\\nvisit and trade with the strangers, bringing, says Cook, skins of\\nvarious animals, such as wolves, foxes, bears, deer, raccoons, pole-\\ncats, martins, and, in particular, of the sea otters, which are found\\nat the islands east of Kamtchatka. Besides the skins in their native\\nshape, they also brought garments made of the bark of a tree, or\\nsome plant like hemp weapons, such as bows and arrows, and\\nspears fish-hooks, and instruments of various kinds wooden\\nvisors of many monstrous figures a sort of woollen stuff or blan-\\nketing bags iilled with red ochre pieces of carved work, beads,\\nand several other little ornaments of thin brass and iron, shaped\\nlike a horse-shoe, which they hang at their noses, and several\\nchisels, or pieces of iron fixed to handles.\\nIn trafficking with us, continues the navigator, some of them\\nwould betray a knavish disposition, and carry off our goods with-\\nout making any return but, in general, it was otherwise, and we\\nhad abundant reason to commend the fairness of their conduct.\\nHowever, their eagerness to possess iron and brass, and, indeed,\\nany kind of metal, was so great, that few of them could resist\\nthe temptation to steal it, whenever an opportunity offered. They\\nwere thieves in the strictest sense of the word for they pilfered\\nnothing from us but what they knew could be converted to the\\npurposes of private utility, and had a real value, according to their\\nestimation of things. Cook also observed among them a strict", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "t\\n152 cook s account of the nootkans. [1778.\\nnotion of their having a right to the exclusive property of every\\nthing that their country produces, which had been remarked, by\\nBodega and Maurelle, in the natives at Port Remedies, farther\\nnorth. At first, they wanted our people to pay for the wood and\\nwater that they carried on board and, had I been upon the spot\\nwhen these demands were made, I should certainly have complied\\nwith them. Our workmen, in my absence, thought differently, for\\nthey took but little notice of such claims and the natives, when\\nthey found that we determined to pay nothing, ceased to apply.\\nBut they made a merit of necessity, and frequently afterward took\\noccasion to remind us that they had given us wood and water out\\nof friendship.\\nWith regard to the disposition of these people, the English com-\\nmander was, on the whole, inclined to judge favorably. They\\nseem, he says, to be courteous, docile, and good natured, but,\\nnotwithstanding the predominant phlegm of their tempers, quick in\\nresenting what they look upon as an injury, and, like most other\\npassionate people, as soon forgetting it. Experience has, how-\\never, proved that Ledyard read their characters more correctly,\\nwhen he pronounced them bold, ferocious, sly, and reserved\\nnot easily moved to anger, but revengeful in the extreme.\\nFrom the number of articles of iron and brass found among these\\npeople, one of whom had, moreover, two silver spoons, of Spanish\\nmanufacture, hanging around his neck by way of ornament from\\ntheir manifesting no surprise at the sight of his ships, and not being\\nstartled by the reports of his guns and from the strong inclination\\nto trade exhibited by them, Cook was, at first, inclined to suppose\\nthat the place had been visited by vessels of civilized nations before\\nhis arrival. He, however, became convinced, by his inquiries and\\nobservations during his stay, that this was by no means probable\\nfor though, as he says, some account of a Spanish voyage to this\\ncoast in 1774 or 1775 had reached England before I sailed, it was\\nevident that iron was too common here, was in too many hands,\\nand the use of it was too well known, for them to have had the first\\nknowledge of it so very lately, or, indeed, at any earlier period, by\\nan accidental supply from a ship. Doubtless, from the general use\\nthey make of this metal, it may be supposed to come from some\\nconstant source, by way of traffic, and that not of a very late date\\nfor they are as dexterous in using their tools as the longest practice\\ncan make them. The most probable way, therefore, by which we\\ncan suppose that they get their iron, is by trading for it with other", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "1778.] COOK SAILS FROM NOOTKA. 153\\nIndian tribes, who either have immediate communication with\\nEuropean settlements upon the continent, or receive it, perhaps,\\ntlirough several intermediate nations the same might be said of\\nthe brass and copper found amongst them. The iron and brass,\\nhe conceived, might have been brought from Canada, or Hudson s\\nBay, and the silver spoons from Mexico and he imputed the indif-\\nference of the natives, respecting the ships, to their natural indo-\\nlence of temper and want of curiosity.\\nOn his arrival in this bay, Cook honored it with the name of\\nKing George^s Sound but he afterwards found that it was called\\nNootka, by the natives, and it has, accordingly, ever since been\\nknown as Nootka Sound. No word has, however, been since found\\nin the language of the people of this country more nearly resembling\\nNootka than Yuguatl, the name applied by them to Friendly Cove.\\nThe bay is situated on the south-west side of the large Island of\\nVancouver and Quadra, which was, until 1790, supposed to be a\\npart of the American continent; and it communicates with the\\nPacific by two openings, the southernmost of which, the only one\\naffording a passage for large vessels, lies under the parallel of 49\\ndegrees 33 minutes. This southern entrance is, undoubtedly, the\\nPort San Lorenzo, in which the Spanish navigator Perez lay\\nwith his ship, the Santiago, on the 10th of August, 1774 and from\\nthat vessel, most probably, were stolen the two silver spoons of\\nSpanish manufacture, which Cook saw at Nootka, in the possession\\nof one of the natives. The place possesses many advantages, which\\nwill render it important, whenever that part of America shall be\\noccupied, as it certainly will be, by an enterprising and industrious\\npeople.\\nIt was Cook s intention, on leaving Nootka Sound, to proceed,\\nas speedily as possible, to the part of the coast under the 65th\\ndegree of latitude, from which he was to commence his search for\\na passage to the Atlantic. The violence of the wind prevented\\nhim from approaching the land for some days, and he thus, to his\\nregret, left unseen the place, near the 53d parallel, where geog-\\nraphers had placed the pretended Strait of Fonte. For my own\\npart, he continues, I gave no credit to such vague and improb-\\nable stories, that carry their own confutation along with them\\nnevertheless, I was very desirous of keeping the American coast\\naboard, in order to clear up this point beyond dispute. At length,\\non the 1st of May, he saw the land, about the 55th parallel; and,\\non the following day, he passed near the beautiful conical mountain,\\n20", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "154 COOK BEGINS HIS SURVEY OF THE COAST. [1778.\\nunder the 57th, which had received from Bodega, in 1775, the name\\nof Mount San Jacinto. This peak was called Mount Edgecumb by\\nCook, who also gave the appellation of Bay of Islands to the Port\\nRemedios of the Spaniards, on its northern side.\\nAfter leaving these places, the English observed a wide opening\\non the east, called by them Cross Sound, and beyond it a very high\\nmountain, which obtained the name of Mount Fairiveather and, as\\nthe latter was situated near the 59th parallel, they had then advanced\\nfarther north than the Spaniards, or any other navigators, had\\nproceeded from the south along that coast, and were entering upon\\nthe scenes of the labors of the Russians. Accordingly, as they ex-\\npected, on the 4th of the month, they beheld, rising from the shore\\nin the north, at the distance of forty leagues, a stupendous pile of\\nrocks and snow, which they immediately recognized as the Mount\\nSt. Elias, described in the accounts of Bering s voyage and, as\\nthe coast from its base was found to trend very much to the west,\\ninclining hardly any thing to the north, Cook determined to com-\\nmence his survey at that point, hoping soon to discover some strait,\\nor arm of the ocean, through which he might pass around the north-\\nwestern extremity of America, into the sea bathing the northern\\nshores of the continent. Of the existence of such a passage he\\nwas assured by the Russian geographers, on whose maps the whole\\nspace between Mount St. Elias and Kamtchatka was represented\\nas occupied by a collection of islands and channels.\\nWith this expectation, the English advanced slowly along tiie\\ncoast, from the foot of Mount St. Elias, westward, to a considerable\\ndistance, and then south-westward, as far as the latitude of 54 J\\ndegrees minutely examining, in their way, every sinuosity on the\\nshores of the ocean, and particularly those of the two great gulfs,\\nnamed by them Prince William s Sound and Cook s River, which\\nstretch northwardly into the land from the 60th parallel. They\\nwere, however, in each instance, disappointed for the coast was\\nfound to extend continuously on their right, bordered every where\\nby lofty, snow-capped chains of mountains along the whole line thus\\nsurveyed and, as Cook became convinced that these territories\\nformed part of the American continent, which thus extended\\nfarther to the west than, from the modern most reputable charts, he\\nhad reason to expect, he saw, with regret, that the probability of\\nhis finding a passage eastward into Baffin s or Hudson s Bays was\\nmaterially diminished, if not entirely destroyed. He endeavored, in\\nhis course, to identify the places described in the narrative of", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "1778.] COOK REACHES UNALASHFA. 155\\nBering s voyage; but this he found, almost always, impossible,\\nthough he assigned many of the names therein mentioned to spots\\nwliich seemed to correspond, in some respects, with those so called\\nby the Russians.\\nWhilst this survey was in progi*ess, particularly at Prince Wil-\\nliam s Sound, the ships were frequently visited by the natives of the\\nsurrounding country, who appeared to be of a different race from\\nthose seen farther south. They were as thievish as the Nootkans,\\nthough apparently less ferocious and revengeful and Cook gives\\nseveral examples of their extraordinary apathy and indifference,\\nwhich appears, from all subsequent accounts, to be their most\\nremarkable characteristic. They, also, were well acquainted with\\nthe use of iron and copper, of which metals, particularly of copper,\\nthey possessed knives, or spear-heads, rudely made. Among them\\nwere likewise found many ornaments made of glass beads, which\\nwere evidently of European manufacture yet the English could\\nnot learn that they had ever had direct intercourse with any civilized\\nnation and Cook very justly concluded that the Russians had\\nnever been among them, for, if that had been the case, we should\\nhardly have found them clothed in such valuable skins as those of\\nthe sea otter.\\nProceeding south-westward from Cook s River, along the western\\nside of the peninsula of Aliaska, the English, on the 19th of June,\\nfell in with a group of small islands, near the 55th parallel, which\\nappeared to correspond, in position, with the Schumagin Islands of\\nBering and, while sailing amongst them, they obtained, from some\\nnatives, a note written on paper, in an unknovi^n language, which\\nthey supposed to be Russian. Having reached the extremity of the\\nland in that direction, they doubled the point, and, sailing again\\ntowards the east, they arrived, on the 27th, at a large island, which\\nproved to be Unalashka, one of the Aleutian Archipelago, frequently\\nmentioned in the accounts of the Russians as a place of resort\\nfor their traders natives of the island only were found there but,\\nas its position with reference to other points in America, and to\\nKamtchatka, was supposed to be represented with some approach\\nto accuracy, on the chart published at St. Petersburg, the Eng-\\nlish, after reaching it, were better able to determine their future\\ncourse.\\nBeing still anxious to discover, if possible, during that season,\\nhow far America extended to the north-west. Cook departed from\\nUnalashka on the 2d of July, and, sailing northward along the coast,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "156 COOK MEETS RUSSIAN TRADERS. [1778.\\nhe carefully examined all its bays and recesses, in search of a pas-\\nsage towards the east, until he, at length, on the 9th of August,\\nreached a point, in the latitude of 65 degrees 46 minutes, which\\nhis observations induced him to consider as the north-western\\nextremity of all America. This point he named Cape Prince of\\nWales, and thence proceeding westward, across a channel only fifty\\nmiles in breadth, he arrived at another point, supposed to be that\\ndescribed, in the account of Bering s first voyage, as the TchukotsJcoi\\nNoss, which was ascertained to be the easternmost spot in Asia, and\\nwas accordingly named East Cape. The passage separating these\\ncapes, which the Russians had called Bering s Strait, was suffered\\nto retain that appellation, in honor of the navigator who first sailed\\nthrough it.\\nBeyond Bering s Strait, the American coast was traced by the\\nEnglish, north-eastward upon the Arctic Sea, to Icy Cape, in the\\nlatitude of 70 degrees 29 minutes, where the progress of the ex-\\nplorers was arrested by the ice. In like manner, the Asiatic coast\\nwas surveyed north-westward, to Cape North, in the latitude of 68\\ndegrees 56 minutes, the farthermost point to which it was then pos-\\nsible to advance in that direction and, the warm season being by\\nthis time ended, Cook judged it prudent to retire to the south,\\ndeferring the continuation of his researches until the ensuing\\nsummer. He accordingly repassed Bering s Strait, and on the\\n3d of October his ships were again anchored in the harbor of Sam-\\nagoonda, on the north side of Unalashka.\\nFrom this place, Corporal Ledyard was despatched on an ex-\\nploring trip into the interior of the island, where he at length dis-\\ncovered some Russian traders, who accompanied him back to the\\nships. The chief of these traders, named Gerassim Ismyloff, was\\nan old and experienced seaman, who had formed one of the party\\nunder Benyowsky, in their adventurous voyage from Kamtchatka\\nto China, in 1770, and had since been engaged in the navigation\\nand traffic between Asia and the Aleutian Islands. He readily ex-\\nhibited to Cook the few charts in his possession, and communicated\\nwhat he knew respecting the geography of that part of the world\\nas well as was possible, considering that neither of the two under-\\nstood a word of the language of the other. The information thus\\nreceived from Ismyloff, however, only served to show the entire\\ninaccuracy of the ideas of the Russians with regard to America,\\nand to convince the English navigator of the importance of his own\\ndiscoveries.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "1779.] DEATH OF COOK. 157\\nLeaving Unalashka on the 27th of October, the English ships\\ncontinued their voyage southward to the Sandwich Islands, of which\\nthe two largest, called Oivijhee and Mowee, (^Hawaii and Mauni,)\\nwere first discovered in the latter part of November. They passed\\nthe winter on the western side of Owyhee, in a harbor called Kara-\\nTcooa Bay and there, on the IGth of February, 1779, the gallant\\nand generous Cook was murdered by the natives, in an affray.\\nCaptain Charles Clerke, wlio succeeded to the command of the\\nexpedition after this melancholy event, endeavored, in the summer\\nof 1779, to effect a passage through the Arctic Sea to the Atlantic.\\nWith this view, he left the Sandwich Islands in March, and, on the\\n29th of April, reached the harbor of Petropawlowsk, in the Bay of\\nAvatscha, the principal port of the Russians on the North Pacific,\\nwhere the English were received with the utmost kindness by the\\nofficers of the government and their ships were objects of the\\ngreatest curiosity to the people, being the first from any foreign\\ncountry which had ever visited that part of the world. After some\\ndays spent in Kamtchatka, Clerke sailed for Bering s Strait, beyond\\nwhich, however, he was unable to advance, in any direction, so far\\nas in the preceding year, in consequence of the great accumulation\\nof the ice. His health at that time being, moreover, in a very pre-\\ncarious state, he returned to Petropawlowsk, near which he died, on\\nthe 22d of August.\\nLieutenant John Gore next assumed the direction of the enter-\\nprise but the ships were considered, by him and the other officers,\\nunfit, from the bad condition of their bottoms and rigging, to en-\\ncounter the shocks of another season in that tempestuous quarter\\nof the ocean and it was, thereupon, determined that they should\\ndirect their course immediately for England. They accordingly\\nsailed from Petropawlowsk in October, and in the beginning of\\nDecember they anchored at the mouth of the River Tygris, near\\nCanton.\\nWith the stay of the English ships in China are connected some\\ncircumstances, which gave additional importance to the discoveries\\neffected in their expedition.\\nIt has already been mentioned that, during the voyage along the\\nnorth-west coasts of America, the officers and seamen had obtained\\nfrom the natives at Nootka, Prince William s Sound, and other\\nplaces which they visited, a quantity of furs, in exchange for knives,\\nold clothes, buttons, and other trifles. Th ^\u00c2\u00abp furs were collected,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "158 THE ENGLISH SELL THEIR FURS AT CANTON. [1779.\\nfor the most part, without any reference to their value as merchan-\\ndise, and were used on board ship as clothes or bedding in conse-\\nquence of which, many of them had become spoiled, and others\\nwere much injured, before the ships reached Petropawlowsk. At\\nthat place, a few skins were sold to the Russian traders, who were\\nanxious to purchase the whole on similar terms but the English\\nofficers, having, in the mean time, acquired information as to the\\nhigii prices paid for furs in China, prevailed upon the seamen to\\nretain those which they still possessed, until their arrival at Canton,\\nwhere they were assured that a much better market would be\\nfound.\\nThe hopes thus excited did not prove fallacious. The ships\\ncommanded by Gore were the only ones, with the exception of that\\nunder Benyowsky, in 1770, which had ever arrived at Canton\\ndirectly from the coasts where furs were obtained and no sooner\\nwas the nature of the merchandise which they brought known in\\nthe city, than all became eager to purchase those precious objects\\nof comfort and luxury, either for their own use or upon speculation.\\nThe Chinese, according to custom, began by offering prices much\\nbelow the ordinary but the English, being on their guard, refused\\nsuch terms, and, in the end, their whole stock of furs was sold for\\nmoney and goods, to the amount of more than ten thousand dollars.\\nThe seamen, on witnessing these results, became, notwithstanding\\nthe previous length of their cruise, possessed with a rage to return\\nto the northern coasts, and, by another cargo of skins, to make\\ntheir fortunes, which was, at one time, not far short of mutiny\\nthey were, however, restrained by their officers, and, after the com-\\npletion of the business at Canton, the ships sailed around the Cape\\nof Good Hope to England, where they arrived in the beginning of\\nOctober, 1780.\\nWith regard to the novelty of the discoveries effected in this\\nvoyage, it will be seen, on comparing the course of the English\\nships with those taken by the Spaniards, in 1774 and 1775 that\\nCook saw no part of the west coast of North America, south of\\nMount San Jacinto or Edgecumb, which had not been previously\\nseen by Perez, Bodega, or Heceta and, after passing that point, he\\nwas, as he frequently admits, aided, and in a measure guided, by the\\naccounts of the Russian voyages. The observations of the English\\nwere, however, infinitely more minute, and more important, in their\\nresults, than those of any or all the other navigators who had pre-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0188.jp2"}, "189": {"fulltext": "1779.] RESULTS OF COOk s DISCOVERIES. 159\\nceded them in the exploration of the North Pacific for,, by deter-\\nmining accurately the positions of the principal points on the coasts\\nof Asia and America, bounding that sea, they first afforded the\\nmeans of ascertaining the extent of those continents, and the degree\\nof their proximity to each other, respecting which the most er-\\nroneous ideas had prevailed and the comparative ease and security\\nwith which they executed this task, served to dispel apprehensions\\nwith regard to expeditions through that quarter of the ocean.\\nNOTE. In the Exploration du Territoire de rOrcgon, des Californies, tfec, by\\nM. Duflotde Mofras, published at Paris, in the summer of 1844, by order of the king,\\nand under the auspices of Marshal Soult, the author asserts and assumes that he has\\nproved incontestably that the Columbia River had been discovered and explored com-\\npletely by French officers and traders between 1716 and 1754, and that the whole\\ncountry traversed by that stream rightfully forms part of Canada. In support of the\\nlatter assertion, he cites a passage from LTscarbot s Ilistoire de la Nouvelle France,\\npublished in 1617, claiming, as New Franco, the whole American continent, and the\\nadjacent islands north of the tropic of Cancer; and a passage from the Voyage de la\\nNouvelle France, published in 1632 by Champlain, who is content with all north of\\nthe 35th degree of latitude and, in further confirmation, he refers to a manuscript Span-\\nish map, drawn in Florence in 160G, to a Dutch map, drawn at Edam in 1610, and to an\\nEnglish map, engraved at London in 1747, all of which, it seems, represent Canada as\\nextending to the Pacific. In proof that the French had explored the Columbia regions,\\nM. de Mofras mentions a number of orders, preserved in the archives of the marine and\\ncolonies at Paris, from French ministers, and from governors of Canada, for the exam-\\nination of the western territories one of which, addressed, in 1730, by the governor,\\nBeauharnois, to a trader named Verendrye, directs him to send with his memoir\\na map draicnfrom his oicn olscrvations and the indications of the Indians, and, among\\nothers, of a Kree chief, embracing the course of the River of the West, and showing\\nthat it must empty above California, near the entrance discovered by Martin de Agui-\\nlar. \u00e2\u0096\u00a0Nothing can be more clear, adds M. de Mofras; it will, however, be ob-\\nserved that the Swedish naturalist Kalm, who visited Canada in 1749, was informed\\nby Verendrye himself that the chief intention of this expedition, viz., to come to\\nthe South Sea, and to examine its distance from Canada, was not attained.\\nIn fine, says M. de Mofras, (vol. ii. p. 254,) the map accompanying the Me-\\nmoires des Commissaires du Roi et de ccux de sa Majeste Britannique en Amerique,\\nengraved in 1757, demonstrates, also, that New France extended to the Pacific Ocean.\\nIt will be seen, hereafter, that it is not surprising to find upon this map, in the 45th\\ndegree of latitude, on the north-west coast of America, a great river, the direction of\\nwhich is exactly that of the River Columbia. Now M. de Mofras could not have\\nexamined the map here cited by him when he made this assertion. The work con-\\ntaining it is a collection of documents presented by the commissaries of France\\nand England, appointed, under the treaty of Aix la Chapclle, in 1748, to decide cer-\\ntain disputed points of boundary in America. The map of America, to which M.\\nMofras refers, was drawn and presented by the French commissaries, as its title ex-\\npressly declares, to expose the extravagant pretensions of the British to territories in\\nAmerica: it does not contain the words \u00e2\u0096\u00a0Canada, or Nouvelle France, or any\\nother sign of French dominion the whole division of the continent, between the\\n48th and the 31st parallels of latitude, being represented by strong lines and express\\nnotes, as included in the limits of the British provinces nor does it show any large\\nriver falling into the Pacific north of the peninsula of California, nor any river en-\\ntering that ocean north of the 36th degree of latitude.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0189.jp2"}, "190": {"fulltext": "160\\nCHAPTER VII.\\n1780 TO 1789.\\nCommercial Results of Cook s Discoveries Settlements of the Russians in America\\nScheme of Ledyard for the Trade of the North Bacific Voyage of La Perouse\\nDirect Trade between the American Coasts and Canton commenced Voyages\\nof the English Fur Traders Re-discovery of the Strait of Fuca Voyage of\\nMeares, who endeavors to find a great River described by the Spaniards First\\nVoyages from the United States to the South Pacific, and to Canton Voyage of\\nthe Columbia and Washington, under Kendrick and Gray, from Boston to the\\nNorth Pacific.\\nWhilst Cook was engaged in his last expedition, Great Britain\\nbecame involved in wars with the United States of America, France,\\nand Spain and, as there was no prospect of a speedy termination\\nof the contests at the time when the ships sent out under that\\ncommander returned to Europe, the British government considered\\nit prudent to withhold from the world all information respecting\\ntheir voyage. The regular journals of the ships, together with the\\nprivate notes and memoranda of the officers and men which could\\nbe collected, were, in consequence, placed under the charge of the\\nBoard of Admiralty, and thus remained concealed until peace had\\nbeen restored. Notwithstanding this care, however, many of the\\noccurrences of the expedition became known, the importance, or\\nthe novelty, of which was such as to raise to the highest degree the\\ncuriosity of the public, not only in England, but in all other civilized\\ncountries.\\nThe wars having been, at length, concluded, the regular journals\\nof the expedition were published at London, in the winter of 1784-5,\\nunder the care of the learned Bishop Douglas, with a number of\\nmaps, charts, and other illustrative engravings and it is now\\nscarcely necessary to say, that the anticipations which had been\\nformed as to the importance of their contents, were fully realized.\\nThe information obtained during the voyage, respecting the\\nabundance of animals of fine fur on the north-west coasts of\\nAmerica, and the high prices paid for their skins in China, became", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0190.jp2"}, "191": {"fulltext": "1780.] STA^E OF THE FUR TRADE. 161\\ngenerally diffused before the publication of the journals, and it did\\nnot fail to attract the attention of enterprising men in all marilime\\ncountries. The trade in furs had been conducted, almost wholly,\\nby the British and the Russians, between whom, however, there had\\nbeen no opportunity for competition. The Russians procured their\\nfurs chiefly in the northern parts of their own empire and they\\nexported to China, by land, all such as were not required for their\\nown use. The British market was supplied entirely from Hudson s\\nBaf and Canada and a great portion of the skins there collected\\nwas sent to Russia, whence many of them found their way to China,\\nthough none had ever been shipped directly for the latter country.\\nThat the furs of Canada and Hudson s Bay might be sold advan-\\ntageously at Canton was certain, from a comparison between the\\nprices of those articles in London and in Canton and it was also\\nclear that still greater profits might be secured by means of a direct\\ntrade between China and the north-west coasts of America, where\\nthe finest furs were to be obtained more easily than in any other\\npart of the world. There could be, nevertheless, no doubt that, after\\nthe opening of such a trade, the prices in China would fall, while\\nthe difficulties and expenses of collecting the furs in America would\\nbe increased and it was, therefore, material that those who wished\\nto reap the fullest harvests in this new field, should begin their\\nlabors as speedily as possible.\\nThe Russians were the first to avail themselves of Cook s dis-\\ncoveries, respecting which they had derived much information\\nduring the stay of the British ships at Petropawlowsk and Unalash-\\nka. In 1781, an association was formed between Gregory Scheli-\\nkof, Ivan GoUikof, and other principal fur merchants of Siberia and\\nKamtchatka, for the more extensive and effective conduct of their\\nbusiness and three vessels, equipped by them for a long voyage of\\ntrade and exploration, sailed from Ochotsk, in August, 1783, under\\nthe command of Schelikof. In this expedition they were absent\\nthree years, in the course of which the shores of the American\\ncontinent and islands, betw een the south-west extremity of Aliaska\\nand Prince William s Sound, were examined, and several colonies\\nor factories were established, particularly on the large island of\\nKuktak, or Kodiak, near the entrance of the bay called Cook^s\\nRiver. Schelikof was a man of great intrepidity and perseverance,\\nwell acquainted with the business in which he was engaged, and\\napparently never troubled by scruples as to the morality or humanity\\nof any measure, after he had satisfied himself of its expediency.\\n21", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0191.jp2"}, "192": {"fulltext": "162 ledyard s scheme for the fur trade. [178:2.\\nHe and his followers are said to have exhibited the most barbarous\\ndispositions in their treatment of the natives on the coasts, whole\\ntribes of whom were put to death upon the slightest prospect of\\nadvantage from their destruction, and often through mere wanton-\\nness of cruelty.\\nIn 1787, the Russians made establishments, also, on the shores of\\nCook s River and, in the following year, two vessels were sent\\nfrom Asia by the trading association, under Ismylof (one of the men\\nfound by Cook at Unalashka) and Betscharef, who proceeded as\\nfar east as the bay at the foot of Mount St. Elias, called Yakutat\\nby the natives, and Admiralty Bay by the Enghsh. It seems to\\nhave also been the object of these traders to take possession of\\nNootka Sound, in which, however, they were anticipated, as will\\nbe shown in the ensuing chapter.\\nThe empress Catharine had likewise become anxious to acquire\\nglory by an expedition for discoveries in the North Pacific but, as\\nnone of her subjects were qualified to conduct such an enterprise,\\nshe engaged for the purpose Captain Billings, an Englishman, who\\nhad accompanied Cook, as assistant astronomer, in his last voyage.\\nUnder his direction, two ships were built at Petropawlowsk but\\nthey could not be completed before 1790, when Billings began his\\nvoyage, as will be hereafter related.\\nAmong other nations, the first attempt to engage in the direct\\ntrade between the north-west coasts of America and China appears\\nto have been made by Mr. Bolts, an eminent English merchant,\\nresiding at Trieste, who, in 1781, equipped a vessel for that pur-\\npose, to be navigated under the imperial flag of Germany but he\\nwas obliged, from some unknown cause, to abandon the under-\\ntaking.\\nA similar attempt was shortly after made, with no greater suc-\\ncess, in the United States of America. John Ledyard, who has\\nbeen already mentioned as one of the crew of Cook s ship during\\nthe last voyage of that navigator, having deserted, or rather es-\\ncaped, from a British frigate, in which he was serving against his\\ncountrymen, near New York, in 1782, prevailed on tlie celebrated\\nmerchant and financier, Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, to fit out a\\nvessel, to be employed, under his direction, in tiie fur trade of the\\nNorth Pacific. The pecuniary embarrassments of Mr. Morris,\\nhowever, obliged him to abandon the enterprise before the vessel\\nwas ready for sea; and Ledyard, finding his efforts to procure\\ncooperation for that object unavailing in America, went to France in", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0192.jp2"}, "193": {"fulltext": "1786.] VOYAGE OF LA pfiROUSE. 163\\n1784, where he, in concert with Paul Jones, endeavored to interest\\nthe government, or private capitaHsts, in his scheme.\\nThe French gave no encouragement to Ledyard s plan for prose-\\ncuting the fur trade and no private vessels were sent from that\\nkingdom to the North Pacific until 1791.* The government of\\nFrance, however, was not unaware of the advantages which might\\nbe derived from this branch of commerce and their great naviga-\\ntor, La Perouse, on leaving his country for the Pacific, in 1785,\\nwas specially instructed to explore the parts of the north-west\\ncoasts of America which had not been examined by Cook, and of\\nwhich the Russian accounts gave no idea, in order to obtain infor-\\nmation respecting the fur trade, and also to learn whether, in those\\nunknown parts, some river or internal sea might not be found\\ncommunicating with Hudson s Bay or Baffin s Bay. f\\nThe multiplicity of objects, in every department of science, to\\nwhich La Perouse was required by his instructions to attend, during\\nhis voyage, prevented him from devoting more than three months\\nto the north-west coasts of America and, of that time, he spent\\none third at anchor, in a bay at the foot of Mount Fairweather,\\nnear which he first saw the coast, on the 23d of June, 1786. In\\nthis bay, called, by La Perouse, Port des Francais,^ observations\\nwere made by the French in various points of science and they\\ntraded with the natives, of whose persons, language, arts, customs,\\nc., minute accounts are presented in the journals of the expedi-\\nAfter the failure of this scheme, Ledyard undertook, at the suggestion of Mr.\\nJefferson, then minister plenipotentiary of the United States in France, to proceed\\nby land to Kamtchatka, thence by sea to Nootka Sound, or some other point on the\\nwest coast of North America, and thence across the continent, to the Atlantic\\nstates of the Federal Union. With this view, permission was obtained, through the\\nagency of the celebrated Baron de Grimm, from the empress of Russia, for Ledyard\\nto pass through her dominions and, thus protected, as well as aided, by the govern-\\nment of that empire, he advanced as far as Irkutsk, in Siberia, on his way to\\nOchotsk, where he proposed to embark for America. At Irkutsk, however, he was\\narrested, by order of the empress, on the night of the 24th of February, 1788, and\\nwas thence conveyed to the frontiers of Poland, where he was liberated, with an\\ninjunction not again to set foot in the Russian territory. The reasons for his expul-\\nsion are unknown; but it was probably occasioned by the representations of the\\nmembers of the Russian American Trading Company, already mentioned, who\\nwished to keep their proceedings secret. On Ihe 15th of November following, Led-\\nyard s irregular life was ended at Cairo, whither he had gone under the auspices of\\nthe African Association of London, on his way to seek for the sources of the Nile.\\nSee the Biography of Ledyard, by Jared Sparks.\\nt King Louis XVI. is said to have planned the expedition of La Perouse himself,\\nand to have drawn up the greater part of the instructions with his own hand, before\\nhe communicated his intentions to any other person.\\nt No account of this extraordinary place has been given by any other navigator.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0193.jp2"}, "194": {"fulltext": "164 VOYAGE OF LA PEROUSE. [1786.\\ntion. Quitting the Port des Fran^ais on the 4th of August, they\\nsailed towards the south, and examined the coasts between Mount\\nSan Jacinto, or Edgecumb, and Port Bucareli, as well as those\\ndiscovered by the Spaniards in 1774 and 1775, between the 54th\\nand the 52d parallels, forming the western side of Queen Char-\\nlotte s Island, the separation of which from the American continent\\nseems to have been suspected by La Perouse. Continuing onwards,\\nthey passed the mouth of Nootka Sound without entering it, and,\\non the 8th of September, they reached Monterey, where they were\\nreceived with the greatest attention, agreeably to orders previously\\nsent thither from Mexico. At Monterey, the observations were\\nrenewed, and the latitude and longitude of that part of the coast\\nwere, for the first time, accurately determined after which, on the\\n24th of the month, the French ships quitted the American coast\\nforever.\\nThe remarks and surmises of this accomplished officer, on several\\npoints connected with the north-west coasts of America, display\\nmuch sagacity and science but his labors were rendered almost\\nuseless to the world, by the delay in the publication of his journals,\\nwhich did not appear until 1797, when nearly all the places visited\\nby him had become well known, from the descriptions of many\\nother navigators.*\\nThe first persons who actually engaged in the direct trade\\nbetween the north-west coasts of America and China, were British\\nsubjects, though sailing, nearly all, under the Portuguese flag.\\nAt the time of the publication of Cook s journals, the British\\ntrade in the Pacific was divided between two great commercial\\ncorporations, each possessing peculiar privileges, secured to itself\\nby act of parliament, to the exclusion of all other subjects of the\\nsame nation. Thus no British subjects, except those in the ser-\\nvice, or bearing the license, of the South Sea Company, could make\\nSailing from Monterey, La Perouse visited, in succession, Macao, the Philippine\\nIslands, the coast of Tartary, Kamtchatka, the Navigators Islands, and New Hol-\\nland. After leaving the latter country, in February, 1787, nothing was heard of his\\nships until 1826, when information was received by the French government, in con-\\nsequence of which a vessel was sent to the Pacific, and the wrecks of both vessels\\nwere discovered on the little island of Malicolo, one of the New Hebrides Archipel-\\nago, east of New Holland. From the accounts of the natives, it appeared that a\\nnumber of the French landed on the island after the wreck of tlieir ships, and built\\na small vessel, in which they took their departure, and were doubtless lost. The\\njournals of the expedition, and letters received from the commander and other\\nofficers, were published at Paris in 1797, under the direction of Clairet de Fleurieu,\\nand were immediately translated into English and other European languages.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0194.jp2"}, "195": {"fulltext": "1785.] VOYAGE OF HANNA. 165\\nexpeditions, for trade or fishery, by way of Cape Horn or Magel-\\nlan s Straits, to any part of the west coast of America, or the seas\\nand islands within three hundred leagues of it while no British\\nsubjects, not employed or licensed by the East India Company,\\ncould proceed, for either of those purposes, around the Cape of\\nGood Hope, to any seas or lands east of that point, between it\\nand Magellan s Straits with the provision, however, that the privi-\\nleges conferred on the East India Company should not be considered\\nas interfering with those previously granted to the other association.\\nAll British vessels, found trading or fishing contrary to the acts by\\nwhich these privileges were conferred, became liable to confiscation,\\nand the persons directing such expeditions to heavy penalties.\\nThus the East India Company could carry on the direct trade\\nbetween the north-west coasts of America and China, at the risk of\\na dispute with the South Sea Company, as to the extent of the\\ninterference with the privileges of the latter while those privileges\\nwere rendered entirely useless to the South Sea Company, for the\\npurposes of that trade, by the exclusion of its vessels from the\\nChinese ports, which offered the principal, if not the only, profitable\\nmarket for furs. Accordingly, some of the earliest commercial\\nexpeditions of the British to the north-west coasts were made under\\nthe flag of the East India Company while other subjects of that\\nnation eluded the regulations of both companies, by engaging in\\nthe fur trade, under the flag of Portugal, or with Hcenses granted\\nby the Portuguese authorities at Macao, near Canton.\\nThe earliest of these expeditions appears to have been that of\\nJames Hanna, an Englishman, who sailed from Macao, in a small\\nvessel under Portuguese colors, in April, 1785,* and arrived at\\nNootka Sound in August following. The natives of that country\\nat first refused to have any dealings with him, and endeavored to\\nseize his vessel, and murder his crew but they were foiled in the\\nattempt, and, after some combats between the parties, a trade was\\nestablished, the result of which was, that Hanna brought back to\\nThe following account of the movements of the fur traders in the North Pacific,\\nbetween 1785 and 1789, is derived principally from the Narrative of the Voyage\\nof the Ship Queen Charlotte, by her captain, John Dixon, or rather by her super-\\ncargo, Beresford the Narrative of the Voyage of the Ship King George, by her\\ncaptain, Nathaniel Portlock the Narrative of the Voyages of Captain John Meares,\\nto which is prefixed a Dissertation on the Probability of a Northern Passage between\\nthe Atlantic and the Pacific, and the memorial and documents in proof, presented\\nby Captain Meares to the British parliament in May, 1790. Many notable diflierences\\nwill be shown to exist between the statements of Meares in his narrative and hia\\nmemorial.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0195.jp2"}, "196": {"fulltext": "166 VOYAGES OF PETERS, LOWRIE, AND MEARES. [1786.\\nChina, before the end of the year, furs worth more than twenty\\nthousand dollars, in return for the old clothes, iron, and trifles,\\nwhich he had carried out in the spring.\\nIn 1786, Hanna made another voyage to the coasts but he had\\nthen to compete with traders from Bengal and England, in conse-\\nquence of which his profits were much less than in the preceding\\nvoyage. In the same year, also, an attempt was made to establish\\na direct trade between Macao and Kamtchatka, to be carried on\\nunder the Portuguese flag. With this view. Captain Peters was\\nsent in the brig Lark to Petropawlowsk, where he made arrange-\\nments with Schelikof, the head of the American Trading Company,\\nto supply them regularly with European and Chinese goods, taking\\nfurs in return but the Lark was lost, with nearly all on board, on\\nCopper Island, one of the westernmost of the Aleutian Archipelago,\\nin her voyage back to China, and no attempt for the same purpose\\nwas afterwards made.\\nVoyages were, about the same time, made to the North Pacific,\\nin search of furs, by Captains Lowrie and Guise, in two small\\nvessels from Bombay, and by Captains Meares and Tipping, in two\\nothers from Calcutta, all under the flag of the East India Company.\\nLowrie and Guise went to Nootka Sound, and thence northward,\\nalong the coasts, to Prince William s Sound, from which they pro-\\nceeded to Macao. Meares and Tipping sailed to the Aleutian\\nIslands, and thence to Prince William s Sound, after leaving which\\nnothing was ever heard of Tipping or his vessel Meares spent the\\nwinter of 1786-7 in that sound, where more than half of his\\ncrew died from want or scurvy.\\nIn the above-mentioned voyages, nothing of importance was\\nlearned respecting the geography of North-west America. In order\\nto convey a clear idea of the extent and value of the discoveries\\neffected by the fur traders in the three years next ensuing, it should\\nbe premised that, in the beginning of that period, the coast of the\\nAmerican continent was supposed, according to the best accounts\\nand charts, to run in a regular, and almost unbroken, line north-\\nwestward, from Cape Mendocino, near the 40th degree of latitude,\\nto Mount St. Elias, near the 60th the innumerable islands which\\nare now known to extend in chains between the continent and the\\nopen Pacific Ocean, from the 48th degree to the 58th, being\\nregarded as the main land of North America, The western sides\\nof the most western of these islands had been examined, though\\nimperfectly, in their whole length, by the Spaniards, in 1774 and", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0196.jp2"}, "197": {"fulltext": "1787.^ MAQUINNA, KING OF NOOTKA. 167\\n1775: Cook had, in 1778, seen the portions about Nootka Sound\\nand Mount San Jacinto, or Edgecumb, leaving unexplored the inter-\\nmediate shores, which were represented as expressed on the charts\\nattached to his journal according to the accounts of the Spanish\\nnavigators and those coasts had also been seen by La Perouse,\\nwho seems to have been the first to suspect their separation from\\nthe continent, though he took no measures to ascertain the fact, by\\npenetrating any of the numerous openings which he observed when\\npassing them in 1786. The coasts south of Nootka Sound, to\\nCape Mendocino, were not visited by the people of any civilized\\nnation between the period of Cook s voyage and 1787 and the\\nbest charts of them were those of the Spaniards, founded on the\\nobservations of Heceta and Bodega. The parts respecting which\\nthe most accurate information had been obtained were those west-\\nward from Mount St. Ehas, to the Aleutian Islands that division\\nof the coast was, indeed, so thoroughly examined by Cook, in 1778,\\nthat very little was left for subsequent navigators, except to verify\\nhis statements and conclusions.\\nThe principal places of resort for the fur traders on the American\\ncoasts were, Nootka or King George s Sound, Norfolk Sound, the\\nPort Guadelupe of the Spaniards, near their Mount San Jacinto,\\nPrince William s Sound, and Cook s River. The two last-mentioned\\nplaces, having been, in 1788, occupied by the Russians, under\\nSchelikof, were seldom visited afterwards by the vessels of other\\nnations and, as the country about Nootka was well supplied with\\nwood fit for ship-building, and had a more agreeable climate than\\ncould be found farther north, it was generally selected as the point\\nof destination, rendezvous, and departure, by the traders. The\\npeople there, as already mentioned, exhibited, at first, great oppo-\\nsition to the foreigners but they soon acquired a taste for knives,\\nblankets, and .other such articles of luxury or use, to gratify which\\nthey were ready not only to traffic, but even to engage in labor with\\nsome show of assiduity. Their king was named Maquinna: his\\nrelations, Wicanish and Tatoochseatticus, ruled over the tribes\\nfarther south-westward, inhabiting the shores of two large bays,\\ncalled Chjoquot and Nittinat. Maquinna, whose name will fre-\\nquently appear in the following pages, possessed in a high degree\\nthe cunning, ferocity, and vindictiveness, characteristic of his race\\nfor, though he occasionally exhibited evidences of better qualities,\\nyet, like the other chiefs, he seldom lost an opportunity for the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0197.jp2"}, "198": {"fulltext": "168 TAMAHAMAHA, KING OF OWYHEE. [1787.\\ncommission of an act of blood or perfidy, in gratification of his\\ndesires for revenge or profit.\\nThe importance of the Sandwich Islands to the commerce of the\\nwhole North Pacific was also soon made apparent and they\\nbecame, in a few years, the favorite places of refreshment of all\\nvessels navigating between Cape Horn and the north-west coasts\\nof America, and between those coasts and China. Their soil is\\nfertile, their climate delightful, and their productions are precisely\\nthose most useful to vessels engaged in long voyages. Their\\ninhabitants, though naturally indolent, false, and treacherous, are\\nnot positively ferocious and they are endowed with much cunning\\nand mechanical aptitude, which led them quickly to perceive the\\nimmediate benefits to be derived from an intercourse with strangers,\\nand to submit to restraints, in order to secure such advantages. At\\nthe time of their discovery, the islands were governed by separate\\nchiefs in the course of the ensuing fifteen years, however, they all\\nfell under the authority of one man, Mahe-Mahe, or Tamahamaha,\\nwho, by the possession of extraordinary acuteness and sagacity,\\ncombined with courage and steadiness of purpose, overcame all\\nhis rivals, and kept up something like a regular government until\\nhis death. The most formidable opponent of Tamahamaha was\\nTianna, a resolute and ferocious chief, who accompanied Meares to\\nCanton in 1787, and there acquired many new ideas, which gave\\nhim, for some time, considerable advantages but he was, in the\\nend, defeated and slain by his rival.\\nThe first discoveries, worthy of note, made on the north-west\\ncoasts of America, after Cook s voyage, were those of Captains\\nPortlock and Dixon, who were sent from London, in 1785, in com-\\nmand of the ships King George and Queen Charlotte, by a\\nmercantile association, styled the King George s Sound Company.\\nThe object of this association was to monopolize the direct trade\\nbetween the North Pacific coasts and China, with which view its\\noperations were to be conducted in the following manner Under\\nthe protection of licenses, granted by the South Sea Company, its\\nvessels were to proceed, by way of Cape Horn, to the north-west\\ncoasts of America, laden with goods, which were there to be bar-\\ntered for furs the furs were to be carried to Canton, and there\\nsold by the agents of the East India Company, agreeably to a con-\\ntract with that body and the produce of their sale was to be\\nvested in teas, and other Chinese commodities, which were to be", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0198.jp2"}, "199": {"fulltext": "1787.] VOYAGES OF PORTLOCK AND DIXON. 169\\nbrought by the ships, around the Cape of Good Hope, to England.\\nPortlock and Dixon were both intelHgent men, well acquainted with\\nthe theory and practice of navigation, and their ships were well\\nprovided with instruments for ascertaining geographical positions\\nthe narratives published by them, after their return to England,\\nthough tedious to the general reader, from the minuteness of the\\ndetails of trifling or personal matters, and not always strictly true,\\nare, nevertheless, valuable, as showing the history of the fur trade\\nin the North Pacific, and of the discovery of the American coasts\\nof that ocean, between the time of Cook s expedition and the year\\n1788.\\nPortlock and Dixon left England together in August, 1785, and,\\npassing around Cape Horn, and through the group of the Sandwich\\nIslands, they reached Cook s River in July, 1786. There they met\\nsome Russians, though no establishment had been then formed by\\nthat nation east of the Island of Kodiak and, after a short stay,\\nthey proceeded to Nootka Sound, where they expected to spend\\nthe winter. They were, however, unable to enter that bay, or any\\nother place on the American coast, in consequence of the violence\\nof the winds, and were obliged to return to the Sandwich Islands,\\nwhere they remained, very uncomfortably, until the spring of 1787\\nthey then again went to the coasts about Cook s River and Prince\\nWilliam s Sound, in the latter of which places they found Captain\\nMeares, with his vessel frozen up, more than half of his crew dead,\\nand the remainder suffering dreadfully from scurvy, as already men-\\ntioned. The manner in which Meares was treated by his country-\\nmen on this occasion, lias been represented by him, in the narrative\\nof his voyages, in a manner very different from that in which it\\nappears on the pages of Portlock and Dixon the latter asserting\\nthat they rendered him every assistance in their power, while he,\\non the other hand, declares that their conduct towards him was\\nselfish and inhuman in the extreme.\\nAt Prince William s Sound Dixon left Portlock, and proceeded\\nalong the coast, eastward, to the inlet on the south side of Mount\\nSan Jacinto, or Edgecumb, called Port Remedios by Bodega, but to\\nwhich he thought proper to give the name of Norfolk Soujid. He\\nhad, indeed, heard that the Spaniards anchored very near this\\nplace in 1775 but this account, he was afraid, was not absolutely\\nto be depended on, although Maurelle s journal, containing accu-\\nrate descriptions of that part of the coast, had been published in\\nEnglish, at London, in 1781. In like manner, Dixon claimed the\\n22", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0199.jp2"}, "200": {"fulltext": "170 VOYAGES OF DUNCAN AND COLNETT. [1787.\\ndiscovery of the land farther south, between the 54th and the 52d\\ndegrees of latitude, on the ground that it had not been seen by\\nCook, though it is specially marked on the chart of that navigator,\\nas found by the Spaniards in 1775 and, having become convinced,\\nfrom the reports of the natives, that this land was separated from\\nthe American continent by water, he bestowed on it the name of\\nQ^ueen Charlotte s Island, and on the passage immediately north of\\nit, that of Dixori s Entrance. From this part of the coast Dixon\\nproceeded to Nootka, and thence, by the Sandwich Islands, to\\nCanton, where he rejoined Portlock, who had passed the whole of\\nthe trading season on the coast, between Prince William s Sound\\nand Mount St. Elias.\\nIn China, Portlock and Dixon found the price of furs much\\nreduced, from the great quantities of those articles which had\\nentered the country during the season so great, indeed, was the\\nfall in their value, that, according to La Perouse, they were higher\\nat Petropawlowsk than at Canton during the whole of 1787. From\\nthis circumstance, and also from the alleged unfairness of the East\\nIndia Company s agents towards them, in the sale of their cargoes,\\nthe profits of the voyage of the King George and the Q,ueen\\nCharlotte, from the teas and silks which they carried to England,\\nwere not sufficient to cover the expenses of their expedition.\\nBefore Portlock and Dixon quitted the north-west coasts of\\nAmerica, in 1787, they met two other vessels, the Princess Royal,\\ncommanded by Captain Duncan, and the Prince of Wales, under\\nCaptain Colnett, which had been also sent, by the King George s\\nSound Company, to prosecute the fur trade in the North Pacific.\\nDuncan, in the following year, ascertained the separation of Queen\\nCharlotte s Island from the main land, which had been assumed by\\nDixon, and, before him, by La Perouse he also explored the sea\\nbetween that island and the continent, in which he discovered a\\ngroup of small islands, named by him the Princess Royal s Archi-\\npelago and thence he ran down the coast, by Nootka Sound and\\nCape Flattery, to the 47th degree of latitude, from which he took\\nhis departure for the Sandwich Islands and China.\\nThe discovery of these islands, and of numerous openings in the\\ncoast, which appeared to be the mouths of channels, from that part\\nof the Pacific, extending far eastward into the land, led to the\\nsuspicion that the whole north-western division of America might be\\na vast collection of islands and the old story of Admiral Fonte s\\nvoyage began to gain credit. The islands and reputed islands in", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0200.jp2"}, "201": {"fulltext": "1787.] REDISCOVERY OF THE STRAIT OF FUCA. 171\\nquestion were supposed to be the Archipelago of St. Lazarus,\\nthrough which the admiral was said to have sailed two hundred and\\nsixty leagues before reaching the continent and the commanders\\nof exploring vessels, sent from Europe and America to the North\\nPacific; for some years after, were generally directed to seek, near\\nthe 53d parallel, for the mouth of the river which he was reported\\nto have ascended, into a lake communicating with the Atlantic.\\nThe name of the old Greek pilot, Juan de Fuca, was also, about\\nthe same time, rescued from oblivion, by the discovery, or redis-\\ncovery, of a broad arm of the sea, stretching eastwardly from\\nthe Pacific, almost exactly in the position of the southern entrance\\nof the strait, through which he declared that he had sailed from\\nthe Pacific to the Atlantic in 1592. This discovery was effected in\\n1787 by Captain Berkeley, an Englishman commanding a ship called\\nthe Imperial Eagle, which had sailed from Ostend in the preceding\\nyear, under the flag of the Austrian East India Company. The\\npassage thus found was situated immediately north of Cape Flattery,\\nto the coast south of which point Cook had confined his search for\\nit in 1778 and it opened to the ocean between the 48th and 49th\\nparallels, instead of between the 47th and 48th, as stated in the\\naccount of the voyage of Fuca. Berkeley did not attempt to ex-\\nplore the passage, but, sailing along the coast south of Cape Flattery,\\nwhich had not been seen by the people of any civilized nation since\\nCook s voyage, he sent a boat ashore with some men, who were\\nmurdered by the savages, in the same manner, and almost at the\\nsame spot, where the Spaniards of Bodega s crew were massacred\\nin 1775. In commemoration of this melancholy event, the name\\nof Destruction Island was given to the small point of land near the\\ncontinent, in the latitude of 47 degrees 35 minutes, which had,\\nfor the like reason, been called by the Spaniards Isla de Dolores.\\nBerkeley, on his arrival at Canton, in November following, commu-\\nnicated the account of his rediscovery of the Strait of Fuca to\\nMeares, as expressly stated by the latter, in the Dissertation prefixed\\nto the narrative of his voyages in the Pacific, pubhshed in 1790\\nthough, in the narrative itself, Meares unequivocally claims as his\\nown the whole merit of finding the passage.\\nAt the time when Berkeley made this communication, Meares\\nwas engaged in preparations for a trading expedition to the north-\\nwest coasts of America, of which a particular notice will be here\\npresented as the circumstances connected with it led to the first", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0201.jp2"}, "202": {"fulltext": "172 SECOND VOYAGE OF MEARES. [1788\\ndispute, and the first treaty, between civilized nations, relative to\\nthat part of the world.\\nFor the expedition in question, two vessels were fitted out at the\\nPortuguese port of Macao, near Canton, in China, from which, as\\nalready mentioned, several voyages had been previously made to\\nthe north-west coasts of America, in search of furs. They were\\nboth placed under the direction of John Meares, a lieutenant in the\\nBritish navy, on half pay, who sailed in the ship Felice as super-\\ncargo the other vessel, the brig Iphigenia, also carried a British\\nsubject, William Douglas, in the same capacity both vessels were,\\nhowever, commanded, ostensibly at least, by Portuguese captains\\nthey were both furnished with passports, and other papers, in the\\nPortuguese language, granted by the Portuguese authorities of\\nMacao, and showing them to be the property of Juan Cavallo, a\\nPortuguese merchant of that place the instructions for the conduct\\nof the voyage were written only in the Portuguese language,* and\\ncontained nothing whatsoever calculated to afford the slightest\\ngrounds for suspicion that other than Portuguese subjects were\\ninterested in the enterprise finally, the vessels sailed from Macao\\non the 1st of January, 1788, under the Portuguese flag, and there\\nis no sufficient proof that any other was displayed by them during\\nthe expedition.\\nNotwithstanding these evidences of ownership and national char-\\nacter, which appear to be complete and unequivocal, Mr. Meares,\\nin the Memorial f addressed by him to the British government, in\\nMay, 1790, asserts that the Felice and Iphigenia, as well as their\\ncargoes, were actually and bona fide British property, employed in\\nthe service of British subjects only that Cavallo had no concern\\nnor interest in them, his name being merely used, with his consent,\\nfor the purpose of obtaining from the governor of Macao, who\\nSee the Journal of Douglas, the captain or supercargo of the Iphigenia, attached\\nto the Memorial of Meares, and the quotation from it in the ensuing chapter, at\\npage 192.\\nt The London Annual Register for 1790 contains what purports to be the Substance\\nof the Memorial of Lieutenant Meares, C., drawn up by Meares himself, or some one\\nin his interests. In this Substance, the word Portuguese does not occur, nor is any\\nthing mentioned relative to the apparent character of the vessels, which are, on the\\ncontrary, directly asserted to have been British in all respects, and navigated under\\nthe British flag. Meares s explanations, in his Memorial, relative to the arrangements\\nwith Cavallo, are all omitted, the following short paragraph being inserted in their\\nplace: Here Mr. Meares, by way of illustration, introduces a transaction no\\notherwise connected with his narrative, but as it proves the merchandise, c., of\\nwhich the British ships were plundered, to have been British property. Such\\nare the materials from v/hich histories are generally composed.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0202.jp2"}, "203": {"fulltext": "1788.] INSTRUCTIONS TO MEARES. 173\\nconnived at the whole deception, permission to navigate under the Por-\\ntuguese flag, and thereby to evade the excessive port charges demand-\\ned, by the Chinese authorities, from vessels of all other European\\nnations and that Messrs. Meares and Douglas were really the\\ncommanders of the vessels in which they respectively sailed, instead\\nof the Portuguese subjects, who figure as such in all the papers.\\nSome of these assertions may have been true yet the documents\\nannexed to the Memorial conclusively prove that all these deceptive\\nappearances were kept up at Nootka Sound, where there were no\\nChinese authorities though, in the narrative of the voyage, pub-\\nlished by Mr. Meares, with the Memorial and documents, no hint\\nis given that either of the vessels were, or ever seemed to be, other\\nthan British.\\nThe instructions, of which an English copy or version dated\\nChina, December ^ith, 1181, and signed The Merchant Proprietors\\nis appended to the Memorial, contain general directions for the\\nconduct of the voyage, but 7io allusion whatsoever to the acquisition\\nof lands, the erection of buildings, or the formation of settlements or\\nestablishments of any kind, in America or elsewhere. The Felice\\nwas to go to Nootka Sound, from which she was to make trips\\nnorthward and southward, for the purposes of trade and explora-\\ntion the Iphigenia was to sail first to Cook s River, and thence to\\ntrade along the coasts, southward, to Nootka, where she was ex-\\npected to arrive in September all the furs collected were then to\\nbe placed in one of the vessels, and brought to Macao, the other\\nvessel remaining, until the spring, either on the American coast or\\nat the Sandwich Islands. These instructions conclude with the\\nfollowing remarkable order to the commanders of the vessels\\nShould you, in the course of your voyage, meet with any Russian,\\nEnglish, or Spanish vessels, you will treat them with civility and\\nfriendship, and allow them, if authorized, to examine your papers\\nbut you must, at the same time, guard against surprise. Should\\nthey attempt to seize you, or even to carry you out of your way,\\nyou will prevent it by every means in your power, and repel force\\nby force. You will, on your arrival in the first port, protest, before\\na proper officer, against such illegal procedure, and ascertain, as\\nnearly as you can, the value of your vessel and cargo, sending your\\nprotest, with a full account of the transaction, to us at China.\\nShould you, in such a conflict, have the superiority, you will take\\npossession of the vessel that attacked you, and bring both, with the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0203.jp2"}, "204": {"fulltext": "174 MEARES ArailVES AT NOOTKA. [1788.\\nofficers and crew, to China, tliat they may be condemned as legal\\nprizes, and the crews punished as pirates.\\nTlie latter part of these instructions, independently of numerous\\nother circumstances connected with the expedition, is sufficient,\\nalone, to show that the owners of the Felice and Iphigenia meant\\nto represent them as Portuguese vessels. As British vessels, they\\ncould not legally navigate the North Pacific Ocean, being unpro-\\nvided with licenses or authority from the South Sea or the East\\nIndia Company if found so doing, they would be subject to\\nseizure, and their officers and crew to punishment and it was,\\ndoubtless, in order to evade such penalties, to which they might\\nhave been subjected by coming in contact with the vessels of the\\nKing George s Sound Company, that their commanders were\\ndirected to take, and bring to a Portuguese port, for trial before\\nPortuguese courts, any English vessels which should attempt to\\narrest them in their voyages.\\nFrom Macao the Iphigenia went to Cook s River, at which place,\\nand others farther south-east, she passed the summer in trading.\\nThe Felice sailed direct to Nootka Sound, where her crew imme-\\ndiately began the construction of a small vessel, on the shore of\\nFriendly Cove, near which was situated the village of Maquinna,\\nthe king of the surrounding country. Meares, being desirous, whilst\\nthis work was in progress, to take a voyage along the coast to the\\nsouth, made arrangements with Maquinna, who, as related in the\\nnarrative of the expedition, most readily consented to grant us a\\nspot of ground in his territory, whereon an house might be built,\\nfor the accommodation of the people we intended to leave behind,\\nand also promised us his assistance and protection for the party who\\nwere destined to remain at Nootka during our absence. In return\\nfor this kindness, and to insure the continuance of it, the chief was\\npresented with a pair of pistols, which he had regarded with an eye\\nof solicitation ever since our arrival. Upon this spot a house, suf-\\nficiently capacious to contain all the party intended to be left at\\nthe sound, was erected a strong breastwork was thrown up around\\nit, enclosing a considerable area of ground, which, with one piece\\nof cannon, placed in such a manner as to command the cove and\\nvillage of Nootka, formed a fortification sufficient to secure the\\nparty from any intrusion.\\nThat this spot of ground was granted by Maquinna, and was to\\nbe occupied by Meares, only for temporary purposes, is clear from", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0204.jp2"}, "205": {"fulltext": "1788.] MEARES AT THE STRAIT OF FUCA. 175\\nthe above statement and Meares nowhere in his narrative pretends\\nthat he acquired permanent possession of it, or of any other land in\\nAmerica. On the contrary, he expressly says that, as a bribe to\\nsecure Maquinna s attachment, he was promised that, when we\\nfinally left the coast, he should enter into full possession of the\\nhouse, and all the goods thereunto belonging. In the Memorial\\naddressed to his government, however, Meares declares that, im-\\nmediately on his arrival at Nootka Sound, he purchased from\\nMaquinna, the chief of the district surrounding that place, a spot\\nof ground, whereon he built an house, for his occasional residence,\\nas well as for the more convenient pursuit of his trade among the\\nnatives, and hoisted British colors thereon. Of this asserted\\npurchase of land and erection of buildings at Nootka, no evidence\\nor mention whatsoever is to be found among the documents sub-\\nmitted with the Memorial to the British ministry, except in the\\ndeposition of William Graham, of Grub Street, a seaman of the\\nFelice, taT :en in London after the date of the Memorial.\\nHaving completed these arrangements, Meares sailed from Nootka\\nin the Felice, leaving a part of his crew employed in building the\\nsmall vessel, and proceeded to the entrance of the passage supposed\\nto be the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which, as he expressly states in\\nthe Dissertation prefixed to his narrative, had been discovered in\\nthe preceding year by Berkeley. The following extract from his\\nnarrative will serve still further to show what value is to be placed\\non his testimony in matters in which his own reputation or interests\\nare involved\\nJu7ie 29th. At noon the latitude was 48 degrees 39 minutes\\nnorth, at which time we had a complete view of an inlet, whose\\nentrance appeared very extensive, bearing east-south-east, distant\\nabout six leagues. We endeavored to keep up with the shore as\\nmuch as possible, in order to have a perfect view of the land. This\\nwas an object of particular anxiety, as the part of the coast along\\nwhich we were now sailing had not been seen by Captain CooJc, and\\nwe Icnew no other navigator, said to have been this way, except\\nMaurelle and his chart, which we now had on board, convinced\\nus that he had either never seen this part of the coast, or that he\\nhad purposely misrepresented it. By three o clock in the afternoon,\\nwe arrived at the entrance of the great inlet, which appeared to be\\ntwelve or fourteen leagues broad. From the mast head, it was\\nobserved to stretch to the east by the north, and a clear and\\nunbounded horizon was seen, in this direction, as far as the eye", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0205.jp2"}, "206": {"fulltext": "176 MEARES SEEKS FOR THE GREAT RIVER. [1788.\\ncould reach. The strongest curiosity impelled us to enter this\\nstrait, which we shall call by the name of its original discoverer,\\nJohn de Fuca.\\nTo examine the passage, of which he thus claims the discovery,\\nafter having distinctly assigned the merit of it to another, Meares\\nsent his mate, Duffin, with a party of men, in a boat. In a few\\ndays the boat returned, with several of her crew disabled by\\nwounds received in a conflict with the natives on the northern\\nshore. She had sailed, writes Meares, near thirty leagues up\\nthe strait and, at that distance from the sea, it was fifteen leagues\\nbroad, with a clear horizon stretching to the east for fifteen leagues\\nmore. Yet, from Duffin s journal, which is given entire in Mr.\\nMeares s work, it seems that the boat did not advance ten miles\\nwithin the strait and we now know that the width of the passage\\nnowhere, within thirty leagues of its mouth, exceeds five leagues.\\nFrom the entrance of this passage, which has ever since been\\ndistinguished by the name of Strait of Fuca, Meares sailed along\\nthe shore of the continent, towards the south. His object was to\\nexamine the opening in the coast, laid down on Spanish charts in\\nhis possession, near the 46th degree of latitude, under the name\\nRio de San Roque, or River of Saint Roc, which had been first\\nobserved by Heceta, on the 16th of August, 1775, as mentioned in\\nthe account of that voyage.* Proceeding in this course, he, on the\\n5th of July, remarked a headland, in the latitude of 46 degrees\\n47 minutes, which he named Cope Shoalwater on the following\\nday, he writes in his journal,\\nAt half past ten, being within three leagues of Cape Shoalwater,\\nwe had a perfect view of it and, with the glasses, we traced the\\nline of coast to the southward, which presented no opening that\\npromised any thing like an harbor. An high, bluff promontory\\nbore off us south-east, at the distance of only four leagues, for\\nwhich we steered to double, with the hope that between it and\\nCape Shoalwater we should find some sort of harbor. We now\\ndiscovered distant land beyond this promontory, and we pleased\\nourselves with the expectation of its being Cape St. Roc of the\\nSpaniards, near which they are said to have found a good port.\\nBy half past eleven, we doubled this cape, at the distance of three\\nmiles, having a clear and perfect view of the shore in every part,\\non which we did not discern a living creature, or the least trace of\\nhabitable life. A prodigious easterly swell rolled on the shore, and\\nPa?e 120.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0206.jp2"}, "207": {"fulltext": "1788.] MEARES DOES NOT FIND THE GREAT RIVER. 177\\nthe soundings gradually decreased from forty to sixteen fathoms, over\\na hard, sandy bottom. After we had rounded the promontory, a\\nlarge bay, as we had imagined, opened to our view, that bore a very\\npromising appearance, and into which we steered with every en-\\ncouraging expectation. The high land that formed the boundaries\\nof the bay was at a great distance, and a flat, level country occu-\\npied the intervening space the bay itself took rather a westerly\\ndirection. As we steered in, the water shoaled to nine, eight, and\\nseven fathoms, when breakers were seen from the deck, right\\nahead, and, from the mast head, they were observed to extend\\nacross the bay we therefore hauled out, and directed our course to\\nthe opposite shore, to see if there was any channel, or if we could\\ndiscover any port. The name of Cape Disappointment was given\\nto the promontory, and the bay obtained the title of Deception Bay.\\nBy an indifferent meridian observation, it lies in the latitude of 46\\ndegrees 10 minutes north, and in the computed longitude of 235\\ndegrees 34 minutes east.\\nWe can now with safety assert that there is no such river as that\\nof St. Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts. To those of\\nMaurellc we made continual reference, but without deriving any\\ninformation or assistance from them. We now reached the opposite\\nside of the bay, where disappointment continued to accompany us\\nand, being almost certain that there we should obtain no place of\\nshelter for the ship, we bore up for a distant headland, keeping our\\ncourse within two miles of the shore. This distant headland, in\\nthe latitude of 45 degrees 37 minutes, named by Meares Cape\\nLookout, and probably the same called by the Spaniards Cope\\nFalcon, was the southernmost point seen by him thence he re-\\nturned to the Strait of Fuca, without again observing the land,\\nhaving, as he conceived, traced every part of the coast, which\\nunfavorable weather had prevented Captain Cook from approaching.\\nThe language of Mr. Meares in the preceding extracts, though\\nsomewhat ungrammatical, is yet clear and explicit. He records\\nwith satisfaction his conviction, founded on his own observations,\\nthat no such river as that of St. Roc exists, as laid doivn in the\\nSpanish charts in token of which conviction, he assigns the\\nnames of Deception Bay and Cape Disappointment to the places on\\nthe American coast, near the latitude of 46 degrees 10 minutes,\\nwhere the mouth of the river should have been found, according to\\nthe Spanish charts. Yet, strange though it may appear, the com-\\nmissioners, appointed by the British government, in 1826, to treat\\n23", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0207.jp2"}, "208": {"fulltext": "178 MEARES RETURNS TO CHINA. [1788.\\nwith the plenipotentiary of the United States at London, on the\\nsubject of the claims of the respective parties to territories on the\\nnorth-west side of America, insisted that Meares, on this occasion,\\ndiscovered the great River Columbia, which actually enters the\\nPacific at Deception Bay, and cited, in proof of their assertion, the\\nvery parts of his narrative above extracted.*\\nOn his way back to Nootka, Meares visited the two large bays,\\ncalled by the natives Clyoquot and Nittinat, and by himself Port\\nCox and Port EJingham, situated a little north-west of the entrance\\nof Fuca s Strait, where, he declares in his Memorial to Parliament,\\nhe obtained from Wicanish, the chief of the surrounding districts,\\nin consequence of considerable presents, the promise of a free and\\nexclusive trade with the natives of the district, as also permission\\nto build any storehouses or other edifices which he might judge\\nnecessary and he also acquired the same privileges of exclu-\\nsive trade from Tatooche, the chief of the country bordering upon\\nthe Strait of Fuca, and purchased from him a tract of land within\\nthe said strait, which one of his officers took possession of, in the\\nking s name, calling the same Tatooche, in honor of the chief.\\nThese purchases and cessions of territory are not, however, in any\\nmanner noticed, either in the documents annexed to the Memorial,\\nor in the narrative of the voyage, which is most tediously minute\\nas to the circumstances of Mr. Meares s interviews with those chiefs.\\nAt the end of July, Meares returned to Nootka Sound, where\\nthe Iphigenia soon after arrived from the northern coasts, laden with\\nfurs. The small vessel, which had been begun at Friendly Cove,\\nwas then launched, and received the name of the North-West\\nAmerica and Meares, considering the season as not too far ad-\\nvanced for a voyage across the Pacific, transferred to the Felice\\nall the furs which had been collected, and sailed in her, on the\\n28th of September, for China, leaving directions that the Iphigenia\\nand the North-West America should proceed to the Sandwich\\nIslands for the winter, and return in the following spring to Nootka,\\nwhere he would rejoin them.\\nBefore the departure of Meares from Nootka, two other vessels\\nentered the sound, whose voyages merit particular attention.\\nImmediately after the recognition of the independence of the\\nUnited States of America, the citizens of that republic resumed the\\nSee British statement, among the Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part of\\nthis volume, letter H.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0208.jp2"}, "209": {"fulltext": "1787.] AMERICANS ENGAGE IN TRADE IN THE PACIFIC. .179\\nwhale and seal fishery around Cape Horn, which they had carried\\non before the revolution, and also engaged in the direct trade with\\nIndia and China. In the latter countries, however, they labored\\nunder great disadvantages, from the inferiority in value of the\\narticles carried thither to those brought back by them, in conse-\\nquence of which they were obliged to take out large quantities of\\nspecie, in order to obtain full homeward cargoes. With the view\\nof obviating this inequality, some merchants of Boston, in 1787,\\nformed an association for the purpose of combining the fur trade\\nof the North Pacific with the China trade, as attempted by the\\nKing George s Sound Company of London and in such an enter-\\nprise they certainly had reason to anticipate success, as, with\\nindustry and nautical skill unsurpassed by any other nation, the\\nAmericans were free from the restrictions imposed on British\\nsubjects by the charters of the South Sea and East India Com-\\npanies.*\\nIn prosecution of this scheme, the ship Columbia, of two hundred\\nand twenty tons, and the sloop Washington, of ninety tons, were\\nfitted out at Boston in the summer of 1787, and laden with blan-\\nkets, knives, iron bars, copper pans, and other articles proper for the\\ntrade with the Indians on the north-west coasts. The Columbia\\nwas commanded by John Kendrick, to whom was intrusted the\\nThe first American citizens who engaged in the whaling and sealing business\\naround Cape Horn, after the peace of 1783, were the Nantucket men, as will be here-\\nafter more particularly stated.\\nThe first American vessel which entered the port of Canton was the ship Empress\\nof China, from New York, commanded by Daniel Parker, with Samuel Shaw as\\nsupercargo she arrived in China in the latter part of the summer of 1784, and\\nreturned to New York in May of the following year. Mr. Shaw was appointed\\nconsul of the United States at Canton in January, 1796; and, on the 31st of Decem-\\nber of the same year, he addressed to his government, from Canton, an interesting\\nmemoir on the state of commerce at that place, which still remains, with many other\\ncommunications from him, unpublished, in the archives of the Department of State at\\nWashington. In 1787, not less than five American vessels were employed in the\\ntrade with China; among them were the Canton, under Captain Thomas Truxton,\\nwho afterwards distinguished himself in the naval service of his country, and the old\\nfrigate AlUanre, so celebrated during the war of the revolution, which had been sold\\nby order of Congress, and fitted out as a trading vessel, under the command of John\\nReed. The Alliance entered Canton on the 29th of December, 1787; and her arrival\\nat that season caused much astonishment, as it had been previously considered impos-\\nsible for a vessel to sail from the Cape of Good Hope to China between October and\\nApril, on account of the violence of the winds, blowing constantly, during that\\nperiod, from the north-east. Reed, however, had steered eastward from the Cape of\\nGood Hope, to the southern extremity of Van Dieraan s Land, around the east coasts\\nof which island, and of New Holland, he sailed into the China Seij.; and the course\\nthus pointed out by him has been since often taken, especially by American vessels.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0209.jp2"}, "210": {"fulltext": "180\\nVOYAGES OF THE COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON.\\n[1788.\\ndirection of the expedition and her mate was Joseph Ingraham,\\nwhose name will often appear in the following pages. The\\nmaster of the Washington was Robert Gray. They were provided\\nwith sea letters issued by the federal government, agreeably to a\\nresolution of Congress, and with passports from the state of Massa-\\nchusetts and they received letters from the Spanish minister\\nplenipotentiary in the United States, recommending them to the\\nattention of the authorities of his nation on the Pacific coasts.\\nThey, moreover, carried out, for distribution at such places as they\\nmight visit, a number of small copper coins, then recently issued\\nby the state of Massachusetts,* and likewise medals of copper,\\nstruck expressly for the purpose, of one of which a representation is\\nhere given.\\nThe two vessels sailed together from Boston on the 30th of\\nSeptember, 1787 thence they proceeded to the Cape Verd Islands,\\nand thence to the Falkland Islands, in each of which places they\\nprocured refreshments and, in January, 1788, they doubled Cape\\nHorn, immediately after which they were separated during a violent\\ngale. The Washington, continuing her course through the Pacific,\\nmade the north-west coast in August, 1788, near the 46th degree\\nof latitude, where she was in danger of destruction, having grounded\\nwhile attempting to enter an opening, which was, most probably,\\nthe mouth of the great river afterwards named by Gray the\\nColumbia. She was also attacked there by the savages, who killed\\none of her men, and wounded the mate but she escaped without\\nfurther injury, and, on the 17th of September, reached Nootka\\nAlexander Mackenzie, in July, 1793, found, in the possession of a native of the\\ncountry east of the Strait of Fuca, a halfpenny of the state of Massachusetts Bay,\\ncoined in 1787, which was doubtless one of those taken out by Kendrick and\\nGray.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0210.jp2"}, "211": {"fulltext": "1788.] VOYAGES OF THE COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON. 181\\nSound, where the Felice and Iphigenia were lying, as already\\nmentioned.* The Columbia did not enter the sound until some\\ndays afterwards. She had been seriously injured in the storm\\nwhich separated her from her consort and Kendrick was obliged,\\nin consequence, to put into the harbor of the Island of Juan Fer-\\nnandez, where he was received with great kindness, and aided\\nin refitting his vessel, by Don Bias Gonzales, the commandant of\\nthe Spanish garrison. The repairs having been completed, the\\nColumbia continued her voyage, and arrived at Nootka, which\\nhad been selected as the place of rendezvous, without further\\naccident, in October.\\nSoon after the arrival of the Columbia at Nootka, the Iphigenia\\nand North- West America took their departure for the Sandwich\\nIslands, where they remained until the spring of 1789. The two\\nAmerican vessels spent the winter in the sound, where the Columbia\\nalso lay during the whole of the following summer, whilst the\\nimportant events related in the next chapter were in progress.\\nMeares, in his narrative, gives the following account of the arrival of the\\nWashington at Nootka Sound\\nSeptember 17th, 1788. A sail was seen in the offing. The long-boat was imme-\\ndiately sent to her assistance, which, instead of the British vessel we expected,\\nconveyed into the sound a sloop named the Washington, from Boston, in New\\nEngland, of about one hundred tons burthen. Mr. Gray, the master, informed us\\nthat he had sailed, in company with his consort, the Columbia, a ship of tiiree hundred\\ntons, in the month of August, 1787, being equipped, under the patronage of Congress,\\nto examine the coast of America, and to open a fur trade between New Eno-land and\\nthis part of the American continent, in order to provide funds for their China ships,\\nto enable them to return home teas and China goods. The vessels were separated in\\na heavy gale of wind, in the latitude of 59 south, and had not seen each other since\\nthe period of their separation but, as King George s Sound was the place of ren-\\ndezvous appointed for them, the Columbia, if she was safe, was every day expected\\nto join her consort at Nootka. Mr. Gray informed me that he had put into an harbor\\non the coast of New Albion, where he got on shore, and was in danger of being lost\\non the bar he was also attacked by the natives, had one man killed, and one of his\\nofficers wounded, and thought himself fortunate in having been able to make his\\nescape. This harbor could only admit vessels of small size, and must lie somewhere\\nnear the cape to which we had given the name of Cape Lookout.\\nTliat this harbor was the mouth of the great river since called the Columbia, is most\\nprobable from its situation, and because there is no evidence or reason to suppose that\\nGray visited that part of the coast on any other occasion prior to his meeting with\\nVancouver, on the 29th of April, 1792, as will be related in the eleventh chapter.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0211.jp2"}, "212": {"fulltext": "182\\nCHAPTER VIII.\\n1788 AND 1789.\\nUneasiness of the Spanish Government at the Proceedings of the Fur Traders in the\\nNorth Pacific Voyage of Observation by Martinez and Haro to the Russian\\nAmerican Settlements Remonstrances of the Court of Madrid to that of St.\\nPetersburg, against the alleged Encroachments of the latter Power Martinez\\nand Haro sent by the Viceroy of Mexico to take Possession of Nootka Sound\\nSeizure of British and other Vessels at Nootka by Martinez Captain Gray, in\\nthe Washington, explores the East Coast of Queen Charlotte s Island, and en-\\nters the Strait of Fuca Return of the Columbia to the United States.\\nHaving, in the preceding chapter, presented a sketch of the geo-\\ngraphical discoveries effected on the north-west coasts of America,\\nin the interval between the time of Cook s last voyage and the year\\n1790, we now proceed to relate the important events of a political\\nnature, which occurred on those coasts during the latter part of the\\nsame period. .These events have been variously represented or\\nrather misrepresented by the historians to whom reference is usu-\\nally made for information respecting them and ample proofs will\\nbe here offered, that the most essential circumstances have been ex-\\nhibited in false forms, and under false colors, either designedly, or\\nfrom indifference and want of research on the part of the authors.\\nThe movements of the fur traders in the North Pacific were,\\nfrom the beginning, regarded with dissatisfaction and mistrust by the\\ncourt of Madrid. It was at first proposed to counteract them by\\nmonopolizing that branch of commerce for which object an agent\\nwas despatched to California, in 1786, with orders to collect all the\\nNamely, the histories of England, by Bissett, Miller, Belsham, (in which latter\\nthe accounts are more fair and more nearly correct than in any other,) Hughes, Wade,\\nand the Pictorial History of England Schoell s Histoire des Traites de Paix Bren-\\nton s Naval History of Great Britain, last edition Introduction to the Journal of\\nGaliano and Valdcs History of Maritime and Inland Discovery, by T. D. Cooley\\nGifFord s Life of William Pitt, c. In the most recent ot these works, namely, the\\nPictorial History of England, the account is farthest from the truth; the author has\\nevidently not consulted any original evidence on the subject, except, possibly, the\\nMemorial of Meares, or the abstract of that paper in the Annual Register.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0212.jp2"}, "213": {"fulltext": "17S6.J APPREHENSIONS OF THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT. 183\\nsea otter skins obtainable there, and carry them for sale to Canton\\nbut the enterprise proved unsuccessful, as the agent could only ob-\\ntain a small number of furs, of inferior quality, the produce of the\\nsale of which in China did not cover the expenses of their trans-\\nportation.\\nConsiderable uneasiness was also created at Madrid, by the en-\\ndeavors of the British government to advance the whale and seal\\nfishery in the seas surrounding the southern extremity of America.\\nA number of experienced whalers, especially from Nantucket, had\\nbeen induced, immediately after the peace of 1783, to engage in\\nthis business, under the British flag and high premiums were\\noffered by act of Parliament, in 1786, to encourage perseverance in\\nthe pursuit. As British vessels and subjects would thus necessa-\\nrily frequent the unoccupied coasts of Patagonia and the adjacent\\nislands, it was apprehended, by the Spanish government, that estab-\\nlishments might be formed in those regions, for their protection\\nthe natural consequence of which would be, the introduction of\\nforeign merchandise, and of opinions contrary to the interests of\\nSpain, into the contiguous provinces. In order to provide against\\nthese evils, the Spaniards increased their garrison at Port Soledad,\\nin the Falkland Islands, as well as their naval force in that quarter\\nand an attempt was made, under the patronage of their government,\\nto organize a company for the whale and seal fishery in the South-\\nern Ocean, which proved entirely abortive.\\nIt was from Russia, however, that the Spanish government an-\\nticipated the greatest danger to its dominions on the Pacific side of\\nAmerica. Of the commerce and establishments of that nation on\\nthe northernmost coasts of the Pacific, enough had been learned\\nfrom the narrative pf Cook s expedition, and other works then re-\\ncently published, to show their advancement, and the enterprise of\\nthose by whom they were conducted, as well as the determination\\nof the Russian government to maintain and encourage them and\\nLa Perouse, during the stay of his ships at Conception, in Chili, in\\n1786, promised, at the particular request of the captain-general, to\\ncommunicate confidentially to the viceroy of Mexico the results of\\nthe observations on those subjects which he might make in Kanit-\\nchatka and the islands and coasts of America adjacent. La Pe-\\nrouse, however, did not return to America after his visit to Kamt-\\nchatka, nor was any information on the points in question received\\nfrom him by the Spanish authorities and the viceroy of Mexico,\\nLa P6rouse Portlock.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0213.jp2"}, "214": {"fulltext": "184 APPREHENSIONS OF THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT. [1787.\\nhaving waited in vain for the promised inteUigence until the ena of\\n1787, resolved to despatch vessels to the North Pacific, in order to\\nascertain the truth with regard to the trade and settlements of the\\nRussians and other foreign nations on the coasts of that division of\\nthe ocean.\\nBefore relating the particulars of the expedition made for that\\npurpose, a circumstance may be mentioned, which serves to show\\nthe state of feeling of the Spanish government at the period in\\nquestion, with regard to the proceedings of foreigners in the Pacific,\\nand the extent of the measures which it was ready to adopt in order\\nto exclude them from that ocean. It has been said, in the preced-\\ning chapter, that the ship Columbia having received some damage\\non her way from Boston to the north-west coast of America, in May,\\n1788, entered a harbor in the Island of Juan Fernandez, where as-\\nsistance was aflforded in refitting her by the Spanish commandant\\nDon Bias Gonzales and his garrison. After her departure, the\\ncommandant communicated the circumstances, by a despatch, to\\nhis immediate superior, the captain-general of Chili, who thereupon\\nrecalled Gonzales from the island, and placed him in arrest, address-\\ning, at the same time, a report on the subject, with a request for\\ninstructions, to the viceroy of Peru. The viceroy, after consulting\\nwith his official legal adviser, replied to the captain-general at length\\non the subject, and expressed his surprise and displeasure at the mis-\\nconduct of the commandant of Juan Fernandez, in allowing the\\nstrange ship to leave the harbor, instead of seizing her and her crew\\nas he should have known that, by the royal ordinance of November,\\n1692, every foreign vessel found in those seas, without a license\\nfrom the court of Spain, was to be treated as an enemy, even though\\nbelonging to a friend or ally of the king, seeing that no other nation\\nhad, or ought to have, any territories, to reach which its vessels\\nshould pass around Cape Horn or through Magellan s Straits. In\\nso serious a light did the viceroy regard the matter, that a ship was\\nsent from Callao to track or intercept the Columbia the authori-\\nties on the coasts of Peru and Chili were specially enjoined to be\\nvigilant, and, in case any foreign vessel should appear in the vicini-\\nty, to seize her and the whole aflfair was made known by a de-\\nspatcli to the viceroy of Mexico, in order that similar precautions\\nmight be adopted on his part. The unfortunate commandant Gon-\\nzales was cashiered for his remissness and he subsequently ad-\\ndressed a petition to the government of the United States for its\\nintercession with his sovereign. Thus were half of the Spanish do-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0214.jp2"}, "215": {"fulltext": "1788.] VOYAGE OF MARTINEZ AND HARO. 185\\nminions in America thrown into alarm and agitation, by the appear-\\nance of a trading ship from the United States on the Pacific yet\\nTeodor Lacroix, the viceroy of Peru, and Ambrose O Higgins, cap-\\ntain-general of Chili, were men of education and experience, distin-\\nguished for their courage and sagacity but such was the jealous\\nsystem which they were bound to support.*\\nFor the expedition of inquiry to the north-west coasts of America,\\nthe viceroy of Mexico employed two vessels, the corvette Princesa,\\ncommanded by Estevan Martinez, (who had been the pilot in the\\nvoyage of Juan Perez, in 1774,) and the schooner San Carlos, under\\nLieutenant Gonzalo Haro. They were instructed to proceed direct-\\nly to Prince William s Sound, and to make every possible inquiry\\nand examination respecting the establishments of the Russians there\\nand in other parts of America adjacent having completed which,\\nthey were to explore the coasts southward to California, if time\\nshould be left for that purpose, seeking particularly for places\\nconvenient for the reception of Spanish colonies and they were\\nespecially enjoined to treat the natives of the places which they\\nmight visit with kindness, and not to engage in any quarrel with the\\nRussians.\\nOf this voyage of Martinez and Haro, a short account will suffice.\\nThey quitted San Bias on the 8th of March, 1788, and, on the\\n25th of May, they anchored in the entrance of Prince William s\\nSound, where they lay nearly a month, without making any attempt\\nto examine the surrounding shores. At length, in the end of June,\\nHaro, having sailed, in the San Carlos, along the coast of the ocean\\nfarther south-west, discovered a Russian establishment on the east\\nside of the Island of Kodiak, under the command of a Greek, named\\nDelaref, with whom he was able to communicate and from this\\nperson he received detailed accounts of all the Russian establish-\\nments in that quarter. On the 3d of July, Haro rejoined Martinez,\\nwho had, in the mean time, explored the coasts of Prince William s\\nSound and they proceeded together along the eastern side of the\\nThe petition of Gonzales, with copies of his reports to the captain-general, and\\nthe sentence pronounced against him, remain in manuscript in the archives of the\\nDepartment of State at Washington. Mr. Jefferson, secretary of state of the United\\nStates, recommended his case to the Spanish government, in a letter to Mr. Carmi-\\nchacl, then plenipotentiary at Madrid, dated April 11th, 1790, with what success is\\nnot known. The other particulars here related of this curious affair are derived from\\nthe General Report, or Instructions, left by the viceroy of Peru to his successor, on\\nhis retirement from that office, which was published at London in 1822, in the BibHo-\\nteca .Americana.\\n24", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0215.jp2"}, "216": {"fulltext": "186 VOYAGE OF MARTINEZ AND HARO. [1789.\\npeninsula of Aliaska, to Unalashka, the largest of the Aleutian\\nIslands, where they arrived on the 30th of August. There they re-\\nmained until the 18th of September, receiving every attention from\\nthe Russians belonging to the factory, and then sailed for the south.\\nIn their voyage homeward, the vessels were separated Haro reached\\nSan Bias on tlie 22d of October Martinez did not enter that port\\nuntil the 5th of December, having f)ut into Monterey for refresh-\\nments.*\\nThe geographical observations made in this expedition were of\\nlittle value at the time and it would be needless to notice them\\nhere, as the coasts to which they relate have been since completely\\nsurveyed. Agreeably to the report presented by Martinez, on his\\nreturn to the viceroy of Mexico, the Russian establishments in Amer-\\nica at that time were in number eight, all situated east of Prince\\nWilliam s Sound, on which, however, one was then in progress;\\nand they contained, together, two hundred and fifty-two Russian\\nsubjects, nearly all of whom were natives of Kamtchatka or Sibe-\\nria. Martinez was, moreover, informed that two vessels had been\\nsent in that summer from Kodi^k, to found a settlement at Nootka\\nSound, and that two large ships were in preparation at Ochotsk, for\\nfurther operations of the same nature. The vessels sent from Ko-\\ndiak were doubtless those which proceeded, under IsmylofF and\\nBetscharef, along the coast eastward to the foot of Mount St. Elias\\nthe others were those intended for the expedition under Billings,\\nwhich was not begun until 1790.\\nThese accounts of the establishments and projects of the Rus-\\nsians were immediately communicated to the court of Madrid,\\nwhich addressed to the empress of Russia a remonstrance against\\nsuch encroachments of her subjects upon the territories of his Cath-\\nolic majesty. In the memorial conveying this remonstrance, it is to\\nbe remarked that Prince William s Sound is assumed as separating\\nthe dominions of the two sovereigns it being doubtless intended,\\nThe preceding account of this voyage is derived from the journal of Martinez,\\nof which a copy, in manuscript, was obtained from the hydrographical office at^\\nMadrid.\\nThe first notice of this expedition, published in Europe, was taken from a letter\\nwritten at San Bias, soon after the arrival of Haro at that port, in which it was said\\nthat the Spaniards had found Russian establishments bchnecn the forty-ninth and\\nthe fiftieth degrees of latitude, instead ofheticccn the ffty-ninth and the sixtieth degrees,\\nand on this error, such as is dally committed by persons ignorant of nautical matters,\\nM. Poletica, the Russian envoy in the United States, endeavored, in 1822, to found a\\nclaim for his sovereign to the 2choJe of the American coasts and islands on the Pacific\\nnorth of the forty-ninth parallel. See hereafter, chap. xvi.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0216.jp2"}, "217": {"fulltext": "1789.] CLAIMS OF SPAIN EXAMINED. 18t\\nby means of this geographical obscurity, to leave undefined the del-\\nicate question as to the limits of Spanish America in the north-\\nwest. The empress of Russia answered that orders had been\\ngiven to her subjects not to make settlements in places belonging\\nto other nations and, if those orders had been violated with regard\\nto Spanish America, she desired the king of Spain to arrest the en-\\ncroachments, in a friendly manner. With this answer, more cour-\\nteous than specific, the Spanisli minister professed himself content\\nobserving, however, in his reply, that Spain could not be respon-\\nsible for what her officers might do, at places so distant, whilst they\\nwere acting under general orders to allow no settlements to be\\nmade by other nations on the Spanish American continent.\\nIn the mean time, however, the viceroy of Mexico, Don Manuel\\nde Flores, had, in virtue of his general instructions, taken a decisive\\nmeasure with regard to Nootka Sound. For that purpose, he de-\\nspatched Martinez and Haro from San Bias, early in 1789, with their\\nvessels manned and equipped eflTectively ordering them, in case any\\nBritish or Russian vessel should appear at Nootka, to receive her\\nwith the attention and civility required by the peace and friendship\\nexisting between Spain and those nations, but, at the same time,\\nto declare the paramount rights of his Catholic majesty to the place,\\nand the adjacent coasts, firmly, though discreetly, and without using\\nharsh or insulting language.f\\nBefore entering upon the narrative of the events which followed,\\nit should be observed, with regard to the right of tlie Spanish gov-\\nernment thus to take possession of Nootka, that, before the 6th of\\nMay, 1789, when Martinez entered the sound with that object, no\\nsettlement, factory, or other establishment whatsoever, had been\\nfounded or attempted, nor had any jurisdiction been exercised\\nby the authorities or subjects of a civilized nation, in any part of\\nAmerica bordering upon the Pacific, between Port San Francisco,\\nnear the 38th degree of north latitude, and Prince William s Sound,\\nnear the 60th. The Spaniards, the British, the Russians, and the\\nFrench, had, indeed, landed at many places on those coasts, where\\nthey had displayed flags, performed ceremonies, and erected monu-\\nments, by way of taldng possession as it was termed of the ad-\\nMemorial addressed by the court of Spain to that of London, dated June 13th,\\n1790, among the Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part of this volume, under the\\nletter D, No. 3.\\nt Abstract of these instructions to Martinez, in the Introduction to the Journal of\\nGnliano and Valdes, p. 106.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0217.jp2"}, "218": {"fulltext": "188 RIGHTS DERIVED FROM DISCOVERY. [1789.\\njacent territories for their respective sovereigns but such acts are,\\nand were then, generally considered as empty pageants, securing\\nno real rights to those by whom, or in whose names, they were per-\\nformed. Nor does it appear that any portion of the above-men-\\ntioned territories had become the property of a foreigner, either by\\npurchase, occupation, or any other title, which can be regarded as\\nvalid. It has been already said that Mr. Meares, in his Memorial,\\naddressed to the British Parliament, in 1790, laid claim to certain\\ntracts of land about Nootka Sound, as having been ceded to him by\\nthe natives of the country, in 1788 but it was, at the same time,\\nshown that this claim was unsupported by sufficient evidence, and\\nwas, moreover, directly, as well as indirectly, contradicted by Mr.\\nMeares himself, in his journal of the same proceedings and other\\ncircumstances will be mentioned hereafter, serving to prove the\\nfalsehood of that person s assertions, and of his pretensions to the\\npossession of any part of the American territory.\\nThe right of exclusive sovereignty over these extensive regions\\nwas claimed by Spain, in virtue of the papal concession, 1493, of\\nthe first discovery of their coasts by Spanish subjects, and of the\\ncontiguity of the territories to the settled dominions of Spain. Of\\nthe validity of the title derived from the papal concession it appears\\nto be needless, at the present day, to speak. That the Spaniards\\nwere the first discoverers of the west coasts of America, at least as\\nfar north as the 56th parallel of latitude, has been already shown\\nand the fact is, and has been ever since the publication of Maurelle s\\nJournal, in 1781, as indisputable as that the Portuguese discovered\\nthe south coasts of Africa. The extent of the rights derived from\\ndiscovery are, however, by no means clearly defined by writers on\\npublic law and the practice of nations has been so different in dif-\\nferent cases, that it seems impossible to deduce any general rule of\\naction from it. That a nation whose subjects or citizens had as-\\ncertained the existence of a country previously unknown, should\\nhave a better right than any other to make settlements in that coun-\\ntry, and, after such settlement, to own it, and to exercise sovereignty\\nover it, is in every respect conformable with nature and justice but\\nthis principle is hable to innumerable difficulties in its application to\\nparticular case^. It is seldom easy to decide how far a discovery\\nmay have been such, in all respects, as should give this strongest\\nright to settle, or to what extent of country a title of sovereignty\\nmay have been acquired by a particular settlement and even where\\nthe novelty or priority and sufficiency of the discovery are admit-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0218.jp2"}, "219": {"fulltext": "1789.] NEW EXPEDITION FROM MACAO. 189\\nted, the right to occupy thus derived cannot surely be regarded as\\nsubsisting forever, to the exclusion of all other nations and the\\nclaims of states already occupying contiguous territories are always\\nto be taken into consideration.\\nAgreeably to these views, it could not with justice be assumed\\nthat Spain, from the mere fact of tlie first discovery of the north-\\nwest coasts of America by her subjects, acquired the right to\\nexclude all other nations from them forever but it would be most\\nunjust to deny that her right to occupy those vacant territories,\\ncontiguous as they were to her settled dominions, even if they had\\nnot been first discovered by her subjects, was much stronger than\\nthat of any other nation. Thus the occupation, and even the\\nexploration, of any part of the north-west coasts by another power,\\nmight have been reasonably considered by Spain as an unfriendly,\\nif not as an offensive, act while she might, on the contrary, have\\nextended her establishments at least as far north as the 56th parallel,\\nand have claimed the exclusive right to occupy all the coasts south\\nof her most northern estabhshment, without giving just cause of\\ndissatisfaction to any other power. The right to occupj must be\\nhere distinguished from the right of sovereignty as no nation could\\nbe justified, by virtue of the former right, and without occupation\\nor the performance of acts indicating an intention soon to occupy,\\nin depriving others of the trade of extensive vacant sea-coasts, un-\\nless upon the ground that the exercise of such trade would be\\ninjurious to its actual interests in those countries.\\nResuming the narrative of events in the North Pacific It has\\nbeen mentioned, in the preceding chapter, that Meares sailed in the\\nFelice from Nootka Sound to China, in the end of September,\\n1789. On reaching Macao, in December following, he learned that\\nduring his absence, Juan Cavallo, the Portuguese merchant, whose\\nname appeared on the papers of the Felice and Iphigenia as their\\nowner, had become a bankrupt. What steps were taken immediate-\\nly, in consequence of this event, is not related but an arrangement\\nwas soon after made between the anonymous merchant proprietors\\nand Mr. Etches, the agent of the King George s Sound Company,\\nwho was then at Macao, with the ship Prince of Wales and sloop\\nPrincess Royal, for a union of the interests of the two parties.\\nAgreeably to this arrangement, the Felice was sold, and the Prince\\nof Wales returned to England and a sliip called the Argonaut was\\npurchased, in which Colnett, a lieutenant in the British navy, previ-\\nously commanding the Princess Royal, was despatched, in April,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0219.jp2"}, "220": {"fulltext": "190 NEW EXPEDITION PROM MACAO. [1789.\\n1789, to Nootka, as captain, and agent for the proprietors on the\\nAmerican coast, accompanied by the Princess Royal, under Captain\\nWiUiam Hudson.\\nThe management of the affairs of the association at Macao ap-\\npears to have been committed entirely to Meares, who drew up the\\ninstructions for Colnett. From these instructions, of which a copy\\nis appended by Meares to his Memorial, it is evident that there was\\nreally an intention to found a permanent establishment on some\\npart of the north-west coast of America, although no spot is desig-\\nnated as its site, and no hint is given of any acquisition of territory\\nhaving been already made at or near Nootka Sound. Indeed, the\\nonly reference to that place, in the whole paper, is contained in the\\nwords, We recommend you, if possible, to form a treaty with the\\nvarious chiefs, particularly at Nootka. Yet Meares, in his Memo-\\nrial, strangely enough says, Mr. Colnett was directed to fix his\\nresidence at Nootka Sound, and, with that view, to erect a substan-\\ntial house on the spot which your memorialist had purchased in the\\npreceding year, as will appear by a copy of his instructions hereunto\\nannexed. The Argonaut and Princess Royal were, moreover,\\ncertainly navigated under the British flag there being no object in\\nusing any other, as they were both provided with licenses from the\\nEast India and the South Sea Companies, which afforded them the\\nrequisite authorization.*\\nWhilst these vessels were on their way to Nootka Sound, their\\nfirst place of destination on the coast, the brig Iphigenia, and\\nschooner North- West America, belonging to the same association,\\nthough under Portuguese colors, arrived in that bay from the\\nSandwich Islands, where they had passed the winter, agreeably to\\nthe instructions of Mr. Meares. They entered the sound on the\\n20th of April, in the most wretched condition imaginable. The\\nIphigenia was a mere wreck according to the journal of Douglas,\\nher supercargo or captain, annexed to the Memorial of Meares,\\nThe following account of the occurrences at Nootka in the summer of 1789 is\\ntaken from the journal or narrative of the voyage of Meares, and tlie documents\\nattached to it, consisting of his Memorial to Parliament, and papers in proof, among\\nwhich is especially worthy of notice the journal of Douglas, the captain or supercargo\\nof the Iphigenia the journal of Colnett s voyage, in 1793, in which some of those\\ncircumstances are related in a note, at page 96 the journal of Vancouver s voyage\\nin 1792 the letter addressed by the American Captains Gray and Ingraham to the\\nSpanish commandant at Nootka, in 1792, which will be found at length among the\\nProofs and Illustrations, at the end of this volume, under the letter C and the\\nmemorials and other papers relative to the dispute which ensued between Great\\nBritain, in the Proofs and Illustrations, under the letter D.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0220.jp2"}, "221": {"fulltext": "1789.] SEIZURE OF THE IPfllGENIA. 191\\nshe had like to have foundered at sea, for want of pitch and tar\\nto stop the leaks she had no bread on board, and nothing but salt\\npork for her crew to live on she was without cables, and, on\\nattempting to moor her in the harbor, it was necessary to borrow\\na fall from the American sloop Washington, which, with the ship\\nColumbia, was found lying there. The North- West America was\\nin no better condition and, as they had no articles for barter with\\nthe natives, they must have remained inactive for some time, had\\nthey not procured some assistance and supplies from the American\\nvessels, by means of which the schooner was enabled to leave the\\nsound on the 28th of the month, for a short trading trip along the\\ncoasts. The Washington, about the same time, also departed on a\\nsimilar expedition and the Iphigenia, lying at Friendly Cove, and\\nthe Columbia, at Mawhinna, a few miles higher up, were the only\\nvessels in Nootka Sound on the 6th of May, when the Spanish\\ncommander Martinez arrived there in the corvette Princesa, to take\\npossession of the country for his sovereign.\\nMartinez immediately communicated his intentions to the captains\\nof the other vessels, whose papers he also examined and, appear-\\ning to be content, he landed materials and artillery, and began to\\nerect a fort on a small island at the entrance of Friendly Cove.\\nWith this assumption of authority on his part, no dissatisfaction\\nappears to have been expressed or entertained by either of the other\\nparties on the contrary, the utmost good feeling for some time\\nprevailed on all sides the officers of the difierent vessels visited\\nand dined with each other, and Martinez readily supplied the\\nIphigenia with articles of which she was in need, in order to go to\\nsea immediately, accepting, in return for them, bills drawn by her\\nPortuguese captain, Viana, upon Juan Cavallo, the Portuguese\\nmerchant of Macao, as her owner.\\nThings remained thus at Nootka for a week, at the end of which\\ntime the other Spanish vessel, the San Carlos, arrived, under\\nCaptain Haro. On the following day, the 15th of May, Martinez\\ninvited Viana and Douglas to come on board his ship and, on\\ntheir doing so, he immediately told them that they were prisoners,\\nand their vessel was to be seized. I inquired, says Douglas, in\\nhis journal, the cause of his not taking the Washington sloop, as he\\nhad orders from the king of Spain to take every vessel he met out\\non this coast. He gave me no satisfactory answer, but told me my\\npapers were bad that they mentioned I was to take all English,\\nRussian, and Spanish vessels that were of inferior force to the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0221.jp2"}, "222": {"fulltext": "192 THE IPHIGENIA RELEASED BY MARTINEZ. [1789.\\nIphigenia, and send or carry their crews to Macao, there to be tried\\nfor their lives as pirates. I told him they had not interpreted the\\npapers right that, though I did not understand the Portuguese, I\\nhad seen a copy of them in English, at Macao, which mentioned, if\\nI was attacked by any one of those nations, to defend myself, and,\\nif I had the superiority, to send the captains and crews to Macao,\\nto answer for the insult they had offered. Martinez, however,\\nwas not, or did not choose to be, content with this explanation,\\nwhich certainly did not place the Iphigenia and her owners in a\\nposition conformable with the usages of civilized nations and, in\\nobedience to his orders, that brig was boarded by the Spaniards, her\\nmen, with her charts, papers, and instruments, were transferred to\\nthe ships of war, and preparations were begun for sending her, as a\\nprize, to San Bias.\\nWhilst these preparations were in progress, the Spanish com-\\nmandant altered his intentions, and proposed to release the Iphigenia\\nand her crew, on condition that her officers would sign a declaration\\nto the effect that she had not been interrupted, but had been kindly\\ntreated and supplied by him during her stay at Nootka. This\\nproposition was at first refused an arrangement was, however,\\nafterwards made between the parties, in consequence of which the\\ndeclaration was signed by the officers of the Iphigenia, and she and\\nher crew were liberated on the 26th of May. Messrs. Viana and\\nDouglas at the same time engaged for themselves, as captain and\\nsupercargo respectively, and for Juan Cavallo, of Macao, as owner\\nof the said vessel, to pay her value, on demand, to the order of the\\nviceroy of Mexico, in case he should pronounce her capture legal.\\nThis seizure of the Iphigenia by Martinez can scarcely be con-\\nsidered unjust or unmerited, when it is recollected that, if, in\\nattempting to enforce, with regard to her, the orders of his govern-\\nment, which were perfectly conformable with the principles of\\nnational law as then recognized, and with treaties between Spain\\nand the other powers, he had been resisted and overcome, he,\\nwith his officers and men, would have been carried to Macao as\\nprisoners, to be tried in Portuguese courts for piracy. Moreover,\\nhe had been informed that Meares was daily expected to arrive at\\nNootka, with other vessels belonging to the same concern and it\\nwas his duty to provide against the probability of being overpowered\\nor insulted, by lessening the forces of those from whom he had\\nevery reason to apprehend an attack. He was, indeed, specially\\nenjoined, by the viceroy of Mexico, to treat English and Russian", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0222.jp2"}, "223": {"fulltext": "1789.] THE IPHIGENIA RETURNS TO CHINA. 193\\nvessels with respect but the contingency of his meeting with a\\nPortuguese vessel at Nootka, furnished with such instructions as\\nthose carried by the Iphigenia, could not have been foreseen and\\nthe only grounds upon which he could have excused himself to his\\ngovernment for releasing her, even under the pledge given by\\nher officers, must have been, that, at the time when those instruc-\\ntions were written, it was not anticipated, by her proprietors, that\\nSpain would take possession of any place on the north-west coast\\nof America.\\nThat the detention of the Iphigenia by the Spaniards was not\\ninjurious to the interests of her owners, is clearly proved. The\\ndistressed condition in which she reached Nootka has been already\\nshown from the accounts of her officers and she must have\\nremained at that place, unemployed, during the greater and better\\npart of the trading season, had she not been refitted and supplied\\nas she was by the Spaniards. According to the narrative of Meares,\\nshe sailed from the sound on the 1st of June, to the coasts of Queen\\nCharlotte s Island, where she collected a number of valuable furs\\nin a few weeks the trade was so brisk, writes Meares, (hat\\nall the stock of iron was soon expended, and they were under the\\nnecessity of cutting up the chain plates and hatch-bars of the vessel,^\\nin order to find the means of purchasing the skins offered thence\\nshe departed for the Sandwich Islands, and, after a short stay there,\\ncontinued her voyage to Macao, where she arrived in October, with\\nabout seven hundred sea otter skins, all collected since leaving Nootka\\nSound. Mr. Meares, in his Memorial, however, presents a very\\ndifferent picture of these circumstances he there says, During\\nthe time the Spaniards held possession of the Iphigenia, she was\\nstripped of all the merchandise which had been prepared for trading,\\nas also of her stores, provisions, nautical instruments, charts, .c.,\\nand, in short, of every article, except twelve bars of iron, which they\\ncould conveniently carry away, even to the extent of the master s\\nwatch, and articles of clothing he then goes on to state that,\\non leaving Nootka Sound, the Iphigenia, though in a very unfit\\ncondition for such a voyage, proceeded from thence to the Sandwich\\nIslands, and, after obtaining there such supplies as they were\\nenabled to purchase tvith the iron before mentioned, returned to\\nChina, and anchored there in the month of October, 1789 thus\\nomitting all notice of the trip to the northern coasts, and of the\\nbrisk trade with the natives, in which the whole stock of iron\\n25", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0223.jp2"}, "224": {"fulltext": "194 SEIZURE OF THE NORTH-WEST AMERICA. [1789.\\n(including, of course, the twelve bars before mentioned) was ex-\\nchanged for furs.\\nBefore taking leave of the Iphigenia, it may be added, in evi-\\ndence of her true character, that Douglas quitted her immediately\\non her arrival in China after which she continued to trade under\\nthe command of Viana, and under the flag of Portugal.\\nOn the 8th of June, after the departure of the Iphigenia, the\\nschooner North- West America returned from her voyage along the\\nsouthern coasts, in which she had collected about two hundred sea\\notter skins, and was immediately seized by Martinez, in consequence,\\nas he at first said, of an agreement to that effect between himself\\nand the captain of the Iphigenia. This agreement is expressly de-\\nnied by Douglas, who declares that both promises and threats had\\nbeen used in vain to induce him to sell the small vessel at a price\\nfar below her real value and, in proof, he cites a letter given by\\nhim to Martinez, addressed to the captain of the North- West Amer-\\nica, in which he merely tells the latter to act as he may think best\\nfor the interest of the owners. Meares, in his Memorial, however,\\nadmits that the letter did not contain what Martinez understood to be\\nits purport when he received it, and that advantage had been taken\\nby Douglas of the Spaniard s ignorance of the English language\\nfrom which circumstances it is most probable that the agreement,\\nwhether voluntary on the part of the captain of the Iphigenia, or\\nunjustly extorted from him, was actually made as asserted by Marti-\\nnez. A few days afterwards, the sloop Princess Royal, one of the\\nvessels sent from Macao by the associated companies, entered the\\nsound under the command of William Hudson, bringing infor-\\nmation of the failure of Cavallo, the Portuguese merchant, upon\\nwhom, as owner of the Iphigenia, the bills in payment for the sup-\\nplies furnished to that vessel, were drawn. Upon learning this,\\nMartinez announced his determination to hold the North-West\\nAmerica in satisfaction for the amount of those bills she was\\nthereupon immediately equipped for a trading voyage, and sent out\\nunder the command of one of the mates of the Columbia but her\\nofficers and men were at the same time liberated, and nearly all the\\nskins collected by her were placed on board the Princess Royal, for\\nthe benefit of the owners in China.\\nThe Princess Royal remained at Nootka until the 2d of July,\\nduring which period she was undisturbed, and her officers and\\nmen were treated with perfect civility and respect by the Span-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0224.jp2"}, "225": {"fulltext": "1789.] SEIZURE OF THE ARGONAUT AT NOOTKA. 195\\niards. As she was leaving the sound on that day, her consort, the\\nship Argonaut, came in from Macao, under Captain Colnett, who, as\\nalready mentioned, had been charged by the associated companies\\nwith the direction of their affairs on the American coasts, and the\\nestablishment of a factory and fort for their benefit. What followed\\nwith regard to this ship has been represented under various colors j\\nbut the principal facts, as generally admitted, were these\\nAs soon as the Argonaut appeared at the entrance of the sound,\\nshe was boarded by Martinez, who presented to Colnett a letter\\nfrom the captain of the Princess Royal, and pressed him earnestly\\nto enter the sound, and supply the Spanish vessels with some arti-\\ncles of which they were much in want. Several of the officers of\\nthe North- West America and the Columbia also came on board the\\nArgonaut, and communicated what had occurred respecting the\\nIphigenia and the small vessel to Colnett, who, in consequence, hes-\\nitated as to entering the sound but he was finally induced, by the\\nassurances of Martinez, to do so, and before midnight his ship\\nwas anchored in Friendly Cove, between the Princesa and the San\\nCarlos.\\nOn the following day, Colnett, having supplied the Spanish ships\\nwith some articles, was preparing, as he states, to leave the sound,\\nwhen he received an invitation to go on board the commandant s\\nship and exhibit his papers. He accordingly went, in uniform, and\\nwith his sword by his side, into the cabin of the Princesa, where he\\ndisplayed his papers, and informed Martinez of his intention to take\\npossession of Nootka, and erect a fort there under the British flag.\\nThe commandant replied, that this could not be done, as the place\\nwas already occupied by the forces and in the name of his Catholic\\nmajesty and an altercation ensued, the results of which were the\\narrest and confinement of Colnett, and the seizure of the Argonaut\\nby the Spaniards. From the moment of Iiis arrest, Colnett became\\ninsane or delirious, and continued in this state for several weeks,\\nduring which Duffin, the mate of his vessel, acted as the representa-\\ntive of the proprietors in the mean time, her cargo had been all\\nplaced on board the Spanish ships of war and, on the 13th of\\nJuly, she sailed, with her officers and nearly the whole of her crew as\\nprisoners, under the command of a Spanish lieutenant, for San Bias.\\nIf the accounts of these transactions, presented by Meares in his\\nMemorial, and by Colnett in the narrative which he afterwards\\npublished, be admitted as conveying a full and correct view of the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0225.jp2"}, "226": {"fulltext": "196 SEIZURE OF THE ARGONAUT AT NOOTKA. [1789,\\ncircumstances, the conduct of Martinez must be considered as nearly\\nequivalent to piracy. From these accounts it would appear that the\\nship was treacherously seized, without any reasonable ground, or\\neven pretext, and with the sole premeditated object of plundering\\nher; and that the most cruel acts of violence, insult, and restraint,\\nwere wantonly committed upon the officers and men during the\\nwhole period of their imprisonment. Colnett relates that, when\\nhe presented his papers to Martinez in the cabin of the Princesa,\\nthe commandant, without examining them, pronounced them to be\\nforged, and immediately declared that the Argonaut should not go\\nto sea that, upon his remonstrating [in what terms he does not\\nsay] against this breach of good faith, and forgetfulness of ivord\\nand honor pledged, the Spaniard rose, in apparent anger, and\\nintroduced a party of armed men, by whom he was struck down,\\nplaced in the stocks, and then closely confined that he was after-\\nwards carried from ship to ship like a criminal, threatened witli\\ninstant execution as a pirate, and subjected to so many injuries and\\nindignities as to throw him into a violent fever and delirium, which\\nwere near proving fatal and that his officers and men were impris-\\noned and kept in irons from the time of their seizure until their\\narrival at San Bias, where many of them died in consequence of ill\\ntreatment. Meares, in his Memorial, makes the same assertions,\\nmany of which are supported by the deposition of the officers and\\nseamen of the North-West America, taken in China, and appended\\nto the Memorial. On the other hand. Gray, the captain of the\\nWashington, and Ingraham, the mate of the Columbia, both of\\nwhom were at Nootka during the occurrence of the aflair, were\\ninformed by those whose veracity they had no reason to doubt, f\\nthat Colnett, in his interview with Martinez on board the Princesa,\\ndenied the right of the Spaniards to occupy Nootka, and endeav-\\nored to impose upon the Spanish commandant, by representing\\nhimself as acting under direct orders from the British government\\nand that he afterwards insulted the Spaniard by threatening him\\nand drawing his sword. Colnett himself says that he attempted to\\ndraw his sword on the occasion, but that it was in defence against\\nthose who assailed him and it must be allowed to be very difficult to\\n^^remonstrate with a man upon his breach of faith, and forgetful-\\nAccount of his Voyage in the Pacific in ]793, note at p. 96; also Vancouver s\\nJournal, vol. iii. p. 492. These two accounts differ in some points.\\nt Letter of Gray and Ingraham, in the Proofs and Illustrations, letter C.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0226.jp2"}, "227": {"fulltext": "1789.] SEIZURE OP THE ARGONAUT. 1^\\nness of his 7vord and honor pledged without insulting him. Duffin,\\nthe mate of the Argonaut, writing to Meares from Nootka, ten clays\\nafter the seizure of the ship, gives nearly the same account of the\\ninterview, adding that the misunderstanding was probably occa-\\nsioned by the interpreter s ignorance of the English language he\\nsays that Martinez appeared to be very sorry for what had hap-\\npened, and had behaved with great civility, by obliging his pris-\\noners with every liberty that could be expected and he com-\\nplains of no violence, either to the feelings or to the persons of any\\nof the crews of the vessels seized, although he charges the Span-\\niards with plundering both openly and secretly. Moreover, Duffin\\ndeclares, and Meares repeats, in his Memorial, that the disease with\\nwhich Colnett was afflicted after his arrest was a fit of insanity, oc-\\ncasioned by fear and disappointment operating upon a mind natu-\\nrally weak and hereditarily predisposed to such alienation.\\nOn the part of Spain, the only statements which have been pub-\\nlicly made are those contained in the notes and memorials ad-\\ndressed by the court of Madrid to other governments in 1790; and\\nin the Introduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes all of\\nwhich, though officially presented, are nevertheless imperfect and\\nevidently erroneous on several important points.*\\nUpon reviewing the circumstances of the affair, there appears\\nto be no reason to doubt that Colnett entered the sound, relying on\\nthe assurances of Martinez, that he should be undisturbed while\\nThese notes and memorials, which will be mentioned more particularly hereafter,\\nmay be found in the Proofs and Illustrations, under the letter D. All that is said\\nin the Introduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes respecting the dispute, or\\nthe circumstances which led to it, is contained in the paragraph of which the\\nfollowing is a translation\\nOn the 2d of July, the English ship Argonaut, which had been sent by an Eng-\\nlish company from Macao, entered the port. Her captain, James Colnett, came, with\\nauthority from the king of England, to take possession of the port of Nootka, to for-\\ntify it, and to establish there a factory for the collection of sea otter skins, and to\\nprevent other nations from engaging in this trade, with which objects he was to build\\na large ship and a schooner. This manifest infraction of the rights over that region\\nled to a serious quarrel between the Spanish commandant and the English captain,\\nwhich extended to Europe and, the two powers being alarmed, the world was for\\nsome time threatened with war and devastation, the results of discord. Captain Col-\\nnett refused, repeatedly and obstinately, to exhibit to Martinez the instructions which\\nhe brought; and he expressed himself in language so indecorous and irritating, that\\nour commandant, having exhausted all the measures of prudence which he had hith-\\nerto employed, resolved to arrest the British captain in the cabin of his ship, and to\\ndeclare all the persons on board the Argonaut prisoners of war, and to send them to\\nSan Bias, to be there placed at the disposition of the viceroy of Mexico.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0227.jp2"}, "228": {"fulltext": "198 SEIZURE OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL. [1789.\\nthere, and be allowed to depart at his pleasure and it seems to be\\nequally certain that the English captain did afterwards conduct\\nhimself with so much violence and extravagance towards the Span-\\nish commandant, as to render his own arrest perfectly justifiable.\\nThe seizure of the Argonaut, the imprisonment of her other officers\\nand crew, and the spoliation of her cargo, cannot, however, be\\ndefended on those or on any grounds afforded by the evidence of any\\nof the parties for Martinez had no reason to apprehend an attack\\nfrom the Argonaut, and he had been specially instructed, by his\\nimmediate superior, the viceroy of Mexico, to suspend, with regard\\nto British vessels on the north-west coasts, the execution of the\\ngeneral orders to Spanish commandants, for the seizure of foreign\\nvessels entering the ports of the American dominions.\\nStill less excusable was the conduct of Martinez towards the sloop\\nPrincess Royal, on her second arrival at Nootka. She appeared at\\nthe entrance of the sound on the 13th of July, having made a short\\ntrading cruise along the northern coasts and her captain, Hudson,\\non coming up to Friendly Cove in a boat, was arrested, after which\\nhis vessel was boarded and brought in as a prize by a party of\\nSpaniards despatched for the purpose. On the following day, the\\nmajority of her crew were transferred to the Argonaut, which\\ncarried them as prisoners to San Bias her cargo was then taken\\nout, and she was herself afterwards employed for nearly two years\\nin the Spanish service, under Lieutenant Q,uimper.\\nThe schooner North- West America was also retained in the\\nnational service of Spain her officers and men, with some of\\nthose of the Argonaut and Princess Royal, were, however, placed\\non board the American ship Columbia, to be carried as passengers\\nto China, one hundred of the sea otter skins found in the Princess\\nRoyal being allowed in payment of their wages and transportation.\\nMartinez remained at Nootka until November, when he departed,\\nwith his three vessels, for San Bias, agreeably to orders received by\\nhim from Mexico.\\nThe Columbia had remained in the sound ever since her first\\narrival there, in October, 1788; the Washington being, in the mean\\ntime, engaged in trading along the coasts north and south of that\\nplace, to which she, however, frequently returned, in order to\\ndeposit the furs collected. The officers of these vessels were thus\\nwitnesses of nearly all the occurrences at Nootka during the summer\\nof 1789, in which, indeed, they frequently took part as mediators", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0228.jp2"}, "229": {"fulltext": "1789.] CONDUCT OF THE AMERICANS AT NOOTKA. 199\\nand the only evidence, with regard to those events, except the\\njournal of Douglas, which can bear the test of strict examination, is\\ncontained in a letter addressed, three years afterwards, to the\\nSpanish commandant of Nootka, by Gray, the captain of the\\nWashington, and Ingraham, the mate of the Columbia.* Meares\\nand Colnett endeavor to cast blame on the Americans for their\\nconduct in these proceedings their complaints, however, on exam-\\nination, seem to rest entirely on the fact that the Washington and\\nColumbia were undisturbed, while their own vessels were seized by\\nthe Spaniards. That Gray and Kendrick profited by the quarrels\\nbetween the other two parties is probable, and no one can question\\ntheir right to do so but no evidence has been adduced that they, on\\nany occasion, took an unfair advantage of cither though it is also\\nprobable tiiat their feelings were rather in favor of the Spaniards,\\nby whom they were always treated with courtesy and kindness,\\nthan of the British, to whom, if we are to judge by the expressions\\nof Meares and Colnett, they were, from the commencement, the\\nobjects of hatred and ridicule.\\nIn one of the above-mentioned trading excursions of the Wash-\\nington, made in June, 1789, Gray explored the whole east coast of\\nQ,ueen Charlotte s Island, which had never before been visited by\\nthe people of any civilized nation, though Duncan, in the Princess\\nRoyal, had, in the preceding year, sailed through the sea separating\\nit from the main land and other islands. The American, being\\nignorant of this fact, as also of the name bestowed on the territory\\nby Dixon, called it Washington s Island; and thus it was, for a\\nlong period, always distinguished by the fur traders of the United\\nStates. Meares endeavors, in his narrative, to secure to Douglas,\\nthe captain of the Iphigenia, the merit of having first established\\nthe insulation of the territory though Douglas, in his journal\\nannexed to that narrative, expressly alludes to the previous visits\\nof the Washington to many places on the east coast. The assertion\\nof this claim for Douglas was one of the causes of the dispute\\nbetween Meares and Dixon, in 1791, which will be hereafter men-\\ntioned more particularly.\\nIn a subsequent excursion from Nootka, Gray entered the opening\\nsouth-east of that place, between the 48th and 49th parallels of\\nlatitude, which had been found by Berkely in 1787, and was sup-\\nposed to be the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Through\\nSee Proofs and Illustrations, under the letter D.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0229.jp2"}, "230": {"fulltext": "200 RELEASE OF COLNETT. [1789.\\nthis opening Gray sailed, as he informed Vancouver in 1792, fifty\\nmiles in an east-south-east direction, and found the passage five\\nleagues wide. He then returned to the Pacific, and, on his way\\nto Nootka, he met the Columbia, which had just quitted the sound,\\nwith the crew of the North- West America on board as passengers,\\nfor China and it was agreed between the two captains that\\nKendrick should take command of the sloop, and remain on the\\ncoast, while Gray, in the Columbia, should carry to Canton all the\\nfurs which had been collected by both vessels. This was according-\\nly done and Gray arrived, on the 6th of December, at Canton,\\nwhere he sold his furs, and took in a cargo of tea, with which he\\nentered Boston on the 10th of August, 1790, having carried the flag\\nof the United States for the first time around the world. Kendrick,\\nimmediately on parting with the Columbia, proceeded in the\\nWashington to the Strait of Fuca, through which he passed, in its\\nwhole length, as will be hereafter more fully shown.\\nThe Argonaut, with Colnett and his men on board as prisoners,\\narrived, on the 16th of August, at San Bias, near which place they\\nwere kept prisoners until the arrival of the commandant of that\\ndepartment, Captain Bodega y Cluadra, by whom Colnett was\\ntreated with great kindness, and soon after sent to the city of\\nMexico. There he remained several months, during which the\\nexamination of the cases of the seized vessels was in progress and\\nit was at length decided that, although Martinez had acted con-\\nformably with the general laws and regulations of Spain, forbidding\\nall aliens from resorting to the Spanish American coasts, and the\\nvessels might therefore be retained as lawful prizes, yet, in con-\\nsideration of the apparent ignorance of their officers and owners\\nwith regard to the laws and rights of Spain, as also for the sake of\\npeace with England, they should be released, with the understand-\\ning, however, that they were not again to enter any place on the\\nSpanish American coasts, either for the purpose of settlement or\\nof trade with the natives. In virtue of this decision, Colnett\\nreturned to San Bias, where he learned that several of his men had\\ndied of the fever endemic at that place, and his ship was much\\ninjured by the service to which she had been subjected she was,\\nnevertheless, refitted, and, with the remainder of her crew, he\\nsailed in her for Nootka, to receive possession of the Princess\\nRoyal, for which he had an order. On arriving at the sound,\\nColnett found the place deserted and, not knowing where to seek", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0230.jp2"}, "231": {"fulltext": "1790.] THE PRINCESS ROYAL RESTORED. 201\\nthe sloop, he sailed for Macao, which he reached in the latter part\\nof 1790. Thence he went, in the following year, to the Sandwich\\nIslands, where the Princess Royal was restored to him, in March,\\nby Lieutenant Q,uimper, the Spanisn officer under whose command\\nshe had been employed for nearly two years.\\nThe political discussions between the governments of Great\\nBritain and Spain, which had meanwhile taken place, in con-\\nsequence of the seizures at Nootka, will be related in the en-\\nsuing chapter.\\n26", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0231.jp2"}, "232": {"fulltext": "202\\nCHAPTER IX.\\n1790.\\nControversy between Great Britain and Spain respecting the Norm- West Coasts of\\nAmerica and tlie Navigation of the Pacific The Owners of the Vessels seized\\nat Nootka apply for Redress to the British Government, which demands Satis-\\nfaction for the alleged Outrages Spain resists the Demand, and calls on France\\nfor Aid, agreeably to the Family Compact Proceedings in the National Assembly\\nof France on the Subject Spain engages to indemnify the British for the\\nProperty seized Further Demands of Great Britain Designs of Pitt against\\nSpanish America Secret Mediation of France, through which the Dispute is\\nsettled Convention of October, 1790, called the Nootka Treaty Proceedings\\nin Parliament, and Reflections on this Convention.\\nThe Columbia arrived at Macao from Nootka in December,\\n1789, bringing as passengers the officers and crew of the North-\\nWest America, who communicated the news of the capture of that\\nvessel, and of the Argonaut and Princess Royal, by the Spaniards.\\nThe owners immediately determined to apply to the British govern-\\nment for redress and Meares was accordingly despatched to Lon-\\ndon, where he arrived in April, 1790, provided with depositions,\\nand other documents, in substantiation of their claims. While he\\nwas on his way, however, the circumstances on which his applica-\\ntion was to be founded had already become the subject of a serious\\ndiscussion between the courts of London and Madrid.\\nOn the 10th of February, 1790, the Spanish ambassador at\\nLondon presented to the British ministry a note, in which, after\\ncommunicating the fact of the seizure of a British vessel (the\\nArgonaut) at Nootka, he required, in the name of his government,\\nthat the parties who had planned the expedition should be punished,\\nin order to deter other persons from making settlements on territo-\\nries long occupied and frequented by the Spaniards and he at the\\nsame time complained of the trade and fishery, by British subjects,\\nin the seas adjoining the Spanish American continent on the west,\\nas contrary to the rights of Spain, guarantied by Great Britain in\\nthe treaty of Utrecht, and respected by all European nations. To\\nthis the British ministers answered, on the 26th, that, although they\\nhad not received exact information as to the facts stated by the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0232.jp2"}, "233": {"fulltext": "1790.] DISCUSSIONS IN LONDON. 203\\nambassador, yet the act of violence against British subjects described\\nin his note necessarily suspended all discussion of the claims ad-\\nvanced by him, until adequate atonement should have been made\\nfor the outrage. In the mean time, they demanded the immediate\\nrestoration of the vessel seized, reserving further proceedings on the\\nsubject until more complete details of the circumstances could be\\nobtained.\\nThis unexpected answer, with other circumstances, induced the\\nSpanish cabinet to suspect that more was meant than had been\\nopenly declared by Great Britain that this power was, in fact, only\\nseeking an occasion to break the peace with Spain for some ulte-\\nrior object and, under the influence of this suspicion, preparations\\nfor war were commenced in all the naval arsenals of the latter king-\\ndom. The king of Spain being, however, anxious to prevent a\\nrupture, if possible, his ambassador at London addressed another\\nnote to the British government in April, declaring that, although\\nthe Spanish crown had an indubitable right to the continent, islands,\\nharbors, and coasts, of America on the Pacific, founded upon trea-\\nties and immemorial possession, yet, as the viceroy of Mexico had\\nreleased the vessel seized at Nootka, his Catholic majesty regarded\\nthe afl fiir as concluded, without entering into any disputes and dis-\\ncussions on the undoubted rights of Spain and, desiring to give a\\nproof of his friendship for Great Britain, he should rest satisfied, if\\nher subjects were commanded to respect those rights in future.\\nThis last communication was received about the time when\\nMeares arrived in London from China and the information brought\\nby him was not calculated to render the British government inclined\\nto accept the pacific overture of Spain. On the contrary, orders\\nwere issued for arming two large fleets, and the whole affair, which\\nhad been previously kept secret, was submitted to Parliament by a\\nmessage from the king on the 5th of May.\\nIn this message, his majesty states that two vessels, belonging to\\nhis subjects, and navigated under the British flag, and two others,\\nof which the description was not then sufficiently ascertained, had\\nbeen captured at Nootka Sound, by an officer commanding two\\nSpanish ships of war the cargoes of the two British vessels had\\nbeen seized, and their crews had been sent as prisoners to a Span-\\nish port that, as soon as he had been informed of the capture\\nof one of these vessels, he had ordered a demand to be made for\\nher restitution, and for adequate satisfaction, previous to any other\\ndiscussion from the answer to which demand, it appeared that the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0233.jp2"}, "234": {"fulltext": "204 THE KING OF ENGLAND s MESSAGE. [1790.\\nvessel and her crew had been liberated by the viceroy of Mexico,\\non the supposition, however, that ignorance of the rights of Spain\\nalone induced individuals of other nations to frequent those coasts,\\nfor the purposes of trade and settlement but that no satisfaction\\nwas made or offered by Spain, and a direct claim was asserted by\\nher government to the exclusive rights of sovereignty, navigation,\\nand commerce, in the territories, coasts, and seas, of that part of the\\nworld. In consequence of all which, his majesty had directed his\\nminister at Madrid to make a fresh representation on the subject,\\nand to claim such full and adequate satisfaction as the nature of the\\ncase evidently required. Having, moreover, been informed that\\nconsiderable armaments were in progress in the ports of Spain, he\\nhad judged it indispensable to make preparations for acting with\\nvigor and effect in support of the honor of his crown, and the inter-\\nests of his people and he recommended that Parliament should\\nenable him to take such other measures, and to make such aug-\\nmentations of his forces, as might be eventually requisite for this\\npurpose.*\\nThe recommendations in this message were received with every\\nmark of concurrence in Parliament and throughout the kingdom\\nthe supplies were immediately voted, and the preparations for war\\nwere continued with unexampled activity. On the day in which\\nthe message was sent, a note was addressed to the Spanish ambas-\\nsador at London, containing a reiteration of the demands previously\\nmade, and of the declaration that, until those demands should have\\nbeen satisfied, the question of the rights of Spain would not be dis-\\ncussed. His majesty, says the note, will take the most effectual\\npacific measures to prevent his subjects from trespassing on the just\\nand acknowledged rights of Spain but he cannot accede to the\\npretensions of absolute sovereignty, commerce, and navigation,\\nwhich appeared to be the principal objects of the last note from\\nthe Spanish ambassador and he considers it his duty to protect his\\nsubjects in the enjoyment of the right of fishery in the Pacific\\nOcean. The British Charge d affaires at Madrid also presented, in\\nthe name of his government, formal demands for the restitution of\\nthe other vessel [the Princess Royal] and cargo seized at Nootka,\\nand for reparation of the losses and injtiries sustained by the British\\nsubjects trading in the North Pacific under the British flag asserting,\\nThis mcssagp, and all the other official documents relative to the discussion\\nwhich have been published, will be found in the Proofs and Illustrations, under the\\nletter D.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0234.jp2"}, "235": {"fulltext": "1790.] DEMANDS OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. 205\\nat the same time, as a principle which would be maintained by his\\ngovernment, that British subjects have an indisputable right to the\\nenjoyment of a free and uninterrupted navigation, commerce, and fsh-\\nery, and to the possession of such establishments as they should form,\\nwith the consent of the natives of the country, not previously occu-\\npied by any of the European nations.\\nTo these formal exactions of the British government, the court of\\nMadrid replied, at first indirectly, by a circular letter addressed, on\\nthe 4th of June, to all the other courts of Europe. This letter was\\ncouched in the most conciliatory language it contained a recapitu-\\nlation of the circumstances of the dispute, according to the views\\nof Spain denying all intention, on her part, to commit or defend\\nany act of injustice against Great Britain, or to claim any rights\\nwhich did not rest upon irrefragable titles insisting that the cap-\\nture of the British vessel had been repaired by the conduct of the\\nviceroy of Mexico in immediately restoring her and declaring the\\nreadiness of his Catholic majesty to satisfy any demands which\\nshould prove to be well founded, after an investigativ n of the ques-\\ntion of right between the two crowns. This reply not being con-\\nsidered sufficient by the British ambassador, a Memorial was deliv-\\nered to him, on the 13th of the same month, by count de Florida\\nBlanca, the Spanish minister of state, not differing essentially in its\\nimport from the circular letter which, however, served only to\\nrender the ambassador still more urgent for a specific answer to the\\ndemands of his government. At length, after repeated conferences,\\nthe Spanish minister, on the 18th, officially signified that his sove-\\nreign, having approved the restitution of all the vessels and their car-\\ngoes seized at Nootka, was willing to indemnify the owners for their\\nlosses, and also to make satisfaction for the insult to the dignity of\\nthe British crown provided, that the extent of the insult and of the\\nsatisfaction should be settled, in form and substance, either by one\\nof the kings of Europe, to be selected by his Britannic majesty, or\\nby a negotiation between the two governments, in which no facts\\nwere to be admitted as true, except such as were fully established\\nand that no inference affecting the rights of Spain should be drawn\\nfrom the act of giving satisfaction.\\nThis offer of reparation was accepted by the court of London\\nand, on the 24th of July, count de Florida Blanca presented to\\nMr. Fitzherbert, the British ambassador at Madrid, a Declaration,\\nm the name of his sovereign, to the effect that he would restore\\nthe vessels and indemnify the owners for their losses, so soon as the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0235.jp2"}, "236": {"fulltext": "206 DECLARATION OF THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT. [1790.\\namount should have been ascertained, and would give satisfaction\\nto his Britannic majesty for the injury of which he had complained\\nand this Declaration, together with the performance of the engage-\\nments made in it, was admitted by the ambassador in his Counter\\nDeclaration,* as full and entire satisfaction for those injuries it be-\\ning, however, at the same time admitted and expressed on both\\nsides, that the Spanish Declaration was not to preclude or preju-\\ndice the ulterior discussion of any right which his Catholic majesty\\nmight claim to form an exclusive estabhshment at Nootka Sound.\\nThe affair had thus far proceeded, nearly in the same course as\\nthat respecting the Falkland Islands, twenty years previous and\\nthe government of Madrid probably supposed that it would have\\nbeen terminated in the same manner. But Mr. Pitt, then in the\\nfulness of his power in England, had other objects in view. The\\nrevolution in France was then advancing with a rapidity terrible to\\nall who desired to maintain the existing state of things in Europe\\nand anti-monarchical doctrines and feelings were pervading every\\npart of that continent, and even of the British Islands. Pitt clearly\\nforesaw the storm which afterwards came on, and determined\\nto prepare for it, by arming at home, and by leading or forcing\\nother nations to accede to his plans. He accordingly formed alli-\\nances with Holland and Sweden for Spain he had inherited all\\nhis father s hatred and contempt; and, considering her long and\\nclose connection with France, he resolved to bend and bind her to\\nhis views by the strong hand. He had already, in an inconceivably\\nshort space of time, assembled a mighty armament, which he in-\\ntended, in the event of a war, to direct against the Spanish posses-\\nsions in America, for the purpose of wresting them from their actual\\nrulers, either by conquest or by internal revolution f and, having\\nassumed this position, he did not hesitate to require from Spain the\\nsurrender of many of the exclusive pretensions with regard to nav-\\nigation, commerce, and territorial sovereignty, upon which her do-\\nminion in the western continent was supposed, with reason, to\\nThe Declaration and Counter Declaration may be found among the documents\\nconnected with the discussion, in the Proofs and Illustrations, under the letter D, No. 7.\\nt Mr. Pitt s scheme for detaching from Spain her transatlantic dominions is be-\\nlieved, with reason, to have been suggested to him by Francisco Miranda, a native\\nof Caraccas, through whose agency a number of exiles and fugitives from those\\ncountries, including many of the expelled Jesuits, were engaged in the plan, and cor-\\nrespondences were commenced with the principal persons inclined to a separation\\nfrom Spain in all parts of her American territories. On this subject, many curious\\nparticulars may be found in the Edinburgh Review for January, 1809. The subse-\\nquent history, and the melancholy fate, of Miranda are well known.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0236.jp2"}, "237": {"fulltext": "1790.] FURTHER NEGOTIATION AT MADRID. 207\\ndepend. The negotiation on the subject of these demands was\\ncontinued at Madrid for three months after the acceptance of the\\nSpanish Declaration during which period couriers were constantly\\nflying between that city and London, and the whole civilized world\\nwas kept in suspense and anxiety as to the result.\\nThe British plenipotentiary at Madrid, Mr. Fitzherbert, began by\\nrequiring from Spain a distinct admission of the right of his coun-\\ntrymen to navigate and fish in any part of the Pacific, and to trade\\nand settle on any of its unoccupied American coasts in reply to\\nwhich, the Spanish minister, Count de Florida Blanca, proposed to\\nadmit the rights of fishery, trade, and settlement, with regard to the\\nopen sea, and to coasts north of the 51st parallel of latitude, on\\ncondition that the British should never penetrate more than twenty\\nleagues into the interior, from those coasts, and to allow the privi-\\nlege of fishing about the southern extremity of the continent, but\\nnot of settling there, leaving to Spain the right to destroy any such\\nestablishments, as is practised in the Falkland Islands. Mr.\\nFitzherbert rejected this proposition, and insisted that certain lines\\nof boundary should be drawn from the coasts, through the interior\\nof the continents, in the north and in the south, between which\\nBritish subjects should form no settlements the territories beyond\\nthose lines, in either direction, being free to both nations, provided\\nthat the subjects of either should have access to the settlements\\nthus made by the other party. The line first proposed by the\\nBritish as the northern boundary, was to extend from the Pacific,\\nalong the 31st parallel of latitude, to the Colorado, thence along\\nthat river to its source, and thence to the nearest branch of the\\nMissouri but another line was afterwards oflfered, running from\\nthe Pacific, along the 40th parallel of latitude, eastward to the\\nMissouri. The Spanish government, however, positively refused to\\nassent to these or any other lines of boundary thus arbitrarily\\nchosen and all hope of accommodation seemed to be destroyed.\\nIt is scarcely necessary to remark, that the admission of either\\nof these lines would have materially aflfected the destinies of the\\nUnited States, and, indeed, of the whole northern continent.\\nIn the mean time, events were occurring in other parts of Europe,\\nwhich contributed to change the views of the disputing parties, and\\nto incline them to compromise their differences, and even to unite\\ntheir forces.\\nAs soon as the dispute between Great Britain and Spain, and the\\nNarrative of the negotiations occasioned by the dispute between England and\\nSpain in the year 1790, officially published by the British ministers in 1790.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0237.jp2"}, "238": {"fulltext": "208 PROCEEDINGS OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. [1790.\\npreparations of those powers for war, became known, King Louis\\nXVI. of France ordered fourteen sail of the hne to be equipped\\nfor active service, in ordei to meet contingencies. He was, how-\\never, under the necessity of communicating this measure to the\\nNational Assembly, then in session, which seized the occasion to\\ndeprive the crown of one of its most essential attributes. On the\\n24th of May, a decree was passed by that body, establishing that\\nthe right to make war or peace belonged to the nation, and could\\nonly be exercised through the concurrence of the legislative and the\\nexecutive branches of the government and that no treaty with an-\\nother power could have effect until it had been ratified by the rep-\\nresentatives of the nation a committee was at the same time\\nappointed to examine and report upon all the existing treaties of\\nalliance between France and other nations. These proceedings\\nwere equivalent to an annulment of the Family Compact between\\nthe sovereigns of the house of Bourbon nevertheless, when the\\nking of Spain found himself pressed by Great Britain to relinquish\\nhis exclusive pretensions with regard to America, he formally ap-\\nplied to his cousin of France for aid, agreeably to that compact, in\\nresisting those demands declaring, at the same time, that, unless\\nthe assistance should be given speedily and effectually, Spain\\nwould be under the necessity of seeking other friends and allies\\namong all the powers of Europe, without excepting any, on whom\\nshe could rely in case of need.\\nThe letter of the king of Spain was submitted by Louis XVL to\\nthe National Assembly, by which it was referred to the committee\\nappointed to examine the existing treaties between France and\\nother nations and, in the name of that committee, the celebrated\\nMirabeau, on the 24th of August, presented a luminous report, in-\\ncluding considerations of the character of the Family Compact and\\nother engagements between France and Spain, and a view of\\nthe actual positions of Spain and Great Britain towards each\\nother and towards France. The questions raised by this report\\nwere debated, with great display of eloquence and political wis-\\ndom, by Mirabeau, the Abbe Maury, Lameth, Barnave, and other\\ndistinguished members of the Assembly and it was decreed that\\nFrance, while taking proper measures to maintain peace, should\\nobserve the existing commercial and defensive engagements between\\nher government and that of Spain but that a new and national\\ntreaty should be immediately negotiated, wherein the relations of\\nthe two countries towards each other should be defined and fixed\\nwith precision and clearness, agreeably to the views of general", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0238.jp2"}, "239": {"fulltext": "1790.] SECRET NEGOTIATION AT PARIS. 209\\npeace, and the principles of justice, which were, in future, to prevail\\nin France and that, taking into consideration the armaments then\\nin progress throughout Europe, and the dangers to which the\\ncommerce and colonies of France might be exposed, the marine\\nforce of the kingdom sliould be increased, without delay, to forty-\\nfive sail of the line, and a proportionate number of frigates.\\nAlthough this decree contained no direct promise of assistance\\nto Spain, yet it showed that the French government penetrated\\nthe designs of the British, and considered them inimical to its own\\ninterests while, at the same time, the report, on which the decree\\nwas based, evinced an ardent desire, on the part of the French\\nreformers, to preserve peace. In the mean time, revolutionary\\nprinciples were making rapid progress throughout Europe. The\\nDutch, who had engaged to assist the British with a fleet, in case\\nof a war with Spain, found their forces necessary at home Swe-\\nden having, much to the dissatisfaction of the court of London,\\nmade peace with Russia, the latter power was left at liberty to pros-\\necute its schemes for the dismemberment of England s old ally,\\nTurkey and, in the East Indies, Tippoo Saib was beginning that\\nwar against the British power which he prosecuted so long and\\nvigorously. Moreover, the expenses of the British armament had\\nalready amounted to more than four millions of pounds and the\\nfinancial condition of England was not such as to encourage her\\ngovernment to commence hostilities, which would, most probably,\\nbecome general. Under these circumstances, the court of St.\\nJames was under the necessity of lowering its tone, and of receding\\nfrom its first demands. The determination of lines of boundary to\\nthe Spanish American dominions in the north and in the south was\\nno longer required and it was admitted that the navigation and\\nfishery of British subjects in the Pacific Ocean should not be\\ncarried on within ten sea leagues of any existing Sj)anish settle-\\nment, and that neither party should form settlements on the coasts\\nof South America, south of those actually occupied by Spain. Mr.\\nPitt, moreover, knowing the intimate relations which still subsisted\\nbetween the French and Spanish governments, commissioned a\\ngentleman at Paris, upon whom he could rely, to sound Mirabeau,\\nand other leaders of the National Assembly and, having reason\\nto believe them sincerely anxious to prevent hostilities, he instructed\\nhis agent to propose a secret negotiation, to be carried on through\\nthe medium of the French government, for the restoration of a\\ngood understanding between Great Britain and Spain.\\n27", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0239.jp2"}, "240": {"fulltext": "210 TERMINATION OF THE DISPUTE. [1790,\\nIn the letter of instructions from Mr. Pitt to his agent at Paris,*\\nhe declares it to be essential that the French should not appear in\\nthe business as mediators, still less as arbitrators, and that no en-\\ncouragement should be given to them to propose any other terms\\nthan those on which Great Britain had already insisted that,\\nwhatever confidential communications may take place with the\\ndiplomatic committee of the National Assembly, for the sake of\\nbringing them to promote the views of Great Britain, no ostensible\\nintercourse could be admitted, except through accredited minis-\\nters and especially that no assurances be given, directly or\\nindirectly, which go further than that Great Britain means to perse-\\nvere in the neutrality which she has hitherto observed with respect\\nto the internal dissensions of France, and is desirous to cultivate\\npeace and friendly relations with that country. The agent, thus\\ninstructed, presented himself to the diplomatic committee of the\\nNational Assembly, which at once resolved to do all in its power\\nto strengthen the relations with England, and to prevent a war, if\\npossible and, with this view, three of its most influential members,\\nFreteau, Barnave, and Menou, were deputed to conduct the busi-\\nness on its part. These members conferred with the British agent,\\nand also with M. de Montmorin, the minister of foreign relations of\\nFrance, who communicated directly with the Spanish government;\\nand in this manner the controversy was brought to a close, by a\\nconvention signed, at the palace of the Escurial, on the 28th of\\nOctober, by Mr. Fitzherbert, the British ambassador, and count de\\nFlorida Blanca on the part of Spain.\\nThis convention, commonly called the Nootka treaty, contains\\neight articles, of which the substance is as follows\\nWith respect to the circumstances which occasioned the dispute,\\nit was stipulated, by the first and second articles, that the build-\\nings and tracts of land, on the north-west coasts of America,\\nof which British subjects were dispossessed by a Spanish officer,\\nabout the month of April, 1789, shall be restored a just repara-\\ntion shall be made for all acts of violence or hostility committed by\\nthe subjects of either party against those of the other, subsequent\\nto the month of April, 1789; and, in case the subjects of either\\nshould have been, since the same period, forcibly dispossessed of\\ntheir lands, vessels, or other property on the American coasts, or the\\nThe whole letter is given by Bishop Tomlino, in his Life of Pitt, chap. xii. The\\nname of the person to whom it is addressed does not appear he is simply mentioned\\nas a gentleman resident at Paris, of considerable diplomatic experience.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0240.jp2"}, "241": {"fulltext": "1790.] NOOTKA CONVENTION. 211\\nadjoining seas, they shall bo reestablished in the possession thereof,\\nor a just compensation shall be made to them for their losses.\\nFor the future, it was agreed, by the third article of the conven-\\ntion, that the subjects of the two parties shall not be disturbed in\\nnavigating or fishing in the South Seas, or the Pacific Ocean, or in\\nlanding on the coasts thereof, in places not already occupied, for\\nthe purposes of settlement or of trade with the natives the whole\\nsubject, nevertheless, to the restrictions specified in the three\\nfollowing articles, to wit that his Britannic majesty shall take\\nthe most effectual means to prevent his subjects from making their\\nnavigation or fishery in those seas a pretext for illicit trade with\\nthe Spanish settlements with which view it is agreed that British\\nsubjects shall not navigate or fish within ten leagues of any part of\\nthe coast already occupied by Spain that the subjects of both\\nnations shall have free access and right of trading in the places\\nrestored to British subjects by this convention, and in any other\\nparts of the north-west coasts of America, north of the places\\nalready occupied by Spain, where the subjects of either party shall\\nhave made settlements since the month of April, 1789, or may in\\nfuture make any and that no settlement shall in future be made,\\nby the subjects of either power, on the eastern or the western coasts\\nof South America, or the adjacent islands, south of the parts of\\nthe same coasts or islands already occupied by Spain though the\\nsubjects of both remained at liberty to land on those coasts and\\nislands, and to erect temporary buildings only, for the purposes of\\ntheir fishery.\\nFinally, it was agreed, by the seventh article, that, in cases of\\ninfraction of the convention, the officers of either party shall, with-\\nout committing any act of violence themselves, make an exact\\nreport of the aflair to their respective governments, which would\\nterminate such differences in an amicable manner. The eighth\\narticle relates merely to the time of ratification of the convention.*\\nThe convention, together with the declaration and counter\\ndeclaration preceding it, were submitted to Parliament on the 3d\\nof December, unaccompanied by any other papers relative to the\\nnegotiation and they became the subjects of animated debates, in\\nwhich the most distinguished members of both houses took parts.\\nThe arrangements were extolled by the ministers and their friends\\nin general terms, as vindicating the dignity of the nation, and\\nThe convention will be found at length among the Proofs and Illustrations, in\\nthe latter part of this volume, under the letter K, No. 1.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0241.jp2"}, "242": {"fulltext": "212 NOOTKA CONVENTION BEFORE PARLIAMENT. [1790.\\nproviding reparation for the injuries sustained by its subjects, and\\nas securing to those subjects, in future, the rights of navigation and\\nfishery in the Pacific and Southern Oceans, and of settlement on\\ntheir unoccupied coasts, and estabUshing the long-discussed ques-\\ntions on those points, on such grounds as must prevent all further\\ndispute. The opposition, on the other hand, contended that the\\nreparation promised by Spain was incomplete and insufficient\\nthat the arrangements for the prevention of future difficulties were\\nmerely culpable concessions to that power, whereby the rights of\\nBritish subjects were materially abridged, and the Spaniards would\\nbe encouraged to commit further acts of violence and, finally,\\nthat all the advantages which could be expected from the con-\\nvention, even according to the views of the ministers, were far\\nbelow the amount of the expense at which they had been obtained.\\nIt was noticed by Mr. Charles Fox, as a curious and inexplicable\\nincongruity in the treaty, that about the month of April, 1789,\\nshould have been inserted as the date of what was known to have\\ntaken place, agreeably to all the evidence produced, in May of the\\nsame year and that, although, by the first article, the lands and\\nbuildings declared to have been taken from British subjects by a\\nSpanish officer, about the month of April, 1789, were to be\\nrestored, yet, by the second article, the lands, buildings, and other\\nproperty, of which the subjects of either party had been dispos-\\nsessed \u00e2\u0096\u00a0^subsequent to the month of April, 1789, were to be\\nrestored, or compensation was to be made to the owners for the\\nlosses which they might have sustained. Upon this point, it will be\\nseen that, if the word or,^^ in the concluding part of the second\\narticle, were replaced by and, the incongruity would disappear\\nbut then, also, the first article would become entirely superfluous.\\nIt would, however, be idle to suppose that any error could have\\nbeen committed with regard to matters so essential, or that the\\nwant of accordance between the difterent provisions of the con-\\nvention, noticed by Mr. Fox, should have been the result of accident\\nor carelessness. The ministers, when pressed for explanations on\\nthis head, answered, i^idirectly, that the Spanish government would\\nmake the restitutions as agreed in the first article.\\nIt may here be observed, that no notice whatsoever of a claim,\\non the part of British subjects, to lands or buildings on the north-\\nwest coast of America, appears either in the king s message to\\nParliament, communicating the fact of the seizures at Nootka, or", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0242.jp2"}, "243": {"fulltext": "1790.] NOOTKA CONVENTION BEFORE PARLIAMENT. 213\\nin the debates in Parliament on that message, or in the official\\ncorrespondence between the two governments on the subject, so far\\nas published and the only evidence of such acquisition of lands or\\nerection of buildings to be found among the documents annexed to\\nthe Memorial presented by Meares to the ministry, is contained in\\nthe information of William Graham, a seaman of the Felice, which\\nwas talcen in London five days after the date of the Memorial.\\nThe statement of actual and probable losses, for which the memo-\\nrialists prayed to be indemnified, to the amount of six hundred and\\nfifty thousand dollars, is, moreover, confined entirely to losses con-\\nsequent upon the seizure of the vessels and cargoes at Nootka.\\nThis silence, with regard to lands and buildings, in all the docu-\\nments brought from China by Meares, certainly authorizes the\\nsuspicion that the idea of advancing a claim on those points may\\nhave occurred to that gentleman, or may have been suggested\\nto him after his arrival in England, and even after his first commu-\\nnications with the ministers.\\nWith respect to the rights of navigation and fishery in the Pacific\\nand Southern Oceans, and of settlement on their unoccupied coasts,\\nit was insisted by Fox, Grey, the marquis of Lansdowne, and other\\neminent members of the opposition in Parhament, that nothing\\nhad been gained, but, on the contrary, much had been surrendered,\\nby the convention. Our right, before the convention, said Mr. Fox,\\nwhether admitted or denied by Spain loas of no consequence,\\nwas to settle in any part of South or North-West America, not for-\\ntified against us by previous occupancy and we were now restrict-\\ned to settle in certain places only, and under certain conditions.\\nOur rights of fishing extended to the whole ocean and now it was\\nlimited, and not to be exercised within certain distances of the\\nSpanish settlements. Our right of making settlements was not, as\\nnow, a right to build huts, but to plant colonies, if we thought\\nproper. In renouncing all right to make settlements in South\\nAmerica, we had given to Spain what she considered as inestima-\\nble, and had, in return, been contented with dross. In every\\nplace in which we might settle, said Grey, access was left for the\\nSpaniards. Where we might form a settlement on one hill, they\\nmight erect a fort on another and a merchant must run all the\\nrisks of a discovery, and all the expenses of an establishment, for a\\nproperty which was liable to be the subject of continual dispute,\\nand could never be placed upon a permanent footing.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0243.jp2"}, "244": {"fulltext": "214 REVIEW OF THE NOOTKA CONVENTION. [1790.\\nAs to the utility of the convention in preventing disputes in\\nfuture between the two nations, Mr. Fox was wholly incredulous\\nand he predicted that difficulties would soon arise (as they did)\\nfrom the impossibility of devising and enforcmg any measures on\\nthe part of Great Britain, which could be considered effectual,^ in\\nchecking illicit trade between British subjects and the Spanish set-\\ntlements in America. This treaty, says he, in conclusion, re-\\nminds me of a lawyer s will, drawn by himself, with a note in the\\nmargin of a particular clause This will afford room for an excel-\\nlent disquisition in the Court of Chancery. With equal propriety,\\nand full as much truth, might those who had extolled the latp i^ego-\\ntiation, for the occasion it had given to show the vigor and prompt-\\nitude of the national resources, write in the margin of most of the\\narticles of the convention This will afford an admirable oppor-\\ntunity for a future display of the power and energy of Great\\nBritain.\\nTo all these objections the ministers and their friends gave only\\nshort, general, and evasive answers. Their great majorities in both\\nhouses enabled them to dispense with arguments, and to evade the\\ncalls for information or papers relating to the transaction and,\\nhaving triumphantly carried their vote of thanks to the sovereign,\\nthey were left at liberty to execute the new engagements, according\\nto their own construction, for which they had certainly provided\\nthemselves with ample space.\\nAs the convention of October, 1790, was the first diplomatic ar-\\nrangement between the governments of civilized nations with regard\\nto the north-west coast of North America, its conclusion forms an\\nimportant era in the history of that part of the world. On exam-\\nining its stipulations, we shall see that they were calculated\\nto produce very few and slight changes in any way, and that\\nthose changes were not, upon the whole, disadvantageous to the\\nreal interests of Spain. The exclusive navigation of the Pacific and\\nSouthern Oceans, and the sovereignty of the vacant territories of\\nAmerica bordering upon them, were claimed by Spain, only with\\nthe object of preventing other nations from intercourse with her\\nsettlements as her government foresaw that such intercourse, par-\\nticularly with the British, who had for more than two centuries\\nbeen striving to establish it, would be fatal to the subsistence of\\nSpanish supremacy over those dominions. By the convention, both\\nparties were admitted, equally, to navigate and fish in the above-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0244.jp2"}, "245": {"fulltext": "1790.] REVIEW OF THE NOOTKA CONVENTION. 215\\nnamed seas but the British were, at the same time, specially pro-\\nhibited from approaching the territories under the actual authority\\nof Spain, and were thus debarred from the exercise of a privilege\\nadvantageous to themselves and most annoying to Spain, which\\nthey previously possessed in virtue of their maritime superiority.\\nBoth parties were by the convention equally excluded from settling\\non the vacant coasts of South America, and from exercising that\\njurisdiction which is essential to political sovereignty, over any spot\\nnorth of the most northern Spanish settlement on the Pacific but\\nthe British and the Russians were the only nations who would be\\nlikely to occupy any of those territories, and the British would not,\\nprobably, concede to the Russians any rights greater than those\\nwliich they themselves possessed and any establishment which\\neither of those powers might form in tlie north, under circumstances\\nso disadvantageous, would be separated from the settled provinces\\nof Spain by a region of mountains, forests, and deserts, of more\\nthan a thousand miles in extent. The convention, in fine, estab-\\nlished new bases for the navigation and fishery of the respective\\nparties, and their trade with the natives on the unoccupied coasts\\nof America but it determined nothing regarding the rights of either\\nto the sovereignty of any portion of America, except so far as it\\nmay imply an abrogation, or rather a suspension, of all such claims,\\non both sides, to any of those coasts.\\nIt is, however, probable that the convention published, as the\\nresult of this negotiation, did not contain all the engagements\\ncontracted by Great Britain and Spain towards each other on that\\noccasion. It was generally believed in Europe that a secret treaty\\nof alliance was at the same time signed, by which the two nations\\nwere bound, under certain contingencies, to act together against\\nFrance, with the understanding that the stipulations of the conven-\\ntion published should remain inoperative and this supposition is\\nstrengthened by the third article of the treaty of alliance between\\nthose powers, concluded on the 25tli of May, 1793, setting forth\\nthat, Their majesties having perceived just grounds of jealousy\\nand uneasiness for the safety of their respective dominions, and for\\nthe maintenance of the general system of Europe, in the measures\\nwhich have been for some time past adopted by France, they had\\nalready agreed to establish between them an intimate and entire con-\\ncert, upon the means of opposing a sufficient barrier to those dan-\\ngerous views of aggression and aggrandizement, c.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0245.jp2"}, "246": {"fulltext": "216\\nCHAPTER X.\\n1790 TO 1792.\\nVancouver sent by the British Government to explore the Coasts of America, and\\nreceive Possession of Lands and Buildings agreeably to the Convention with\\nSpain Passage of the Washington, under Kendrick, through the Strait of Fuca,\\nin 1789 Nootka reoccupied by the Spaniards Voyages of Fidalgo, Quimper,\\nElisa, Billings, Marchand, and Malaspina Voyages of the American Fur Tra-\\nders Gray, Ingraham, and Kendrick Discovery of the Washington Islands by\\nIngraham.\\nIn execution of the first and second articles of the conven-\\ntion of October, 1790, between Spain and Great Britain, com-\\nmissioners were appointed on each side, who were to meet at\\nNootka Sound, and there to determine what lands and buildings\\nwere to be restored to the British claimants, or what amount of\\nindemnification was to be made to them by Spain. The British\\ngovernment at first selected Captain Trowbridge as its agent for\\nthis purpose but the business was afterwards committed to Captain\\nGeorge Vancouver, who was then about to sail on a voyage of ex-\\nploration to the Pacific.\\nVancouver was instructed to examine and survey the whole\\nshores of the American continent on the Pacific, from the 35th to\\nthe 60th parallels of latitude to ascertain particularly the number,\\nsituation, and extent of the settlements of civilized nations within\\nthese limits and especially to acquire information as to the nature\\nand direction of any water-passage, which might serve as a channel\\nfor commercial intercourse between that side of America and the\\nterritories on the Atlantic side occupied by British subjects. For\\nthis last-mentioned object, he was particularly to examine the sup-\\nposed Strait of Juan de Fuca, said to be situated between the 48th\\nand the 49th degrees of north latitude, and to lead to an opening\\nthrough which the sloop Washington is reported to have passed in\\n1789, and to have come out again to the northward of Nootka.\\nIntroduction to Vancouver s narrative of his voyage.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0246.jp2"}, "247": {"fulltext": "1791.] kendrick s passage through fuca s strait. 217\\nWith these orders, Vancouver sailed from England in January,\\n1791, in the ship Discovery, accompanied by the brig Chatham,\\nunder the command of Lieutenant Robert Broughton. The instruc-\\ntions for his conduct as commissioner were afterwards despatched\\nto him in the store-ship Daedalus.\\nThe account of the passage of the Washington through the Strait\\nof Fuca, mentioned in the instructions to Vancouver, had appeared\\nin the Observations on the prohahh Existence of a J^orth-West\\nPassage, prefixed by Meares to the narrative of his voyages, which\\nhad then been recently published at London. Meares there says,\\nThe Washington entered the Straits of John de Fuca, the knowl-\\nedge of which she had received from us and, penetrating up them,\\nentered into an extensive sea, where she steered to the northward\\nand eastward, and had communications with the various tribes who\\ninhabit the shores of the numerous islands that are situated at the\\nback of Nootka Sound, and speak, with some little variation, the\\nlanguage of the Nootkan people. The track of this vessel is marked\\non the map, and is of great moment, as it is now completely ascer-\\ntained that Nootka Sound and the parts adjacent are islands, and\\ncomprehended within the great northern archipelago. The sea also\\nwhich is seen to the east is of great extent, and it is from this sta-\\ntionary point, and the most westerly parts of Hudson s Bay, that we\\nare to form an estimate of the distance between them. The most\\neasterly direction of the Washington s course is to the longitude of\\n237 degrees east of Greenwich. It is probable, however, tiiat the\\nmaster of that vessel did not make any astronomical observations, to\\ngive a just idea of that station but, as we have those made by Cap-\\ntain Cook at Nootka Sound, we may be able to form a conjecture,\\nsomewhat approaching the truth, concerning the distance between\\nNootka and the easternmost station of the Washington in the north-\\nern archipelago and consequently this station may be presumed to\\nbe in the longitude, or thereabout, of 237 degrees east of Green-\\nwich. In another place, Meares speaks of the proofs brought by\\nthe Washington, which sailed through a sea extending upwards of\\neight degrees of latitude, in support of his opinion, that the north-\\nwestern portion of America was a collection of islands and in the\\nchart annexed, i/te sketch of the track of the American sloop Wash-\\nington in the autumn of 1789, is represented by those words run-\\nning in a semi-oval line from the southern entrance of the Strait of\\nFuca, at Cape Flattery, eastward, to the longitude of 237 degrees,\\nthen north-westward, to the 55th parallel of latitude, then west-\\n28", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0247.jp2"}, "248": {"fulltext": "218 kendrick s passage through fuca s strait. [1789.\\nward, through the passage north of Queen Charlotte s Island, to the\\nPacific. The sea through which the track extends is represented\\nas unlimited in the east, and communicating, in the west, with the\\nPacific by channels between islands no pretension to accuracy is,\\nhowever, made in this part of the chart, the object being merely to\\nshow that the Washington sailed from the southern entrance of the\\nstrait eastward to the longitude of 237 degrees, and northward\\nto the latitude of 55 degrees.\\nThe name of the person under whose command the passage\\nwas said to have been effected is not given but. Gray being\\nfrequently mentioned by Meares, in his narrative and accompanying\\npapers, as the captain of the Washington, it was naturally supposed\\nthat, if that sloop did pass through the strait, she must have done so\\nunder the command of Gray and when Vancouver, who met Gray\\nnear Nootka in 1792, as will be hereafter related, was assured by\\nhim that he had entered the opening, but had only advanced fifty\\nmiles ivithin it, the entire erroneousness of the account given by\\nMeares was regarded as established.\\nHowever, about the time of Vancouver s departure from England,\\nan angry discussion was carried on through the medium of pam-\\nphlets, between Meares, and Dixon the captain of the ship Queen\\nCharlotte, (one of the vessels sent to the Pacific by the King\\nGeorge s Sound Company of London,) in consequence of the se-\\nvere remarks made by Meares, in his work, on the character of\\nDixon, and on inany parts of his journal, which had been pub-\\nlished in 1789. Dixon, in his first pamphlet,* particularly attacked\\nand ridiculed the account given by his opponent of the passage of\\nthe Washington, and sneeringly summoned him to inform the\\npublic from what authority he had introduced the track of that ves-\\nsel into his chart. To this Meares, in his Answer,! says, Mr.\\nNeville, a gentleman of the most respectable character, who came\\nhome in the Chesterfield, a ship in the service of the East India\\nCompany, made that communication to me which I have communi-\\ncated to the public. Mr. Kendrick, who commanded the Wash-\\nington, arrived at China, with a very valuable cargo of furs, previ-\\nous to the departure of the Chesterfield and Mr. Neville, who was\\nRemarks on the Voyages of John Meares, in a Letter to that Gentleman, by\\nGeorge Dixon, late Commander of the Queen Charlotte in a Voyage around the\\nWorld. London, 1790.\\nt An Answer to Mr. George Dixon, c., by John Meares in which the Remarks\\nof Mr. Dixon are fully considered and refuted. London, 1791.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0248.jp2"}, "249": {"fulltext": "1789.] kendrick s passage through the strait of fuca. 219\\ncontinually with him during that interval, and received the particu-\\nlars of the track from him, was so obliging as to state it to me.\\nThus it appears that the passage of the Washmgton through the\\nstrait, as reported by Meares, took place under Kendrick, after Gray\\nhad quitted the command of that sloop. This explanation was\\npublished in London subsequent to the departure of Vancouver for\\nthe Pacific and, the discussion between Meares and Dixon being\\non matters in which the public could have taken little or no interest,\\nit was doubtless forgotten, and their pamphlets were out of circu-\\nlation, long before the return of the navigator to England.\\nWith regard to the truth or falsehood of the account, no infor-\\nmation has been obtained, in addition to that afforded by Meares\\nand, although little dependence can be placed on his statements,\\nwhen unsupported by other evidence, yet they should not be\\nrejected in this case, because first, he had no interest in ascribing\\nany thing meritorious to citizens of the United States, whom he\\nuniformly mentions with contempt or dislike in his work, and\\naccuses of taking part with the Spaniards against his vessels\\nsecondly, the subject was one with which he was perfectly con-\\nversant, and on which he would not probably have been deceived,\\nor have committed any error of judgment; and, lastly, the geog-\\nraphy of that part of the American coasts corresponds exactly with\\nthe descriptions given by Kendrick of what he had seen, though\\nthe inferences drawn from them by Meares are incorrect. Thus\\nthe easternmost part of the Strait of Fuca is now known to be in\\nthe meridian of 237 i^ degrees east from Greenwich, and under the\\nparallel of 48^ degrees, from the intersection of which lines the\\ncoast of the continent runs north-westward, through ten degrees of\\nlatitude, penetrated by numerous inlets, and bordered by thousands\\nof islands so that a navigator, sailing along this coast, without\\ntracing to their terminations all these channels and inlets, might\\nwell have supposed himself in a sea extending far on either side,\\nand filled with islands.\\nUnder these circumstances, Kendrick is to be considered as the\\nfirst person, belonging to a civilized nation, who sailed through the\\nStrait of Fuca, after its discovery by the Greek pilot, in 1592.\\nVancouver did not reach the north-west coasts of America until\\nMarch, 1792. In the mean time, the Spaniards had resumed their\\nposition at Nootka Sound, and formed another establishment in its\\nvicinity and several voyages of discovery had been made by their\\nnavigators along those coasts. The Spanish government was,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0249.jp2"}, "250": {"fulltext": "220 VOYAGE OF FIDALGO. [1790\\nindeed, then seriously directing its attention to the discovery and\\noccupation of the territories north of its settlements in California,\\nagreeably to the plan devised in 1765, and with the same object\\nof preventing those territories from falling into the possession of\\nother nations and, for these purposes, the viceroy of Mexico was\\ndirected to employ every means at his disposal. Martinez was,\\nindeed, deprived of his command, immediately on his arrival in\\nSan Bias, in Decemberj 1789: but his vessels, including the\\nPrincess Royal, which had been taken from the English in the\\npreceding summer, were sent back to Nootka Sound, under Cap-\\ntain Francisco Elisa, in the spring of 1790 and preparations were\\nimmediately begun for a permanent establishment on Friendly\\nCove.\\nAs soon as the first arrangements for this purpose were completed,\\nElisa despatched Lieutenant Salvador Fidalgo, in the schooner San\\nCarlos, to examine the coasts occupied by the Russians, and inquire\\ninto the proceedings of that nation in America. Fidalgo accord-\\ningly sailed for Prince William s Sound, in which, and in Cook s\\nRiver, he spent nearly three months, engaged in surveying and\\nin visiting the Russian establishments his provisions being then\\nexhausted, he took his departure for San Bias, where he arrived on\\nthe 14th of November. The geographical information obtained by\\nhim was scanty and the only news which he brought back,\\nrespecting the proceedings of the Russians, was, that they had\\nformed an establishment on Prince William s Sound, and that a\\nship had passed that bay from Kamtchatka, on an exploring expe-\\ndition towards the east.*\\nThe Russian ship, thus mentioned by Fidalgo, was one of those\\nwhich had been begun at Ochotsk in 1785, by order of the empress\\nCatharine, for a f secret astronomical and geographical expedition,\\nto navigate the Frozen Ocean, and describe its coasts, and to\\nascertain the situation of the islands in the sea between the conti-\\nnents of Asia and America. For this expedition, a number of\\nofficers and men of science, from various parts of Europe, were\\nengaged and the command was intrusted to Joseph Billings, an\\nEnglishman, who had accompanied Cook, in his last expedition, as\\nassistant astronomer but the preparations proceeded so slowly, in\\nconsequence of the want of every thing requisite for the purpose at\\nManuscript journal of the voyage of Fidalgo, among the documents obtained from\\nthe hydrographical department of Madrid.\\nt Narrative of the Russian expedition under Billings, by Martin Sauer.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0250.jp2"}, "251": {"fulltext": "1790.] VOYAGES OF BILLINGS AND qUIMPER. 221\\nOchotsk, that the vessels were not ready for sea until 1789, and\\nthen one of them was wrecked immediately after leaving the port.\\nWith the other vessel Billings took his departure, on the 2d of\\nMay, 1790, and sailed eastward, stopping, in his way, at Unalashka,\\nKodiak, and Prince William s Sound, as far as Mount St. Elias\\nbut there his provisions began to fail, and he returned to Petro-\\npawlowsk, soon after reaching which he abandoned the command\\nof the enterprise. In the following year, the same vessel, with\\nanother, which had been built in Kamtchatka, quitted the Bay of\\nAvatscha, under Captains Hall and Sarytscheff, neither of whom\\nadvanced beyond Bering s Strait on the north, or Aliaska on the\\neast, or collected any information of value within those limits. A\\nmelancholy picture of the sufferings experienced in these vessels\\nhas been presented in the narrative of Martin Sauer, a German,\\nwho, in an unlucky moment, agreed to act as secretary to the expe-\\ndition another account, contradicting that of Sauer in many\\nparticulars, has been published by Sarytscheff, who attributes the\\nfailure of the enterprise to the incapacity of Billings.\\nIn the summer of 1790, an attempt was also made, by the\\nSpaniards, to explore the supposed Strait of Juan de Fuca. For\\nthat purpose, Ehsa, the commandant of Nootka, detached Lieu-\\ntenant Quimper, in the sloop Princess Royal, who traced the pas-\\nsage in an eastwardly direction, examining both its shores, to the\\ndistance of about a hundred miles from its mouth, where it was\\nobserved to branch off into a number of smaller passages, towards\\nthe south, the east, and the north, some of which were channels\\nbetween islands, while others appeared to extend far into the\\ninterior. Quimper was unable, from want of time, to penetrate\\nany of these passages and he could do no more than note the\\npositions of their entrances, and of several harbors, all of which\\nare now well known, though they are generally distinguished by\\nnames different from those assigned to them by the Spaniards.\\nAmong these passages and harbors were the Canal de Caamano,\\nafterwards named by Vancouver Admiralty Inlet the Boca de\\nFlon, or Deception Passage the Canal de Guemes, and Canal de\\nHaro, which may still be found under those names in English\\ncharts, extending northward from the eastern end of the strait\\nPort (Quadra, the Port Discovery of Vancouver, said to be one of\\nthe best harbors on the Pacific side of America, with Port Q^uimper,\\nnear it on the west and Port Nunez Gaona, called Poverty Cove\\nby the American fur traders, situated a few miles east of Cape", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0251.jp2"}, "252": {"fulltext": "222 VOYAGE OF MALASPINA. [1791.\\nFlattery, where the Spaniards attempted, in 1792, to form a settle-\\nment. Having performed this duty as well as was possible under\\nthe circumstances in which he was placed, Q,uimper returned to\\nNootka, where he arrived in the beginning of August.*\\nOn the 2d of June, 1791, Captain Alexandro Malaspina,f an\\naccomplished Itahan navigator in the service of Spain, who was\\nthen engaged in an expedition of survey and discovery in the\\nPacific, arrived on the coast, near Mount San Jacinto, or Edge-\\ncumb, with his two ships, the Dcscuhierta, commanded by himself,\\nand the AtreviJa, under Captain Bustamente. The principal object\\nof their visit was to determine the question as to the existence of\\nthe Strait of Anian, described in the account of Maldonado s\\npretended voyage, the credibility of which had been, in the pre-\\nceding year, affirmed, by the French geographer Buache, in a\\nmemoir read before the Academy of Sciences of Paris. With this\\nview, they carefully examined the coast between Prince William s\\nSound and Mount Fairweather, running nearly in the direction of\\nthe 60th parallel, under which Maldonado had placed the entrance\\nof his strait into the Pacific, searching the various bays and inlets\\nwhich there open to the sea, particularly that called by the English\\nAdmiralty Bay, situated at the foot of Mount St. Elias. They\\nfound, however, doubtless to their satisfaction, no passage\\nleading northward or eastward from the Pacific and they became\\nconvinced that the whole coast thus surveyed was bordered by an\\nunbroken chain of lofty mountains. Want of time prevented them\\nfrom continuing their examinations farther south and they could\\nonly, in passing, determine the latitudes and longitudes of a few\\nThe journal of this voyage is among the manuscripts obtained from the hydro-\\ngraphical department of Madrid annexed to it is a memoir on the manners, customs,\\nand language, of the Indians about Nootka Sound, translated from the English of\\nJoseph Ingraham, the mate of the American ship Columbia, who wrote it, at the\\nrequest of Martinez, in 1789.\\nt The journals of Malaspina s expedition have never been published. A sketch\\nof his voyage along the north-west coasts of America is given in the Introduction to\\nthe Journal of Galiano and Valdes, in which the highest, and, in some places, the\\nmost extravagant, praise is bestowed on the officers engaged in it. Yet will it be\\nbelieved? the name of Malaspina does not appear there or in any other part of the\\nbook. The unfortunate commander, having given some offence to Godoy, better\\nknown as the Prince of the Peace, who then ruled Spain without restriction, was, on\\nhis return to Europe in 1794, confined in a dungeon at Corunna, and there kept as a\\nprisoner until 1S02, when he was liberated, after the peace of Amiens, at the express\\ndesire cf Napoleon. The name of one who had thus sinned could not be allowed to\\nappear on the pages of a work published officially, by the Spanish government, for\\nthe purpose of vindicating the claims of its navigators.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0252.jp2"}, "253": {"fulltext": "1791.] rOYAGE OF MARCHAND. 223\\npoints between Mount San Jacinto and Nootka Sound, where they\\narrived on the 13th of August.\\nThe visit made to the north-west coasts of America, in the summer\\nof 1791, by Captain Etienne Marchand, in the French commercial\\nship Solide, from Marseilles, is only mentioned on account of the\\nIntroduction by Fleurieu to the Journal of her voyage, to which\\nallusion has been often made in the preceding pages. Marchand\\nlanded on the shore of the Bay of Guadalupe, or Norfolk Sound,\\nnear the 56th degree of latitude, where he remained two weeks, en-\\ngaged in trading with the natives after which he sailed along the\\ncoasts southward, occasionally landing and making observations, to\\nthe entrance of the Strait of Fuca, and thence took his departure\\nfor Canton.*\\nIn the mean time, nine vessels from England and seven from the\\nUnited States were engaged in the trade on the north-west coasts\\nof America. Of the movements of the Enghsh traders few accounts\\nhave been made public the most active and enterprising among\\nthem appears to have been Captain Brown,f of the ship Butter-\\nworth, from London, to whom Vancouver acknowledges himself\\nindebted for useful information on several occasions. In what man-\\nner the British navigator treated citizens of the United States, from\\nwhom he derived information much more important, will be shown\\nhereafter.\\nRespecting the places thus visited, very little exact information is to be derived\\nfrom the Journal of Marchand, though hundreds of its pages are devoted to philosoph-\\nical speculations (doubtless by the editor) on the origin and capacity of the north-\\nwest American Indians, their languages and political and religious institutions, and\\npolitical and religious institutions in general. The Journal, indeed, seems to have\\nbeen published merely in order to afford a frame-work for the comments and disqui-\\nsitions of the editor, Fleurieu, which, with all their faults, are the only parts of the\\nwork of any value.\\nThe Introduction to this Journal is a memoir read by Fleurieu before the National\\nInstitute at Paris, in 1797, on the subject of the discovery of the north-west coasts of\\nAmerica, in which he presents a history, with reviews of all other accounts, of the\\nseveral exploring voyages made by people of civilized nations along those coasts,\\nfrom the period of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards to the year 1790, when\\nMarchand began his vo-yage. For such a task, Fleurieu was well fitted, by his\\nprevious labors, his general science, and his acquaintance with geography and mari-\\ntime affairs his memoir is elegantly written, and his accounts and opinions are, for\\nthe most part, clear, fair, and liberal towards individuals and nations. This praise is,\\nhowever, not to be awarded to every portion of his work. He was extravagant in\\ngeneralizing, and oflen careless in the examination of his authorities, in consequence\\nof which he committed numerous errors and his devotion to his own country, and\\nhis contempt for the Spaniards and their government, led him frequently to make\\nassertions and observations at variance with justice and truth.\\nt Brown was killed by the natives, at Woalioo, one of the Sandwich Islands,\\nin January, 1795.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0253.jp2"}, "254": {"fulltext": "224 ATTACK ON THE ELEONORA AT MOWEE. [1790.\\nThe second trading adventure to the North Pacific made by citi-\\nzens of the United States was that of Captain Metcalf, who sailed\\nfrom New York in 1788, in the brig Eleonora, for Canton, and\\nthere purchased a small schooner, which he named the Fair Amer-\\nican, and placed under the command of his son, a youth of eighteen.\\nWith these vessels he arrived, in November, 1789, at Nootka Sound,\\nwhere the schooner was seized by the Spanish commandant Marti-\\nnez but she was soon liberated, unfortunately, as it proved, for\\nher captain and crew. On their way from the American coast, the\\nvessels were separated. The Eleonora, on the 30th of January, 1790,\\nreached a small bay in Mowee, one of the Sandwich Islands, where\\nshe anchored and, on the same night, her boat, and a seaman who\\nwas sleeping in it, were taken away by the natives. On the fol-\\nlowing day, the islanders began to assemble in the bay in canoes,\\nand on the shores, in great numbers, armed, and showing evidently\\nthe intention to take the vessel and one of them was seized in the\\nact of endeavoring to strip off a piece of her copper, under the idea,\\nas he confessed, that she would in consequence sink. The natives\\nbecoming more daring, Metcalf fired on them with grape, and\\nburnt their village and, having thus apparently quieted them, he\\nwent farther up the bay, in order to obtain water. Three or four\\ndays afterwards, a native came on board, who offered to bring back\\nthe boat and the sailor for a certain reward his offer was accepted,\\nand, on the following day, he reappeared with the rudder of the\\nboat and some of the bones of the man, who had been sacrificed to\\nthe gods of the island, and coolly demanded the promised recom-\\npense. This demand was granted, with a view to conciliation but\\nthe opposite effect was produced for the islanders, supposing that\\nthey had intimidated the Americans, again surrounded the ship in\\ntheir canoes in vast numbers. Metcalf thereupon, either from exas-\\nperation, or from his seeing no other mode of safety, fired all his\\nguns, charged with grape and nails, among them, and killed, as\\nwas said, more than one hundred and fifty after which he sailed\\nfor Owyhee, and anchored in Karakakooa Bay.*\\nThe account of these transactions is taken principally from a letter written by a\\nperson on board of the Eleonora, which was published in the newspapers of the\\nUnited States soon after the occurrences and from the manuscript journal of Captain\\nIngraham, which confirms all the statements of the letter writer. Vancouver (vol. ii.\\np. 136) represents the affair as disadvantaireously to the Americans as possible, accord-\\ntng to his constant practice. Jarvis, in his History of the Sandwich Islands, givea\\nthe account as handed down by the natives, holding Metcalf up to view as a monster\\nof cruelty, and the capture of the Fair American as an awful retribution.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0254.jp2"}, "255": {"fulltext": "1790.] CAPTURE OF THE FAIR AMERICAN AT OWYHEE. 225\\nWhile the Eleonora was lying in this bay, the natives of Owyhee\\nsignally avenged the slaughter of their brethren at Mowee.\\nOn the 5th of February, the schooner Fair American, which had\\nbeen separated from the brig, anchored in the Bay of Toyahyah,\\n(now called Kawaihae,) on the north-west side of Owyhee, about\\nthirty miles north of Karakakooa Bay, where trade was begun with\\nthe natives. As these people conducted themselves peaceably, they\\nwere allowed to come on board the vessel without restriction at\\nlength, a chief named Tamaahmoto, or Kamamoko, appeared, with\\na number of attendants, to present the captain with a feather cap,\\nand while in the act of placing this ornament on young Metcalf s\\nhead, he seized him and threw him overboard, where he was im-\\nmediately killed the other seamen, with the exception of one, were\\nin like manner despatched, and the schooner was then drawn on\\nshore and rifled. There is no reason to believe that this was done\\nin consequence of the proceedings of the captain of the Eleonora at\\nMowee, or, indeed, that those proceedings were known at Owyhee\\nwhen the schooner was taken on the contrary, Tamaahmoto, in\\n1794, assured Vancouver that he was induced to act as he did, by\\nthe ill-treatment of Metcalf, who had whipped him severely when\\nat Toyahyah, in 1789.\\nA plan was, at the same time, formed by Tianna and Tamaha-\\nmaha, the principal chiefs of the island, to take the Eleonora. The\\nboatswain of that brig, named John Young, happened, however,\\nto be on shore, and there met with two English seamen, from whom\\nhe received information of the plan and they succeeded in pre-\\nvailing on Tamahamaha to allow them to write a letter to Captain\\nMetcalf, urging his immediate departure, on condition that they\\nshould enter the service of the native chief. Metcalf took their\\nadvice, and sailed away without learning the news of his son s fate.\\nYoung also succeeded in saving the life of Isaac Davis, the mate\\nof the Fair American, who had been severely wounded at the time\\nof the capture of that schooner; and these two men remained in\\nthe service of Tamahamaha until their deaths.*\\nThe ship Columbia returned to Boston from Canton, under the\\ncommand of Gray, on the 10th of August, 1790, as already men-\\ntioned but the cargo of Chinese articles brought by her was insuf-\\nficient to cover the expenses of her voyage and her owners were\\nDavis died in 1808. Toung was, for many years, governor of Woahoo, and died\\nin 1836, nearly ninety years old for an anecdote illustrative of his character, see\\nCommodore Porter s Journal of his Cruise in the Pacific, vol. ii. p. 215.\\n29", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0255.jp2"}, "256": {"fulltext": "226 VOYAGE OF INGRAHAM IN THE HOPE. [1791.\\nSO little satisfied with these results, that some of them sold out their\\nshares to the others, who, determining to persevere in the enter-\\nprise, refitted the Columbia for a new voyage of the same kind.\\nBefore her departure, however, the brig Hope, of seventy tons,\\nwhich had also been equipped for the North Pacific trade, sailed\\nfrom Boston, under the command of Joseph Ingraham, the former\\nmate of the Columbia and these vessels were followed by the\\nHancock, under Captain Crowel, and the Jefferson, under Captain\\nRoberts, likewise from Boston, and the Margaret, under Captain\\nMagee, from New York. A short notice of Ingraham s voyage will\\nbe first presented.\\nThe brig Hope quitted Boston on the 16th of September, 1790,\\nand, taking the usual course by the Cape Verd Islands and Brazil,\\nshe arrived on the 13th of January, 1791, at the entrance of\\nBerkeley Sound, or Port Soledad, in the Falkland Islands, where\\nshe found a Spanish establishment on the shore, and a Spanish\\nvessel of war in the harbor.* Ingraham was anxious to visit the\\nestablishment, but the commandant was unwilling to allow him to\\ndo so, though he furnished him liberally with provisions. Quitting\\nthe Falkland Islands, Ingraham doubled Cape Horn, and, on the\\n1 9th of April, he discovered six islands previously unknown, in the\\ncentre of the Pacific Ocean, between the 8th and the 10th parallels\\nof latitude,f to which he gave the names severally of Washington,\\nAdams, Franklin, Knox, Federal, and Lincoln and after some days\\nManuscript journal of the Hope s voyage, written by Ingraham.\\nt These islands are situated a little north of the group called the Marquesas de\\nMendoza, discovered by the Spanish navigator Mendana, in 1595, and about six\\nhundred miles north-east of Otaheite, directly in the course of vessels sailing from\\nCape Horn to the north-west coast of America, or to China, to which they offer con-\\nvenient places for obtaining water and other refreshments. They were not seen by\\nCook, who visited the Marquesas in 1774; nor does any notice of them appear on\\nany chart or account of earlier date than 1791, when they were discovered by Ingra-\\nham, as above stated. They were afterwards seen successively, on the 2lst of June,\\n1791, by Marchand, in the French ship Solide, who named them Pes de (a R6volu-\\ntion; on the 30th of June, 1792, by Hergest, in the British brig Daedalus, after whom\\nVancouver called them HergesVs Islands, though he was well aware of their previous\\ndiscovery by Ingraham and on the 6th of March, 1793, by Roberts, in the Jefferson,\\nfrom Boston, who bestowed on them the name of Washington s Islands. The earliest\\nnotice of them was published in the form of an extract from Ingraham s Journal, in\\nthe Massachiisclts Historical Collection, at Boston, in 1793 the volume of the same\\nwork, for 1795, contains Roberts s account of his visit, afler which appeared, in suc-\\ncession, the accounts of Hergest in Vancouver s Journal, and of Marchand and\\nthey have since been visited and described by Krusenstern, Lisiansky, Langsdorf,\\nPorter, Belcher, Wilkes, and other navigators. Porter, during his cruise in the Pacific,\\nin the Essex, in 1813, remained some time at Nooahivah, the largest of the islands.\\nThe recent occupation of this group by the French is well known.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0256.jp2"}, "257": {"fulltext": "1791.] VOYAGE OF INGRAHAM IN THE HOPE. 22t\\nspent in examining them, he took his course for Owyhee, where he\\narrived on the 20th of May.\\nAt Owyhee, the Hope was visited by Tamahamaha, whose power\\nwas then rapidly increasing, as well as by his rival Tianna and both\\nthese chiefs were earnest in their solicitations tliat Ingraham should\\ngo on shore and visit their towns. The American captain, however,\\nfeeling some distrust, did not think it prudent to leave his vessel and,\\nafter obtaining some provisions and water, he sailed to the adjacent\\nIsland of Mowee, where he received from two white men, who\\nescaped to the Hope, the news of the capture of the schooner Fair\\nAmerican, and the murder of her crew at Owyhee, in February of\\nthe preceding year. He then had reason to congratulate himself at\\nhaving resisted the invitations of Tamahamaha and Tianna, as he\\nhad no doubt that he and his vessel and crew would otherwise have\\nbeen sacrificed to their hatred or cupidity. At Mowee, on the\\n26th, the brig was honored by the presence of Titeree, or Kahikili,\\nthe king, and Taio, a principal chief; and Ingraham obtained from\\nthem the liberation of an American seaman, who had been, for\\nsome time, detained as prisoner in the island. On the following\\nday, at Woahoo, the natives surrounded the vessel in their canoes,\\nto the number of many thousands, evidently with the intention of\\ntaking her and it became necessary to fire several muskets upon\\nthem before she could be freed from the danger.\\nOn the 1st of June, Ingraham left the Sandwich Islands, and on\\nthe 29th of the same month he dropped anchor in a harbor on the\\nsouth-east side of Queen Charlotte s, or Washington s, Island, to\\nwhich he gave the name of Magee s Sound, in honor of one of the\\nowners of his vessel. On the coasts of this island, and of the other\\nislands, and the continent adjacent on the north and east, he spent\\nthe summer in trading, and collecting information as to the geog-\\nraphy and natural history, and the languages, manners, and customs,\\nof the inhabitants, on all which subjects his journal contains\\nminute and interesting details and at the end of the season he\\ntook his departure for China, where he arrived on the 1st of De-\\ncember, 1791.\\nAt Macao, Ingraham found the French ship Solide, under\\nCaptain Marchand, whose visit to the north-west coast of Amer-\\nica, in the preceding summer, has been already mentioned and he\\nreceived much kindness, which he acknowledges by grateful expres-\\nsions in his journal, from Roblet, the surgeon, and Chanal, the first", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0257.jp2"}, "258": {"fulltext": "228 kendrick s speculations in the pacific. [1791.\\nofficer of that vessel. To these gentlemen he also communicated\\nthe particulars of his voyage and thus they learned, to their great\\nregret, that they had been anticipated, by the American captain, in\\na discovery which was expected by them to cast considerable eclat\\non their expedition. Marchand had, in the month of June previous,\\nseen a group of islands in the centre of the Pacific Ocean, of which\\nhe believed himself to be the discoverer, as they were not described\\nin any narrative or chart then pubhshed and, under this impres-\\nsion, he named them lies de la Revolution, and had just sent an\\naccount of them to France, which was submitted formally to the\\nNational Assembly on examining the journal of the Hope, however,\\nhe could have no doubt that this was the same group which had\\nbeen found by Ingraham in April and the fact is admitted, though\\nwith evident reluctance, in the narrative of his voyage.*\\nCaptain Kendrick, in the Washington, which had been altered\\ninto a brig, also arrived at Macao while the Hope was lying there.\\nHe had been engaged, since 1789, in various speculations, one of\\nwhich was the collection and transportation to China of the odor-\\niferous wood called sandal, which grows in many of the tropical\\nislands of the Pacific, and is in great demand throughout the\\nCelestial Empire. Vancouver pronounced this scheme chimerical\\nbut experience has proved that it was founded on just calculations,\\nand the business has been ever since prosecuted with advantage,\\nespecially by the Americans.\\nAnother of Kendrick s speculations has not hitherto produced\\nany fruit. In the summer of 1791, he purchased from Maquinna,\\nWicanish, and other chiefs, several large tracts of land near Nootka\\nSound, for which he obtained deeds duly marked by those person-\\nages, and witnessed by the officers and men of the Washington.\\nAttempts were made, by the owners of that vessel, to sell these\\nlands at London in 1793, but no purchasers were found and\\napplications have since been addressed, by the legal representatives\\nof the owners and of Kendrick, to the government of the United\\nThe editor, Fleurieu, thus ingeniously concludes the discussion as to the first dis-\\ncovery of the islands Captain Marchand undoubtedly cannot aspire to the honor\\nof priority but, like the American captain who preceded him, he has not, on that\\naccount, the less pretension to the honor of the discovery for he could not know, in\\nthe month of June, J 791, while he was navigating the great ocean, that, a month be-\\nfore, another navigator, standing in the same course with himself, had made the same\\ndiscovery. The king of the French has nevertheless been pleased to bestow a gold\\nmedal on one of the surviving owners of the Solide, on the ground of the discovery of\\nthose islands by Marchand, as expressly declared in the report of his minister of ma-\\nrine, published in the Moniteur of May 25th, 1843.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0258.jp2"}, "259": {"fulltext": "1791.] SECOND VOYAGE OF THE COLUMBIA. 229\\nStates, for a confirmation of the title.* That the lands were thus\\nsold by the savage chiefs, there is no reason to doubt and Maquinna\\nor Wicanisii would as readily have conveyed the whole of America\\nto any one for the consideration of a copper kettle but the validity\\nof the acquisition will scarcely be recognized, by the civilized nation\\nwhich may hereafter hold the sovereignty of the country about\\nNootka Sound. Neither Kendrick nor his vessel ever returned to\\nAmerica: he was killed, in 1793, at Karakakooa Bay, in Owyhee,\\nby a ball accidentally fired from a British vessel, while saluting him.\\nAt Canton, Ingraham disposed of his furs advantageously, and\\nvested the proceeds in teas, which he sent to Boston by a vessel\\nchartered for the purpose. He then sailed, on the 3d of April, for\\nthe north-west coasts of America, and spent the summer in trading\\nin and about Queen Charlotte s Island, which was then the principal\\nresort of the Americans.\\nThe Columbia, under her former captain. Gray, left Boston on\\nthe 28th of September, 1790, ten days after the departure of the\\nHope f and, without the occurrence of any thing worthy of note\\non her way, she arrived at Clyoquot, near the entrance of the Strait\\nof Fuca, on the 5th of June, 1791. Thence she proceeded, in a\\nfew days, to the eastern side of Q,ueen Charlotte s Island, on which,\\nand on the coasts of the continent and islands in its vicinity, she\\nremained until September, engaged in trading and exploring.\\nDuring this time, Gray examined many of the inlets and passages\\nbetween the 54th and the 56th parallels, in one of which most\\nprobably the same afterwards called by Vancouver the Portland\\nThe circular addressed by the owners of the Washington, on this occasion, is a\\ncurious document. It is written in four languages, and is couched in terms the\\nmost unspecific which could have been selected. The \u00e2\u0096\u00a0inhabitants of Europe are\\ninformed that, in 1787, Captain J. Kendrick, while prosecuting an advantageous\\nvoyage with the natives for furs, purchased of tliem, for the owners, a tract of de-\\nlightful country, comprehending four degrees of latitude, or two hundred and forty\\nmiles square and that such as may be inclined to associate, for settlino- a com-\\nmonwealth on their own code of laws, on a spot of the globe nowhere surpassed in\\ndelightful and healthy climate, and fertile soil, claimed by no civilized nation, and\\npurchased, under a sacred treaty of peace and commerce, and for a valuable considera-\\ntion, of tlie friendly natives, may have the best opportunity of trying the result of such\\nan enterprise. Of the situation of this tract of delightful country we learn nothino-\\nfrom the circular, except that it lies in America. The deeds for the lands are de-\\nclared to have been registered in the office of the American consul at Macao and\\ntiiese deeds, or some of them, have been lately published, referring only to the terri-\\ntories about Nootka Sound, which, though including all the dominions of the chiefs\\nconveying them, do not amount to one twenty-fourth part of two hundred and forty\\nmiles square.\\nLog-Vook of the Columbia, from September 28ih, 1790, to February 20tli, 1792.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0259.jp2"}, "260": {"fulltext": "230 THE COLUMBIA WINTERS AT CLYOQUOT. [1792.\\nCanal he penetrated from its entrance, in the latitude of 54\\ndegrees 33 minutes, to the distance of a hundred miles north-\\neastward, without reaching its termination. This inlet he supposed\\nto be the Rio de Reyes of Admiral Fonte a part of it was named\\nby him Massacre Cove, in commemoration of the murder of Cas-\\nwell, the second mate, and two seamen of his vessel, by the\\nnatives, on its shore, on the 22d of August. Shortly after this\\nmelancholy occurrence, the Columbia fell in with the Hope, and\\nthe two captains communicated to each other, though apparently\\nwith some reserve, the results of their observations. They then\\nseparated, Ingraham going to China, as above related, while Gray\\nreturned to Clyoquot.\\nAt Clyoquot, the crew of the Columbia passed the winter in a\\nfortified habitation, which they erected on the shore of the bay,\\nand called Fort Defiance and they were employed in building a\\nsmall vessel, which was launched, and named the Adventure.\\nWhilst preparing for sea, they were visited by Tatoochseatticus\\nand Wicanish, the principal chiefs of the surrounding country,\\nwith a number of followers, between whom and a Sandwich\\nIslander on board the Columbia it soon became evident that some\\nunderstanding had been established. Gray s suspicions being ex-\\ncited, he questioned the Sandwich Islander, who at length confessed\\nthat the Indians had formed a plan for the seizure of the vessels,\\nand the murder of their crews, and had promised to spare his life,\\nand make him a chief, if he would aid them by wetting the priming\\nof all the guns at a particular time. Thus forewarned, the Ameri-\\ncans were on their guard and the savages, who surrounded the\\nvessel on the following day, were kept at a distance.\\nIn the spring of 1792, the Adventure sailed for Queen Char-\\nlotte s Island, under the command of Haswell, the first mate of the\\nColumbia and Gray took his departure in the ship, on a cruise\\nsouthward along the coasts of the continent, the particulars of which\\nwill appear in the next chapter.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0260.jp2"}, "261": {"fulltext": "231\\nCHAPTER XI.\\n1792 TO 1796.\\nVancouver and Broughton arrive on the American Coasts in 1792, and meet with\\nGray, vv^ho informs them of his Discovery of the Columbia River The Strait of\\nFuca surveyed by Vancouver, Gahano, and Valdes Negotiations between Van-\\ncouver and Quadra at Nootka Vancouver s Injustice to the Americans\\nBroughton s Examination of the lower Part of the Columbia River Vancou-\\nver s Proceedings at the Sandwich Islands He completes the Survey of the\\nNorth- West Coasts of America, and returns to England The Spaniards abandon\\nNootka Conclusions with Regard to the Dispute between Great Britain and\\nSpain, and the Convention of 1790.\\nThe viceroy of Mexico, count de Revillagigedo, on learning the\\nresults of the voyages of Fidalgo, Quimper, and Malaspina, along\\nthe north-west coasts of America, ordered three other vessels to be\\nprepared, for continuing the exploration of those coasts. In one of\\nthem, the corvette Aransasu, Lieutenant Jacinto Caamano was\\ndirected to seek, particularly near the 53d degree of latitude, for\\nthe mouth of the Rio de Reyes, through which Admiral Fonte\\nwas said to have sailed, in 1640, north-eastward, into a lake com-\\nmunicating with the Atlantic; while Lieutenants Dionisio Alcala\\nGaliano and Cayetano Valdes were to survey tiie Strait of Fuca, in\\nthe small schooners Sutil and Mexicana. These vessels sailed from\\nSan Bias in the spring of 1792, and arrived in May at Nootka Sound,\\nwhence they soon after departed on their respective expeditions.*\\nCaptain Bodega y Quadra, the superintendent of the marine\\ndepartment of San Bias, was at the same time despatched to\\nNootka, to take the command of the forces in that quarter, and to\\ntreat with Captain Vancouver, who was expected to arrive there in\\nthe following summer, with regard to the lands and buildings\\nclaimed by British subjects, in virtue of the first and second articles\\nof the convention of 1790. He was instructed, in case it should\\nThe works which have served principally as authorities for the accounts in this\\nchapter are the journal of Captain George Vancouver, three vols. 4to., published\\nat London in 1797 the journal of Galiano and Valdes and the manuscript journal\\nof the voyage of the American brig Hope, written by her captain, J. Ingraham with\\nothers, to which reference will be made", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0261.jp2"}, "262": {"fulltext": "232 VANCOUVER REACHES THE NORTH-WEST COAST. [1792.\\nbe requisite, to abandon Nootka, and withdraw all the Spanish\\nforces and settlers to some convenient point of the coast farther\\nsouth and, in anticipation of such a contingency, a vessel was sent\\nfrom San Bias, under the command of Fidalgo, to seek for a proper\\nspot, and make preparations on it for a permanent establishment.\\nVancouver and Broughton reached the American coast in April,\\n1792, a little south of Cape Mendocino, whence they sailed slowly\\nnorthward, to the Strait of Fuca, which they were instructed par-\\nticularly to explore. On their way, they carefully examined the\\nshores, and determined the geographical positions of all the most\\nprominent points, comparing the results of their observations with\\nthose obtained by Cook and others who had preceded them. Near\\nthe 43d degree of latitude, they sought in vain for the river which\\nMartin de Aguilar was said to have seen, entering the Pacific there-\\nabouts, in 1603; and they appeared inclined to admit as identical\\nwith the Cape Blanco of that navigator, a high, whitish promontory,\\nin the latitude of 42 degrees 52 minutes, to which they, however,\\ndid not scruple to assign the name of Cajpe Orford.\\nVancouver also observed with attention the Deception Bay of\\nMeares, which was represented on Spanish charts as the mouth of\\na river. Of this part of his voyage, he presents the following\\naccount in his journal, under date of\\nApril 27th. Noon brought us up with a conspicuous point\\nof land, composed of a cluster of hummocks, moderately high, and\\nprojecting into the sea. On the south side of this promontory was\\nthe appearance of an inlet, or small river, the land not indicating it\\nto be of any gi-eat extent, nor did it seem to be accessible for ves-\\nsels of our burden, as the breakers extended from the above point,\\ntwo or three miles into the ocean, until they joined those on the\\nbeach, nearly four leagues farther south. On reference to Mr.\\nMeares s description of the coast south of this promontory, I was\\nat first inclined to believe it was Cape Shoalwater but, on ascer-\\ntaining its latitude, I presumed it to be that which he calls Cape\\nDisappointment, and the opening south of it Deception Bay. This\\ncape we found to be in latitude of 46 degrees 19 minutes, longi-\\ntude 236 degrees 6 minutes [east]. The sea had now changed\\nfrom its natural to river-colored water, the probable consequence\\nof some streams falling into the bay, or into the opening north of\\nit, through the low land. Not considering this opening worthy of\\nmore attention, I continued our pursuit to the north-west, being\\ndesirous to embrace the advantages of the now prevailing breeze and\\npleasant weather, so favorable to an examination of the coasts.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0262.jp2"}, "263": {"fulltext": "1792.] VANCOUVER MEETS GRAY NEAR THE STRAIT OF FUCA. 233\\nVancouver accordingly sailed onwards, to the entrance of the\\nStrait of Fuca, which he was eager to explore having, as he\\nbelieved, ascertained that the several large rivers and capacious\\ninlets, that have been described as discharging their contents into\\nthe Pacific, between the 40th and the 48th degrees of north lati-\\ntude, were reduced to brooks insufficient for our vessels to navigate,\\nor to bays inaccessible as harbors for refitting. Again he says,\\nConsidering ourselves now on the point of commencing an exami-\\nnation of an entirely new region, I cannot take leave of the coast\\nalready known, without obtruding a short remark on that part of\\nthe continent, comprehending a space of nearly two hundred and\\nfifteen leagues, on which our inquiries had been lately employed,\\nunder the most fortunate and favorable circumstances of wind and\\nweather. So minutely has this extensive coast been inspected, that the\\nsurf has been constantly seen to break on its shores from the mast-\\nhead and it was but in a few small intervals only where our\\ndistance precluded its being visible from the deck. Whenever the\\nweather prevented our making free with the shore, or on our haul-\\ning oflf for the night, the return of fine weather and of daylight\\nuniformly brought us, if not to the identical spot we had departed\\nfrom, at least within a few miles of it, and never beyond the\\nnorthern limits of the coast which we had previously seen. An\\nexamination so directed, and circumstances happily concurring to\\npermit its being so executed, afforded the most complete opportunity\\nof determining its various turnings and windings, as also the position\\nof all its conspicuous points, ascertained by meridional altitudes for\\nthe latitude, and observations for the chronometer, which we had the\\ngood fortune to make constantly once, and in general twice, every\\nday, the preceding one only excepted. It must be considered a very\\nsingular circumstance, that, in so great an extent of sea-coast, we\\nshould not until noio have seen the appearance of any opening in its shore\\nwhich presented any certain prospect of affording a shelter, the whole\\ncoast forming one compact and nearly straight barrier against the sea.\\nOn the same day, the 29th of April, 1792, Vancouver writes in\\nhis journal, At four o clock, a sail was discovered to the westward,\\nstanding in shore. This was a very great novelty, not having seen\\nany vessel but our consort during the last eight months. She soon\\nhoisted American colors, and fired a gun to leeward. At six we\\nspoke her; she proved to be the ship Columbia, commanded by\\nCaptain Robert Gray, belonging to Boston, whence she had been\\nabsent nineteen months. Having little doubt of his being the same\\n30", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0263.jp2"}, "264": {"fulltext": "*234 gray s account of his discoveries. [1792.\\nperson who had formerly commanded the sloop Washington, I\\ndesired he would bring to, and sent Mr. Puget and Mr. Menzies on\\nboard, to acquire such information as might be serviceable in our\\nfuture operations. On the return of the boat, we found our con-\\njectures had not been ill grounded that this was the same gentle-\\nman who had commanded the sloop Washington, at the time, we\\nare informed, she had made a very singular voyage behind Nootka.\\nIt was not a little remarkable, that, on our approach to the entrance\\nof this inland sea, we should fall in with the identical person who,\\nit was said, had sailed through it. His relation, however, differed\\nvery materially from that published in England. It is not possible\\nto conceive any one to be more astonished than was Mr. Gray, on\\nhis being made acquainted that his authority had been quoted, and\\nthe track pointed out that he had been said to have made in the\\nsloop Washington in contradiction to which, he assured the of-\\nficers that he had penetrated only fifty miles into the straits in\\nquestion, in an east-south-east direction that he found the passage\\nfive leagues wide, and that he understood from the natives that the\\nopening extended a considerable distance to the northward that\\nthis was all the information he had acquired respecting this inland\\nsea, and that he returned into the ocean by the same way he had\\nentered at. The inlet he supposed to be the same that De Fuca\\nhad discovered, which opinion seemed to be universally received by\\nall the modern visitors. He likewise informed them of his having\\nbeen off the mouth of a river, in the latitude of 46 degrees 10\\nminutes, where the outset or reflux was so strong as to prevent his\\nentering for nine days. This was probably the opening passed by\\nus on the forenoon of the 27th, and was apparently inaccessible,\\nnot from the current, but from the breakers that extended across it.\\nHe had also entered another inlet to the northward, in latitude of\\n54^ degrees, in which he had sailed to the latitude of 56 degrees,\\nwithout discovering its termination. The south point of entrance\\ninto De Fuca s Straits he stated to be in 49 degrees 24 minutes\\nand he conceived our distance from it to be about eight leagues.\\nThe last winter he had spent in Port Cox, or, as the natives call it,\\nClyoquot, from whence he had sailed but a few days, .c.\\nThe part of this account relating to the Strait of Fuca appears\\nto have been received with much satisfaction by Vancouver, as it\\nseemed to assure him that he had not been anticipated in the\\nexploration of that passage to Gray s statement of his discoverv of\\na river emptying into the Pacific, in the latitude of 46 degrees 10", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0264.jp2"}, "265": {"fulltext": "1792.] GRAjr s ACCOUNT OF HIS DISCOVERIES. 235\\nminutes, he gave little, or rather no credit, being content with his\\nown examination of that part of the coast. On the day after his\\nmeeting with the Columbia, he writes, The river mentioned by\\nMr. Gray should, from the latitude he assigned to it, have existence\\nin the bay south of Cape Disappointment. This we passed in the\\nforenoon of the 27th and, as I then observed, if any inlet or river\\nshould be found, it must be a very intricate one, and inaccessible to\\nvessels of our burden, owing to the reefs and broken water, which\\nthen appeared in its neighborhood. Mr. Gray stated that he had\\nbeen several days attempting to enter it, which, at length, he was,\\nunable to effect, in consequence of a very strong outset. This is\\na phenomenon difficult to account for, as, in most cases where there\\nare outsets of such strength on a sea-coast, there are corresponding\\ntides setting in. Be that, however, as it may, was thoroughly\\nconvinced, as were also most persons of observation on board, that\\nwe could not possibly have passed any safe navigable opening, harbor,\\nor place of security for shipping, on this coast, from Cape Mendocino\\nto the promontory of Classet, [Cape Flattery, at the entrance of the\\nStrait of Fuca nor had we any reason to alter our opinions,\\nnotwithstanding that theoretical geographers have thought proper\\nto assert in that space the existence of arms of the ocean commu-\\nnicating with a mediterranean sea, and extensive rivers with safe\\nand convenient ports.\\nHaving thus recorded his convictions, the British navigator\\nproceeded to survey the Strait of Fuca whilst the American fur\\ntrader sailed towards the mouth of the river, into which he resolved,\\nif possible, to effect an entrance.\\nAfter parting with the English ships, Gray sailed along the coast\\nof the continent to the south, and, on the 7th of May, he saw\\nan entrance which had a very good appearance of a harbor, in the\\nlatitude of 46 degrees 58 minutes. Passing through this entrance,\\nhe found himself in a bay well sheltered from the sea by long\\nsand-bars and spits, where he remained at anchor three days,\\nengaged in trading with the natives and he then resumed his\\nvoyage, bestowing on the place thus discovered the name of Bul-\\nfinch s Harbor, in honor of one of the owners of his ship.\\nAt daybreak on the 11th, after leaving Bulfinch s Harbor, Gray\\nobserved the entrance of his desired port, bearing east-south-east,\\ndistant six leagues and running into it, with all sails set, between\\nthe breakers, (which Meares and Vancouver pronounce impassable,)\\nhe anchored, at one o clock, in a large river of fresh water, ten", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0265.jp2"}, "266": {"fulltext": "236 WHO DISCOVERED THE COLUMBIA [1792.\\nmiles above its mouth. At this spot he remained three days, en-\\ngaged in trading and filUng his casks with water, and then sailed\\nup the river about twelve or fifteen miles along its northern shore\\nwhere, finding that he could proceed no farther, from having taken\\nthe wrong channel, he again came to anchor. During the week\\nwhich followed, he made several attempts to quit the river, but\\nwas constantly baffled, until, at length, on the 20th, he crossed the\\nbar at the mouth, by beating over it with a westerly wind, and\\nregained the Pacific*\\nOn leaving the river. Gray gave to it the name of his ship the\\nColumbia which it still bears though attempts are made to fix\\nupon it that of Oregon, on the strength of the accounts whicli\\nCarver pretended to have collected, in 1766, among the Indians of\\nthe Upper Mississippi, respecting a River Oregon, rising near Lake\\nSuperior, and emptying into the Strait of Anian.-f The extremity\\nof the sand-bank, projecting into the sea on the south side of its en-\\ntrance, was called by Gray Point Adams and he assigned the name\\nof Cape Hancock to the opposite promontory, on the north side, be-\\ning ignorant that Meares had already called it Cape Disappointment,\\nin token of the unsuccessful result of his search for the river.\\nThe principal circumstances relating to the discovery of this\\nriver, the greatest which enters the Pacific from America, have\\nnow been fairly presented. It has been shown that the opening\\nthrough which its waters are discharged into the ocean was first\\nseen in August, 1776, by the Spanish navigator Heceta,J and was\\ndistinguished on Spanish charts, within the thirteen years next\\nfollowing, as the mouth of the River San Rogue that it was\\nexamined in July, 1788, by Meares,*\u00c2\u00a7 who quitted it with the con-\\nviction that no river existed there and that this opinion of\\nMeares was subscribed, without qualification, by Vancouver, after he\\nhad minutely examined that coast, imder the most favorable con-\\nditions of ivind and iveather,^^ and notwithstanding the assurances\\nof Gray to the contrary. Had Gray, after parting with the English\\nships, not returned to the river, and ascended it as he did, there is\\nevery reason to believe that it would have long remained unknown\\nfor the assertions of Vancouver that no opening, harbor, or place of\\nrefuge for vessels, was to be found betivcen Cape Mendocino and the\\nSee the extract from the log-book of the Columbia, containing the account of\\nthe entrance of Gray into the river, among the Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter\\npart of this volume, under the letter E, No. 2.\\nt See p. 142. See p. 120. See p. 177.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0266.jp2"}, "267": {"fulltext": "1792.] WHO DISCOVERED THE COLUMBIA? 237\\nStrait of Fuca, and that this part of the coast formed one compact,\\nsolid, and nearly straight, barrier against the sea, would have served\\ncompletely to overthrow the evidence of the American fur trader,\\nand to prevent any further attempts to examine those shores, or\\neven to approach them.*\\nFrom the mouth of the Columbia River, Gray sailed to tjie east\\ncoast of Queen Charlotte s Island, near which his ship struck on a\\nrock, and was so much injured that she was with difficulty kept\\nafloat until she reached Nootka Sound, where the damage was\\nrepaired. The Hope also arrived at Nootka at this time, and\\nGray communicated the particulars of his recent discoveries to\\nIngraham, and to the Spanish commandant Quadra, to whom he\\nalso gave charts and descriptions of Bulfinch s Harbor, and of\\nthe mouth of the Columbia. On this occasion, moreover, the two\\nAmerican captains addressed to Quadra, at his request, a letter f\\ncontaining a narrative of the transactions at Nootka in 1789, to\\nwhich particular reference will be hereafter made. Having soon\\ncompleted their business on the north-west coasts. Gray and Ingra-\\nham departed severally for Canton, in September, and thence they\\nsailed to the United States.\\nIt was, nevertheless, insisted, on the part of the British government, in a discus-\\nsion with the United States, in 1826, that the merit of discovermg the Columbia\\nbelongs to Meares! that, in 1788, four years before Gray entered the mouth of\\nthe Columbia River, Mr. Meares, a lieutenant of the royal navy, who had been sent\\nby the East India Company on a trading expedition to the north-west coast of\\nAmerica, had already minutely explored the coast from the 49th to the 54th degree\\nof north latitude had taken formal possession of the Straits of De Fuca in the name\\nof his sovereign had purchased land, trafficked and formed treaties with the natives\\nand had actually entered the Bay of the Columbia, to the northern headland of\\nwhich he gave the name of Cape Disappointment, a name which it bears to this\\nday and that if any claim to these countries, as between Great Britain and the\\nUnited States, is to be deduced from priority of the discovery, tlie above exposition\\nof dates and facts suffices to establish that claim in favor of Great Britain, on a basis\\ntoo firm to be shaken. It must indeed be admitted, continue the British plenipo-\\ntentiaries, that Mr. Gray, finding himself in the bay formed by the discharge of\\nthe waters of the Columbia into the Pacific, ?ms the first to ascrrtain that this hny\\nformed the outlet of a great river a discovery which had escaped Lieutenant Meares,\\nvhen, in 1788, four years before, he entered the same bay. The truth in the last of\\nthese assertions atones for the errors in those which precede, and coxmtcracts the\\nimpression which the whole was intended to produce. See the statement presented\\nby Messrs. Huskisson and Addington to Mr. Gallatin, in 1826, among the Proofs\\nand Illustrations, in the latter part of this volume, under the letter G.\\nt Sec Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part of this volume, under the letter C.\\nt Ingraham subsequently entered the navy of the United States as a lieutenant,\\nand was one of the officers of the ill-fated brig Pickering, of which nothing was ever\\nheard, after her departure from the Delaware in August, 1800. Gray continued to\\ncommand trading vessels from Boston until 1800, about which time he died.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0267.jp2"}, "268": {"fulltext": "238 SURVEY OF ADMIRALTY INLET. [1792.\\nIn the mean time, the survey of the Strait of Fuca had been\\ncompleted.\\nVancouver and Broughton took their departure on the 1st of\\nMay, as already mentioned, from Cape Flattery, the point at the\\nsouth side of the entrance of the Strait, and thence sailed slowly\\nalong the coast eastward, about a hundred miles, to its extremity\\nin that direction, where they entered a harbor called by them Port\\nDiscovery, the same which had, in 1790, received from duimper\\nthe name of Port Qiiadra. A little beyond this harbor, they found\\nanother opening in the coast towards the south, corresponding with\\nthat called by Quimper Cajial de Caamano, through which they\\nentered an extensive arm of the sea, with several branches, stretch-\\ning in various southerly directions, to the distance of more than a\\nhundred miles from the strait. This great arm, called Admiralty\\nInlet, with its principal branches, Hood s Canal on the west, Pos-\\nsession Sound on the east, and Puget s Sound, the southernmost,\\nwere carefully surveyed to their respective terminations and the\\nnavigators, having thus ascertained that no passage through the con-\\ntinent was to be effected by those channels, returned to the strait.\\nOf the beauty and apparent fertility of the country surrounding this\\narm of the sea, Vancouver speaks in glowing terms. The surface\\nnear the shores was generally undulating, presenting a succession\\nof meadows, lawns, and hillocks, many of which were covered\\nwith noble forests of oak the soil principally consisted of a rich,\\nblack, vegetable mould, lying on a sandy or clayey substratum the\\ngrass, of excellent quality, grew to the height of three feet, and the\\nferns, w^hich, in the sandy soils, occupied the clear spots, were\\nnearly twice as high. In the distance, on the east, the south, and\\nthe west, the view was bounded by lofty mountains, to the stupen-\\ndous peaks of which Vancouver assigned the names of British\\nadmirals and diplomatists.\\nAfter completing this part of their survey, the English landed on\\nthe shore of Possession Sound, and celebrated the birthday of their\\nsovereign, the 4th of June, by taking possession, in his name, and\\nwith the usual formalities, of all that part of New Albion, from\\nthe latitude of 39 degrees 20 minutes south, and longitude 236\\ndegrees 26 minutes east, to the entrance of the inlet of the sea,\\nsaid to be the supposed Strait of Juan de Fuca, as also of all the\\ncoasts, islands, c., within the said strait, and both its shores to\\nwhich region they gave the appellation of Neio Georgia. With\\nregard to this ceremony, it may be observed, that, although naval", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0268.jp2"}, "269": {"fulltext": "1792.] VANCOUVER MEETS GALIANO AND VALDES. 239\\nofficers are not expected to be minutely acquainted with diplomatic\\naffairs, yet Captain Vancouver, who was sent to the North Pacific\\nas commissioner to execute the convention of October, 1790, should\\nhave recollected that, by the stipulations of that convention, every\\nfart of the north-ivest coast of America ivas rendered free and open\\nfor trade or settlement to Spanish as ivcll as British subjects; and\\nthat, consequently, no claim of sovereignty, on the part of either of\\nthose nations, could be valid. It may seem pedantic, if not unjust,\\nto make this remark with regard to what may have been nothing\\nmore than the result of an exuberance of loyal feeling in the officers\\nand crews of the vessels but this taking possession by Vancouver\\nhas been since gravely adduced, by the representatives of the British\\ngovernment, in support of its claims to the dominion of the terri-\\ntories above mentioned.*\\nOn returning to the Strait of Fuca, the English examined several\\nother passages opening into it, some of which were found to ter-\\nminate in the land, at short distances from their mouths, and others\\nto be channels between islands. Through one of these latter chan-\\nnels, opening immediately opposite the entrance of Admiralty Inlet,\\nthey passed into a long and wide gulf, extending north-westward\\nand, after proceeding a few miles within it, they, on the 23d of June,\\nunexpectedly met the Spanish schooners Sutil and Mexicana,f com-\\nmanded by Lieutenants Galiano and Valdes, which had left Nootka\\non the 4th of the month, and had advanced thus far along the\\nnorthern shore of the strait. The meeting was, doubtless, vexatious\\nto the commanders of both the parties, each being naturally anxious\\nto secure to himself all the merit which might be acquired by deter-\\nmining the character of this famous arm of the sea they, however,\\nreceived and treated each other with the utmost civility, mutually\\nexhibiting their charts and journals, and comparing their obser-\\nvations and, having agreed to unite their labors, they remained to-\\ngether three weeks. During this time, they surveyed the shores of\\nthe great gulf above mentioned, called by the Spaniards Canal del\\nRosario, and by the English the Gulf of Georgia, which extended\\nSee statement of the British commissioners, among tlio Proofs and Illustrations,\\nin the latter part of this volume, under the letter G.\\nt Vancouver describes these vessels as each about forty-five tons burden, mount-\\ning two brass guns, and navigated by twent3^-four men bearing one lieutenant, with-\\nout a single inferior officer. Their apartments just allowed room for sleeping-places\\non each side, with a table in the intermediate space, at which four persons could with\\ndifficulty sit and they were, in all other respects, the most ill-calculated and unfit\\nvessels that could possibly be imagined for such an expedition.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0269.jp2"}, "270": {"fulltext": "240 PASSAGE THROUGH THE STRAIT OF FUCA. [1792.\\nnorth-westward as far as the 50th degree of latitude and then, on\\nthe 13th of July, the English took leave of their Spanish friends,\\nwho, from want of force, were unable to keep up with them.\\nOn parting with the Spaniards, the English entered a passage,\\nnamed by them Johnstone s Strait, leading from the north-west ex-\\ntremity of the gulf; and after a long and difficult navigation through\\nit, they, on the 10th of August, emerged into the Pacific at Queen\\nCharlotte s Sound, about one hundred miles north of Nootka.\\nHaving been, from the commencement, persuaded that the land on\\nthe western side of the strait was an island, they had devoted their\\nattention particularly to the eastern shores, through which a passage\\nmight be found to Hudson s Bay or the Arctic Sea but their search\\nproved vain, and, after tracing to their terminations in the interior a\\nnumber of long and intricate inlets, they became convinced that\\nthe continent extended uninterruptedly northward, at least to the\\n51st parallel of latitude. Immediately on entering the Pacific, the\\nDiscovery struck on a rock, and scarcely had she been got oflf ere\\na similar misfortune befell the Chatham both vessels, however,\\nescaped with little injury, and they soon after arrived at Nootka\\nSound. Galiano and Valdes also passed through the strait by the\\nsame route, and reached Nootka in safety on the 4th of September.\\nAfter the arrival of the Sutil and Mexicana at Nootka, Vancouver\\nand the Spanish commander, Quadra, compared together the notes\\nand charts of the two voyages through the Strait of Fuca and it\\nwas agreed between them, that the great island which that arm of\\nthe sea separated from the American continent should bear the\\nnames of them both. It has, in consequence, ever since been dis-\\ntinguished on maps by the long and inconvenient appellation of\\nIsland of (Quadra and Vancouver, which it will scarcely be allowed\\nto retain, when that part of the world shall be occupied by a civil-\\nized people.\\nThis survey of the Strait of Fuca was conducted in the most\\ncomplete and effectual manner possible by Vancouver, whose ac-\\ncount of it, filling a large portion of his journal, together with his\\ncharts, aflford unequivocal testimony of the skill and perseverance of\\nthe British navigators. Galiano and Valdes seem also to have done\\nas much as could have been expected, considering the smallness\\nof their force and the miserable scale of their equipments. Had\\nthey not met the British ships, they would, doubtless, have found\\ntheir way through the strait but they could never have made even\\na tolerable survey of it, as they must have left a number of passages", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0270.jp2"}, "271": {"fulltext": "1792.] NEGOTIATIONS AT NOOTKA. 241\\nunexplored and the world would, probably, never have received\\nany detailed report of their operations.*\\nBefore the arrival of these vessels at Nootka Sound, Captain\\nCoamano returned from his search for the Rio de Reyes of Ad-\\nmiral Fonte, in which he had spent two months. During this\\nperiod, he entered many of the openings in the coasts north and\\nnorth-east of Queen Charlotte s Island, between the 53d and the\\n56th parallels of latitude some of which were found to be the\\nmouths of bays, or of inlets running far inland, and others to be\\nchannels separating islands. He appears to have displayed much\\nskill and industry in his examinations, as Vancouver indirectly\\ntestifies in his narrative but he eftected no discoveries calculated\\nto throw much light on the geography of that part of the coast\\nand his labors were productive of advantage only in so far as they\\nserved to facilitate the movements of the English navigator, to\\nwhom his charts and journals were exhibited at Nootka.\\nAt Nootka, Vancouver found the store-ship Daedalus, which\\nbrought the instructions from the British government for his con-\\nduct as commissioner. She left England in the autumn of 1791,\\nunder the command of Lieutenant Hergest and, passing around\\nCape Horn, she, in the latter part of March, 1792, fell in with the\\nThe voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana was the last made by the Spaniards in\\nthe North Pacific Ocean, for the purposes of discovery and the only one, since that\\nof Vizcaino, of which an authentic account has been given to the world, with the\\nsanction of the Spanish government. The Journal of Galiano and Valdes was pub-\\nlished at Madrid in 1802, hy order of the king, with, an Introduction, often cited in\\nthe preceding pages, including a historical sketch of the exploring voyages of the\\nSpaniards on the coasts of America, north-west of Mexico. This Introduction is the\\nonly valuable part of the work the meagre and uninteresting details of the Journal\\nhaving been superseded by the full and luminous descriptions of Vancouver it\\nwas intended as a defence of the rights of Spain to the north-west portion of\\nAmerica, which were supposed to be endangered since the cession of Louisiana to\\nFrance as a vindication of the claims of Spanish navigators to tlic merit of dis-\\ncovering those regions, which the British were endeavoring to monopolize and as a\\nreply to the charges, insinuations, and sarcasms, against the intelligence, liberality,\\nand good faith, of the Spanish government and nation, brought forward by Fleurieu.\\nIt was compiled chiefly from the original journals and other documents, in the\\narchives of the Council of the Indies, relative to tlie exploration of the North Pacific\\ncoasts and, in this manner, many curious if not important facts were communi-\\ncated, which might otherwise have remained forever buried. It is, however, to be\\nregretted that the author should have disfigured his work as he has in every part in\\nwhich the honor or interests of Spain are concerned by gross and palpable misstate-\\nments of circumstances, respecting which he undoubtedly possessed the means of\\narriving at the truth. It may, perhaps, be considered a sufficient apology for him,\\nthat his book was published by the Spanish government, at Madrid, in 1802, as we\\nknow not what changes may have been made in it by insertions, suppressions, and\\nalterations, after it left his hands.\\n31", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0271.jp2"}, "272": {"fulltext": "242 LETTER OF GRAY AND INGRAM AM. [1792.\\nislands in the centre of the Pacific, north of the Marquesas, which\\nhad been discovered by Ingraham in April of the preceding year.\\nSailing thence, she reached Woahoo, one of the Sandwich Islands,\\nwhere Lieutenant Hergest and Mr. Gooch, the astronomer, were\\nmurdered by the natives, on the 11th of May; after which she\\ncame to Nootka Sound, under the command of Lieutenant New.\\nVancouver gave the name of Hergesfs Islands to the group visited\\nby the Djedalus, as above mentioned and so they are called in his\\nchart, although, as he says in his journal, he had been informed\\nthat they had been previously discovered and landed on by some of the\\nAmerican traders.\\nFor his conduct as commissioner, Vancouver was referred by his\\ninstructions to the convention of October, 1790, and to a letter\\nbrought by the Daedalus from count de Florida Blanca, the Spanish\\nminister of state, addressed to the commandant of the port of San\\nLorenzo of Nootka, ordering that officer, in conformity with the\\nfirst article of the convention, to put his Britannic majesty s com-\\nmissioner in possession of the buildings and districts, or parcels of\\nland, which were occupied by his subjects in April, 1789, as well\\nin the port of Nootka as in the other, said to be called Port Cox,\\nand to be situated about sixteen leagues farther southward. A copy\\nof this order had been given to Q,uadra, on his departure from\\nMexico but it does not appear that either of the commissioners\\nwas furnished by his government with any evidence to assist him in\\nascertaining precisely what lands were to be restored, or for what\\nbuildings indemnification was to be made by the Spaniards.\\nIn order to supply this want of information. Quadra had, imme-\\ndiately on arriving at Nootka, made inquiries on the subject of\\nMaquinna and other chiefs of the surrounding tribes all of whom,\\nwithout hesitation, denied that any lands had been purchased, or\\nany houses had been built there, by the English at any time. As\\nthe testimony of the savage chiefs could not, however, be of much\\nvalue alone, he had next addressed his inquiries to Captains Gray\\nand Ingraham, who arrived at Nootka in July, as already stated,\\nand who had witnessed the proceedings at that place in 1789, when\\nthe former commanded the Washington, and the latter was first\\nmate of the Columbia and they, in answer, sent a letter, dated\\nAugust 2d, containing a clear and particular statement of all the\\ncircumstances connected with the occupation of Nootka, and the\\nseizure of the vessels by Martinez. With regard to the particular\\npoints in question, they declare unequivocally that, although they", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0272.jp2"}, "273": {"fulltext": "1792.] PROPOSITIONS OF (QUADRA. 243\\nhad been in habits of constant intercourse with Maquinna and his\\npeople for nine months, they had never heard of any purchase of\\nlands on that coast by British subjects and that the only building\\nseen by them, when they reached the sound in September, 1789,\\nwas a rude hut, made by the Indians, which had been destroyed\\nlong before the arrival of the Spaniards.* These statements were,\\nin all respects, confirmed by Viana, the Portuguese, who had been\\nthe captain of the Iphigenia in 1788 and 1789, and who was then\\nwith his vessel at Nootka and the Spanish commissioner thereupon\\nconsidered himself authorized to assume that no lands ivere to be\\nrestored, and no buildings to be replaced or paid for by Spain.\\nA communication to this effect, with copies of the letters of Gray\\nand Ingraham and Viana, was, accordingly, addressed by Quadra\\nto Vancouver, on the arrival of the latter at Nootka. The Spanish\\ncommissioner, however, at the same time offered, with the view of\\nremoving all causes of disagreement between the two nations, to\\nsurrender to the British the small spot of ground on the shore of\\nFriendly Cove, which had been temporariij- occupied by Meares and\\nhis people in 1788; to give up, Tor their use, the houses and cul-\\ntivated lands of the Spaniards near that place and to retire with\\nall his forces to Port Nufiez Gaona, in the Strait of Fuca, (where\\nan establishment had been begun by Fidalgo,) until the two govern-\\nments should determine further on the matter: with the under-\\nstanding, nevertheless, that this cession was not to be considered as\\naffecting the rights of his Catholic majesty to the dominion of the\\nterritory, and that Nootka was to be regarded as the most northern\\nsettlement of the Spaniards, to whom the whole coast lying south\\nof it, and the adjacent country, was to be acknowledged to belong\\nexclusively.\\nVancouver, on the other hand, had thought proper to construe\\nthe first article of the convention of 1790 as giving to his country-\\nmen possession of the whole territory surrounding JSootlca and Clyo-\\nquot and he therefore refused to receive what was offered by\\nQuadra, declaring, with regard to the concluding part of the\\nSpaniard s proposition, that he was not authorized to enter into any\\ndiscussion as to the rights or claims of the respective nations. In\\nthis conviction he was supported by the evidence of Robert Duffin,\\nthe former mate of the Argonaut, who happened to arrive at Nootka\\nwhile the negotiation was in progress. This person testified that\\nSee letter of Gray and Ingraham to Quadra, among the Proofs and Illustrations,\\nin the latter part of this volume, under the letter D.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0273.jp2"}, "274": {"fulltext": "244 duffin s evidence. [1792.\\nhe had accompanied Mr. Meares to Nootka in 1788, with his two\\nvessels, which sailed under Portuguese colors and under the name\\nof a Portuguese merchant, for the purpose of avoiding certain\\nheavy duties at Macao, but were, notwithstanding, entirely British\\nproperty, and ivholly navigated by the subjects of his Britannic\\nmajesty that he had himself been present when Mr. Meares\\npurchased from the two chiefs, Maquinna and Callicum, the whole\\nof the land that forms Friendly Cove, Nootka Sound, in his Bri-\\ntannic majesty s name, for some sheets of copper and trifling\\narticles that the natives were perfectly satisfied, and, with the\\nchiefs, did homage to Mr. Meares as sovereign that the British flag\\nnot the Portuguese was displayed on shore on that occasion;\\nthat Mr. Meares caused a house to be erected on a convenient spot,\\ncontaining three bed-chambers, with a mess-room for the officers\\nand proper apartments for the men, surrounded by several out-\\nhouses and sheds for the artificers to work in, all of which he left\\nin good repair, under the care of Maquinna and Callicum, until he,\\nor some of his associates, should return that he, Duffin, was not\\nat Nootka when Martinez arrived there, but he understood no vestige\\nof the house remained at that thne and, on his return thither in\\nJuly, 1789, he found the Cove occupied by the subjects of his\\nCatholic majesty, and on the spot on which the house had stood\\nwere the tents and houses of some of the people of the ship\\nColumbia. Upon the streigth of this testimony, Vancouver pro-\\nnounced the declarations of Messrs. Gray and Ingraham to be en-\\ntirely false and he takes pains, in several parts of his work, to\\nanimadvert, in severe terms, on what he is pleased to call the\\nwilful misrepresentations of the Americans, to the prejudice of\\nBritish subjects.\\nOn the points to which Duffin s statement relates, it is unneces-\\nsary to add any thing to what has been already said. The evidence\\nis presented to us by Vancouver, in the form of an abstract, of the\\ncorrectness of which, as well as of the candor of that officer, we\\nmay be enabled to form an estimate, by comparing his abstract of\\nthe letter from Gray and Ingraham to Quadra, with the letter itself.\\nIt will be thus seen, that the British commander has, most unfairly,\\ngarbled the testimony of the American traders, by suppressing or\\naltering every part of it which could tend to place his countrymen,\\nor their cause, in an unfavorable light, or to excuse the conduct of\\nthe Spaniards towards them. His bitterness towards the citizens\\nof the United States, on this occasion, may, perhaps, be attributed", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0274.jp2"}, "275": {"fulltext": "1792.] NEGOTIATION SUSPENDED. 245\\nto the circumstance, that, on his arrival at Nootka, he learned the\\ncomplete success of Gray in finding a large river, and a secure\\nharbor, on a coast which he had himself explored in vain with the\\nsame objects.\\nThe correspondence between the two commissioners was con-\\ntinued for some weeks, at the end of which, finding it impossible\\nto effect any definitive arrangement, they agreed to submit the\\nmatter, with all the additional evi ience obtained by both parties, to\\ntheir respective governments, and to await further orders Nootka\\nbeing, in the mean time, considered a Spanish port.* Vancouver,\\nThe preceding sketch of the negotiation between Vancouver and Quadra is\\nderived from the Journals of Vancouver, Gahano and Valdes, and Ingraham. The\\nfollowing summary account of the business, extracted from Ingraliam s Journal, was\\ndrawn up, at his request, by Mr. Howel, the supercargo of the American brig Mar-\\ngaret, who acted as translator for Quadra, and saw the whole of the correspondence.\\nThe indefinite mode of expression adopted by Messrs. Fitzherbert and Florida\\nBlanca did not affix any boundaries to the cession expected by Great Britain what\\nthe buildings were, or what was the extent of the tract of land to be restored, the\\nplenipotentiaries did not think proper to determine. Don Juan Francisco, having\\nno better guide, collected the best evidence he could procure, and that could enable\\nhim to determine what were the lands and buildings of which the British subjects\\nwere dispossessed, and which the tenor of the first article of the convention alone\\nauthorized him to restore. The result of this investigation, in which he was much\\naided by your communication, supported by the uniform declarations of Maquinna\\nand his tribe, sufficiently evinced that the tract was a small corner of Friendly Cove,\\nand, to use the words of Captain Vancouver, little more than a hundred yards in ex-\\ntent any way; and the buildings, according to your information, dwindled to one\\nhut. Seiior Quadra, having ascertained the limits usually occupied by Mr. Meares^\\nor his servants, was ever ready to deliver it, in behalf of his Catholic majesty, to any\\nenvoy from the British court. Captain Vancouver arrived at Nootka Sound in the\\nlatter end of August and Sefior Quadra wrote to him on the subject of their re-\\nspective orders, and enclosed your letter, together with one from a Captain Viana, a\\nPortuguese, who passed as captain of the Iphigenia, when she was detained by the\\nSpaniards. Don Juan Francisco, in his letter, avowed his readiness to put Captain\\nVancouver in possession of the tract of land where Mr. Meares s house once stood,\\nwhich alone could be that ceded to Great Britain by the convention. Senor Quadra\\noffered, likewise, to leave for his accommodation all the houses, gardens, c., which\\nhad been made at the expense of his Catholic majesty, as he intended leaving the\\nport immediately. In the same letter, he tendered Captain Vancouver offers of\\nevery service and assistance which hospitality or benevolence could dictate. Cap-\\ntain Vancouver, in reply, gratefully acknowledged the intended favors, but entirely\\ndissented from the boundaries affixed by Seiior Quadra to the tract of land, of which\\nhe was to receive the possession and property and, in pursuance of his directions,\\ninterpreted the first article as a cession of this port, viz., Nootha Sound, in toio, to-\\ngether tcUh. Clyoquot, or Port Cox. He aisclaimed all retrospective discussion of the\\nrights, pretensions, c., of the two courts, and also of the actual possessions of British\\nsubjects in Nootka Sound, deeming it irrelevant to the business he was authorized\\nto transact, and only to be settled by the respective monarchs. The letters which\\nfollowed on both sides were merely a reiteration of the foregomg proposals and\\ndemands. Senor Quadra invited to a discussion of the boundaries, tSrc, and sup-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0275.jp2"}, "276": {"fulltext": "246 SURVEY OF bulfinch s harbor. [1792.\\naccordingly, despatched Lieutenant Mudge, by way of China, to\\nEngland, with communications for his government and he then\\nprepared for his own departure towards the south, being resolved to\\nexamine the Columbia River and Bulfinch s Harbor, of which he\\nhad received from Quadra copies of the charts given to that officer\\nby Gray.\\nVancouver sailed from Nootka, with his three vessels, on the 13th\\nof October, and, on the 18th, he was opposite Bulfinch s Harbor,\\nto examine which he detached Lieutenant Whidbey, in the Daeda-\\nlus, while he himself proceded with the other vessels to the mouth\\nof the Columbia. Into that river Broughton penetrated, in the\\nChatham, on the 20th the Discovery was unable to pass the bar\\nat the mouth and Vancouver, being persuaded that the stream was\\ninaccessible to large ships, except in very fine weather, with\\nmoderate winds, and a smooth sea, sailed to the Bay of San\\nFrancisco, where he had ordered the other officers to join him in\\ncase of separation. In December following, the whole squadron\\nwas reunited at Monterey, where Whidbey and Broughton pre-\\nsented the reports of their observations.\\nWhidbey s account of Bulfinch s Harbor was less favorable than\\nGray s from both, however, it appears that the place possesses\\nadvantages which must render it important, whenever the surround-\\ning region becomes settled. It affords a safe retreat for small\\nvessels, and there are several spots on its shore where boats may\\nland without difficulty moreover, it is the only harbor on the coast,\\nbetween Cape Mendocino and the Strait of Fuca, except the mouth\\nof the Columbia and, under such circumstances, labor and inge-\\nnuity will certainly be employed to correct and improve what nature\\nhas offijred. Upon the strength of this survey, the place has been\\nfrequently distinguished on British, and even on American maps,\\nas Whidbei/s Harbor, although Vancouver himself has not pre-\\ntended to withhold from Gray the merit of discovering it.\\nBroughton, as before mentioned, entered the Columbia with the\\nported his evidence with well-grounded reasoning; yet Captain Vancouver steadily\\nadhered to the demands he first made, and refused every kind of discussion. The\\ndefinitive letter from Seiior Quadra was transmitted on the 15th of September but,\\nit being of the same nature with the preceding ones, Captain Vancouver only re-\\nplied by a repetition of his former avowal, and informing the Spanish connuandant\\nthat he could receive, on the part of his master, the king of Britain, no other terri-\\ntories than those he had pointed out in his other letters, with which if Serior Quadra\\ndid not comply, he must retain them for his Catholic majesty, until the respective\\ncourts should determine what further proceedings they might deem necessary.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0276.jp2"}, "277": {"fulltext": "1792.] BROUGHTON SURVEYS THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 247\\nChatham, on the 20th of October and he there, to his surprise,\\nfound lying at anchor the brig Jenny, from Bristol, which had sailed\\nfrom Nootka Sound a few days previous. Scarcely had the Chat-\\nham etfected an entrance ere she ran aground and the channel\\nproved to be so intricate, that Brougiiton determined to leave her\\nabout four miles from the mouth, and to proceed up the stream in\\nhis cutter. A short account of his survey will be sufficient, as it\\nwould be unnecessary to present an abridgment of the long and\\nminute description given in the journal of Vancouver.\\nThe portion of the Columbia near the sea was found by Brough-\\nton to be about seven miles in width its depth varied from two\\nfathoms to eight, and it was crossed in every direction by shoals,\\nwhich must always render the navigation difficult, even by small\\nvessels. Higher up, the stream became narrower, and, at the\\ndistance of twenty-five miles from its mouth, its breadth did not\\nexceed a thousand yards. These circumstances were considered by\\nBroughton and Vancouver as authorizing them to assume that the\\ntrue entrance of the river was at the last-mentioned point, and that\\nthe waters between it and the ocean constituted an inlet or sound.*\\nFrom the extremity of this inlet, the party rowed eighty miles up\\nthe river, in a south-west course, to a bend, where, the current\\nbeing so rapid as to prevent them from advancing without great\\nlabor, they abandoned the survey, and returned to their vessel.\\nThe angle of land around which the river flowed, and where their\\nprogress was arrested, received the appellation of Point Vancouver\\nthe part of the inlet where the ship Columbia lay at anchor during\\nher visit, was called Gray^s Bay and that immediately within Cape\\nDisappointment was named Baker^s Bay, in compliment to the\\ncaptain of the Jenny. On the 10th of November, the Chatham\\n1 shall conclude this account of the Columbia River by a few short remarks\\nthat Mr. Broughton made in the course of its survey, in his ow^n words. The\\ndiscovery of this river, we were given to understand, is claimed by the Spaniards,\\nwho called it Entrada dc Ceta, after the commander of the vessel who is said to be its\\nfirst discoverer, but who never entered it; he places it in 46 degrees north latitude.\\nIt is tlie same opening that Mr. Gray stated to us, in the spring, he had been nine\\ndays off, the former year, but could not get in, in consequence of the outsetting\\ncurrent that, in the course of the late summer, he had, however, entered the river,\\nor rather the sound, and had named it after the ship he then commanded. The ex-\\ntent Mr. Gray became acquainted with on that occasion is no farther than what I\\nhave called Gray s Bay, not more than fifteen miles from Cape Disappointment,\\nthough, according to Mr. Gray s sketch, it measures thirty-six miles. By his calcu-\\nlation, its entrance lies in latitude 46 degrees 10 minutes, longitude 237 degrees 18\\nminutes, differing materially, in these respects, from our observations. Vancou-\\nver, vol. ii. p. 74.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0277.jp2"}, "278": {"fulltext": "248 UNWOBTHVr conduct of VANCOUVER. [1792.\\nquitted the Columbia, in company with the Jenny, and arrived at\\nPort San Francisco before the end of the month.\\nThe distinction which Vancouver and Broughton have thus en-\\ndeavored to estabhsh between the upper and the lower portions of\\nthe Columbia, is entirely destitute of foundation, and at variance\\nwith the principles of our whole geographical nomenclature. Inlets\\nand sounds are arms of the sea, running up into the land and their\\nwaters, being supplied from the sea, are necessarily salt the waters\\nof the Columbia are, on the contrary, generally fresh and potable\\nwithin ten miles of the Pacific the volume and the overbearing\\nforce of the current being sufficient to prevent the farther ingress\\nof the ocean. The question appears, at first, to be of no conse-\\nquence the following extract from Vancouver s journal will, how-\\never, serve to show that the quibble was devised by the British\\nnavigators, with the unworthy object of depriving Gray of the\\nmerits of his discovery Previously to his [Broughton s] depart-\\nure, he formally took possession of the river, and the country in its\\nvicinity, in his Britannic majesty s name, having every reason to\\nbelieve that the subjects of no other civilized tiation or state had ever\\nentered this river before. In this opinion he was confirmed by Mr.\\nGray^s sketch, in which it docs not appear that Mr. Gray either saw\\nor ever ivas within five leagues of its entrance. This unjust view\\nhas been adopted by the British government and writers, and also,\\ndoubtless from inadvertency, by some distinguished authors in the\\nUnited States. It may be, indeed, considered fortunate for Gray,\\nthat, by communicating the particulars of his discoveries, as he did,\\nto Quadra, he secured an unimpeachable witness in support of his\\nclaims had he not done so, the world would probably never have\\nlearned that a citizen of the United States was the first to enter the\\ngreatest river flowing from America into the Pacific, and to find the\\nonly safe harbor on the long line of coast between Port San Fran-\\ncisco and the Strait of Fuca.\\nAt San Francisco and Monterey, Vancouver surveyed the bays,\\nand examined the Spanish establishments, of which he presents\\nminute and graphic descriptions in his narrative and he obtained\\nsatisfactory evidence that the presidio of San Francisco, situated\\nnear the entrance of the bay, in latitude of 37 degrees 48 minutes,\\ntvas the northernmost spot, on the Pacific coast of America, occupied\\nby the Spaniards previous to the mo7ith of May, 1789, and was, con-\\nsequently, according to the convention of 1790, the northernmost\\nspot on that coast over which Spain could exercise exclusive juris-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0278.jp2"}, "279": {"fulltext": "1793.] EXECUTION OF MURDERERS AT WOAHOO. 249\\ndiction. At Monterey, the English commander again met and\\nconferred with the Spanish commissioner Quadra and it was\\nagreed between them, that Lieutenant Broughton should proceed\\nto Europe, across Mexico, with further communications, for their\\nrespective courts, on the subject of the arrangement of the ques-\\ntions at issue. These affairs having been concluded, the Daedalus\\nwas sent to New South Wales and Vancouver proceeded, with\\nthe Discovery and Chatham, the latter under Lieutenant Puget, to\\nthe Sandwich Islands, where they arrived in the middle of Feb-\\nruary, 1793.\\nAt Owyhee, the English ships were visited by Tamahamaha,\\nwho was, by this time, acknowledged as king of the island\\nby all the other chiefs except Tamaahmoto, the murderer of the\\ncrew of the Fair American. Vancouver immediately recognized\\nthe authority ot Tamahamaha, to which he endeavored, but in vain,\\nto induce Tamaahmoto to submit he then sailed to Mowee, where\\nhe succeeded in negotiating a peace between Titeree, king of that\\nisland, and the sovereign of Owyhee, and thence to Woahoo, where\\nhe superintended the trial and execution of three natives, who\\nhad been delivered up to him as the murderers of Hergest and\\nGooch, the officers of the Daedalus. The particulars of these\\njudicial proceedings are detailed with precision by Vancouver, who\\nseems to have been perfectly content with their regularity and\\ncorrectness nevertheless, when Broughton visited the island, in\\n1796, he was assured, as he says, that the men who were exe-\\ncuted alongside of the Discovery had not committed the murders,\\nbut were unfortunate beings whom the chief selected to satisfy\\nCaptain Vancouver. This appears to be certain from subsequent\\naccounts and it seems to be somewhat strange, that Vancouver\\nshould not have suspected it to have been the case, at the time of\\nthe trial.\\nHaving performed these acts of diplomacy and justice in the\\nSandwich Islands, Vancouver proceeded to the American coasts\\nand, after examining the portion near Cape Mendocino, including\\nthe place called Port Trinidad by the Spaniards, in 1775, so as to\\nconnect his surveys north and south of that portion, he sailed to\\nNootka, where he arrived on the 20th of May, 1793. The remain-\\nder of the warm season was passed by the British navigators in\\nmaking a minute and laborious examination of the shores of the\\nJournal of a Voyage to the Pacific, from 1793 to 1797, by Captain Robert\\nBroughton, p. 42.\\n32", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0279.jp2"}, "280": {"fulltext": "250 PRETENDED CESSION OF OWYHEE TO GREAT BRITAIN. [1794.\\ncontinent, and the islands in its vicinity, from the northern entrance\\nof the Strait of Fuca, near the 51st degree of latitude, northward,\\nas far as the 54th parallel tracing to their terminations, as in the\\npreceding year, all the passages which appeared to run eastward, as\\nwell as many others, which were found to be channels separating\\nislands from each other or from the main land. Several open-\\nings still remained unexplored beyond the 54th parallel but the\\nweather became so stormy at the end of September, that the\\nsurvey could no longer be continued with safety or advantage\\nVancouver accordingly returned along the western side of Queen\\nCharlotte s Island to Nootka, and thence took his departure for\\nPort San Francisco, which he reached on the 19th of October.\\nFrom Port San Francisco the British navigators sailed along the\\nshores of California which Vancouver takes care always to call\\nNew Albion as far south as San Diego, near the 33d degree of\\nlatitude, visiting every important point on their way, and observing\\nthe coasts with great exactness and thence, in the middle of De-\\ncember, they went to Owyhee, where they found that the supremacy\\nof Tamahamaha was admitted, though with some qualifications, by\\nthe people and the other chiefs. Here Vancouver succeeded in\\neffecting a reconciliation between the king and Tahowmannoo,\\nhis sultana, (since better known as Kaahumanu,) from whom he\\nhad been for some time separated on account of her open and\\nrepeated infidelities and he soon after gave further proof of his\\ntalents as negotiator, in a transaction the particulars of which do\\nnot appear to have been understood in the same light by both\\nthe parties.\\nThe navigator states that a strong disposition had been manifested\\nby several chiefs, at the time of his first visit, to place their island\\nunder subjection to the British king, but that it had been opposed\\nby other chiefs, on the ground that they should not surrender\\nthemselves to a superior foreign power, unless they were assured\\nthat they would thus be really protected against distant and\\nneighboring enemies. At the time of his second visit, however,\\nhe found the disposition to submit much increased, and, as he says,\\nUnder a conviction of the importance of these islands to Great\\nBritain, in the event of an extension of her commerce over the\\nPacific Ocean, and in return for the essential services we had\\nderived from the excellent productions of the country, and the\\nready assistance of its inhabitants, I lost no opportunity for encour-\\naging their friendly dispositions toward us, notwithstanding the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0280.jp2"}, "281": {"fulltext": "1794.] PRETENDED CESSION OF OWYHEE TO GREAT BRITAIN- 251\\ndisappointments they had met from the traders, for whose conduct\\nI could invent no apology endeavoring to impress them with the\\nidea that, on submitting to the authority and protection of a superior\\npower, they might reasonably expect they would in future be less\\nliable to such abuses. Acting under these views, he concihated\\nTamahamaha by building for him a small vessel, on which the\\nguns taken from the schooner Fair American were mounted and,\\nhaving induced all the principal chiefs to m iet him on the shore\\nnear his ships, it was determined, at the assembly, that Owyhee\\nshould be ceded to his Britannic majesty it being, however,\\nclearly understood, thai no interference was to take place in the\\nreligion, government, and domestic economy, of the island that\\nTamahamaha, the chiefs, and priests, tvere to continue, as usual, to\\nofficiate, with the same authority as before, in their respective stations,\\nand that no alteration in those particulars was in any degree thought\\nof or intended. So soon as this resolution was announced. Lieu-\\ntenant Puget, the commander of the Chatham, landed, displayed\\nthe British colors, and took possession of the island in the name of\\nhis sovereign after which a salute was fired from the vessels, and a\\ncopper plate was deposited in a conspicuous place at the royal resi-\\ndence, bearing the following inscription On the 25th of February,\\n1794, Tamahamaha, king of Owyhee, in council with the principal\\nchiefs of the island, assembled on board his Britannic majesty s\\nsloop Discovery, in Karakakooa Bay, and, in presence of George\\nVancouver, commander of the said sloop, Lieutenant Peter Puget,\\ncommander of his said majesty s armed tender the Chatham, and\\nthe other officers of the Discovery, after due consideration, unani-\\nmously ceded the said island of Owyhee to his Britannic majesty,\\nand acknowledged themselves to be subjects of Great Britain.\\nThat Vancouver assumed more than was warranted, in thus\\nasserting the cession of Owyhee, and the subjection of its chiefs to\\nGreat Britain, is clear not only from the subsequent declarations\\nof the chiefs, that they only intended to place themselves under the\\nprotection of that power, but also from the understanding estab-\\nlished between them and the navigator, that there ivas to be no\\ninterference in their internal concerns. At farthest, the transaction,\\neven if ratified by the British government, can only be viewed as\\nan engagement, on the part of the islanders, not to cede their\\ncountry to any other nation, and, on the part of Great Britain, to\\nsecure them against conquest or oppression by any other. Most\\nprobably each of the parties merely desired to obtain for itself as", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0281.jp2"}, "282": {"fulltext": "252 TAMAAHMOTO RECEIVED BY VANCOUVER. [1794.\\nmany advantages as could be derived from the transaction, without\\nany intention to observe concomitant obligations. Tamahamaha\\nexpected to receive assistance from Great Britain in conquering the\\nremaining islands of the group and Vancouver wished to prevent\\nother nations from resorting to Owyhee. It may be added, that\\nGreat Britain has, to this day, been little, if at all, benefited by the\\nSandwich Islands and that Tamahamaha, though he lived and\\nflourished for twenty-five years after the transaction above men-\\ntioned, never received a present, or even a message of any kind,\\nfrom his brother King George, to whom he, however, occasionally\\nsent a message by a whaling captain, reminding him that Vancou-\\nver s promise of a ship of war had not yet been fulfilled. No such\\npromise is recorded in the journal of Vancouver though it there\\nappears that the islanders had reason to believe that a vessel of war\\nwould be sent, for their protection, from Great Britain.\\nAnother circumstance connected with this pretended cession of\\nOwyhee to the British deserves particular notice. The consumma-\\ntion was delayed for some time, on account of the absence of\\nTamaahmoto, or Kamamoko, one of the most powerful chiefs, the\\nsame who, in February, 1790, captured the schooner Fair American,\\nand murdered her crew, as already stated. Vancouver had, at\\nfirst, refused to receive this man, or to have any intercourse with\\nhim but when it was found to be indispensable for the cession,\\nthat Tamaahmoto should give his vote in favor of it, the British\\ncommander began seriously to reflect on all the circumstances\\nthat had attended his visits to the islands and he, in the end,\\nbecame thoroughly convinced that implacable resentment or un-\\nrelenting anger, exhibited in his own practice, would ill accord\\nwith the precepts which he had endeavored to inculcate for the\\nregulation of iheirs. He therefore determined, by an act of\\noblivion in his own mind, to efface all former injuries and offences,\\nwhich he probably found no difficulty in doing, as the injuries and\\noffences were committed against citizens of the United States and\\nhe accordingly intimated that he would no longer regard Tamaah-\\nmoto as undeserving forgiveness, and would allow of his paying the\\ncompliments as he had so repeatedly requested, provided he would\\nengage, in the most solemn manner, that neither himself nor his\\npeople (for he generally moved with a numerous train of attendants)\\nwould behave in any manner so as to disturb tile subsisting harmony.\\nOn receiving this intimation, Tamaahmoto readily came forward\\nhe was admitted to the table of the British commander, and was", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0282.jp2"}, "283": {"fulltext": "1794.] VANCOUVER COMPLETES THE SURVEY OF THE COAST. 253\\none of the seven chiefs who assented to the cession. It is not\\nnecessary to show what inference the natives of the Sandwich\\nIslands might draw from a comparison between the favor thus\\nshown to the murderer of citizens of the United States, and the\\ntrial and execution of the persons who were charged with causing\\nthe deaths of the officers of the British vessel at Woahoo.*\\nSoon after these transactions, the British navigators took their\\nfinal leave of the Sandwich Islands, and, returning to the north-west\\ncoasts of America, examined every port which they had not previ-\\nously visited, from the peninsula of Aliaska, eastward and southward,\\nto Queen Charlotte s Island. They began at Cook s River, and,\\nhaving ascertained that no great stream entered that bay, they\\nchanged its name to Cook^s Inlet, which is now most commonly\\napplied to it. They then proceeded to Prince William s Sound, the\\nshores of which were completely surveyed and thence along the\\nbases of Mounts St. Elias and Fairweather, to the great opening\\nin the coast, near the 58th degree of latitude, which had been called\\nby Cook Cross Soimd. In Cook s Inlet and Prince William s\\nSound, they visited all the Russian establishments, of which Van-\\ncouver presents full and satisfactory accounts and, having succeeded\\nin proving that the place in which Bering anchored on his last\\nexpedition could be no other than that called Admiralty Bay, at\\nthe foot of Mount St. Elias, on the east, they gave to it the name of\\nBering^s Bay, and as such it generally appears on English charts\\nthe Russians call it the Bay of Yakutat.\\nThrough Cross Sound, Vancouver passed into a labyrinth of\\nchannels, some among islands, others running far inland, and termi-\\nnating in the midst of stupendous mountains and, having succeeded\\nin threading nearly all these passages, particularly those taking a\\nnorthern or eastern direction, and thus joined his survey with that of\\nthe preceding year, he considered his task accomplished. He had\\nmade known the existence of an almost infinite number of islands,\\nbetween the 54th and the 58th parallels, in the position assigned\\nto the Archipelago of St. Lazarus, in the story of Fonte s voyage\\nbut whilst a part of that story thus seemed to be confirmed, the\\nremainder was supposed to be entirely disproved, as no great river\\nTamaahmoto did not, however, scruple to declare, two years afterwards, that he\\nwould take the first vessel whicii might come witliin his roach and so little effect\\nhad the executions at Woahoo, that Captain Brown, of the British ship Buttorworth,\\nwas killed, in January, 1795, by the natives of that island, in an attack which they\\nmade on his vessel with the intention to take her. See Broughton s account of his\\nvoyage in the Pacific, p. 43.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0283.jp2"}, "284": {"fulltext": "254 STIKINE RIVER. [1794.\\nwas found issuing from the continent opposite these islands and\\nVancouver became well satisfied that the precision with which\\nhis survey had been conducted would remove every doubt, and set\\naside every opinion of a north-west passage, or any water communi-\\ncation navigable for shipping, between the North Pacific and the\\ninterior of the American continent, within the limit of his re-\\nsearches. The belief thus expressed by the navigator has been\\ncompletely confirmed. It must, nevertheless, be admitted that, con-\\nsidering the intricacies in the coasts between the 48th and the 58th\\nparallels, many passages, by which vessels could penetrate into the\\ninterior of the continent, might have long escaped the notice of the\\nmost careful observer and in evidence of this is the fact, that a\\nriver called the Stikine* three miles wide at its mouth, and a mile\\nulJe thirty miles higher up, has been, since Vancouver s voyage,\\nfound entering the arm of the sea named by him Prince Frederick s\\nSound, in the latitude of 56 degrees 50 minutes. Vancouver s\\nfailure to discover the mouth of the Columbia should have ren-\\ndered him distrustful of the entire accuracy of his observations in\\nsuch cases.\\nAfter completing these discoveries, Vancouver took possession of\\nthe part of the continent extending north-westward of that around\\nthe Strait of Fuca, which he had named JSew Georgia, as far as\\nthe 59th degree of latitude, and of all the adjacent islands, in\\nthe name of his Britannic majesty, his heirs and successors, with\\nthe formalities usual on such occasions, including a double allow-\\nance of grog to the sailors. He also bestowed upon the various\\nterritories, straits, bays, c,, names derived almost entirely from\\nthe lists of the members of the royal family, the ministry, the Par-\\nliament, the army and the navy of Great Britain the importance\\nVancouver mentions Stikeen as the name of a country or nation on the conti-\\nnental shore of Prince Frederick s Sound and he heard, from the natives farther\\nsouth, of a place in that sound called by them Uon-nass, which word seemed to mean\\ngreat channel. The first intimation of the existence of the river was probably com-\\nmunicated to the world by the captain of the ship Atahualpa, of Boston, from whose\\njournal an extract is published in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical\\nSociety for 1804, p. 242. The captain there says,\\nAugust 25th, 1802. I had some conversation with Cou (a chief of an island near\\nQueen Charlotte s Sound) respecting the natives who inhabit the country back of\\nStikeen he liad his information from Cokshoo, the Stikeen chief. Cou\\nalso informs me that the place called JVass, or Uon-nass (spoken of by Vancouver) by\\nthe natives in Chebassa Strait, (Prince Frederick s Sound,) is the mouth of a river of\\nvery considerable extent, but unknown, navigable for vessels or large canoes. Near\\nthis place, the Atahualpa was attacked, in January, 1805, and her captain, mate, and\\nsix seamen, were killed the others of her crew succeeded in escaping with the vessel.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0284.jp2"}, "285": {"fulltext": "1794.] NAMES OF PLACES ON THE NORTH-WEST COAST. 255\\nof the place thus distinguished being generally in proportion to the\\nrank of the individual. Thus we find upon his chart of the north-\\nwest archipelago, the large islands or groups of King George the\\nThird., the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and the Admiralty\\nwith the smaller ones of Pitt, Haivkesburij, Dundas, and Burke\\nbetween which are the Duke of Clarence s Strait, Prince Frederick s\\nSound, Chatham Canal, Grenville Canal, and Stephens s Passage\\na small group, near the 55th parallel, partially surveyed by Caamano,\\nin 1791, was allowed to retain the name of Revillagigedo Islands,\\nin honor of the enlightened viceroy of Mexico. The capes, bays,\\nand smaller points or channels, are distributed among the JVindhams,\\nWalpoles, and other high families, principally those belonging to\\nthe Tory party one little point being, however, vouchsafed to\\nCharles James Fox. Without questioning the right of the discov-\\nerer to impose these names, it may be observed, that none of them\\nwill, in all probability, ever be used by the inhabitants of the region\\nin which the place so called is situated. The Russians, who occupy\\nthe islands and coasts of the main-land north of the 54th parallel,\\nrigorously exclude from their charts, and from use in every way, the\\nappellations assigned to places in their dominions by people of other\\ncivilized countries and even the British traders, whose posts extend\\nthrough the parts of the continent distinguished by Vancouver as\\nNeiv Georgia, Netv Hanover, New Cornwall, and New Norfolk,\\nappear to be entirely ignorant of those names.\\nFrom the northern coasts, Vancouver, when his labor was ended,\\nwent to Nootka, where he found the Spaniards still in possession,\\nunder the command of Brigadier Alava Quadra having died in the\\npreceding spring, at San Bias. As no information had been received\\nthere from Europe respecting the surrender of the territories, the\\nBritish commander sailed to Monterey, where he learned that the\\nquestion had been adjusted by the two courts amicably, and nearly\\non the terms which he had repeatedly offered to Quadra in Sep-\\ntember, 1792; and also that the business was not to be carried\\ninto execution by him, as a fresh commission had been issued for\\nthe purpose by the court of London. Under these circumstances,\\nhe resolved to return immediately to Europe and he accordingly\\nquitted Monterey on the 2d of December, 1794. On his way\\nsouthward, he examined the Cahfornian coast, though not minutely,\\nas far as Cape San Lucas, from which he took his departure for\\nValparaiso, in Chili. After a short stay at that place, he passed\\naround Cape Horn, and arrived in England in November, 1795", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0285.jp2"}, "286": {"fulltext": "256 END OF THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY [1796.\\nhaving completed, in the most effectual manner, the most extensive\\nnautical survey which had ever been made in one expedition.*\\nNo account has yet transpired of the negotiation between the\\ncourts of London and Madrid, respecting the extent of territory, and\\nthe buildings on the north-west coasts of America, which were to be\\nrestored to British subjects, after the reference of that question to\\nthem by their commissioners. Lieutenant Broughton, who had\\nbeen despatched to England by Vancouver in 1793, was thence\\nsent by the government on this business to Madrid and, on his\\nreturn to London, he was ordered to proceed to the North Pacific,\\nin the sloop Providence, for the purpose of surveying the coasts of\\nAsia, near Japan, being commissioned, at the same time, to receive\\npossession of the territories at Nootka, in case the restitution should\\nnot have been previously made. He accordingly sailed from Eng-\\nland for Nootka, where, in April, 1796, he was informed, by letters\\nleft in charge of Maquinna,t that the Spaniards had delivered up\\nthe port of Nootka, c., to Lieutenant Pierce, of the marines,\\nagreeably to the mode of restitution settled between the two courts,\\nVancouver s journal and charts were published at London in 1798, before which\\nperiod the navigator had sunk into the grave. His journal is a simple record of obser-\\nvations and occurrences, written in a plain and intelligible, though homely and un-\\npretending style and it is entirely free from those displays of imagination, in the\\nshape of long political and philosophical disquisitions with which such works are\\noften overloaded. The charts and views of the land are admirably executed, and their\\naccuracy has been since generally confirmed. We are, in fact, indebted to Vancouver\\nand his officers for our knowledge of the outline of the whole western coasts of Amer-\\nica, from the peninsula of California to the peninsula of Aliaska of which all the\\nprincipal points have been ascertained with the utmost precision, so that succeeding\\nnavigators have only had to make corrections in the intermediate spaces. Vancouver\\nhimself was certainly a man of great courage, perseverance, and professional skill,\\npossessing also good temper and good feelings, except with regard to citizens of the\\nUnited States, against whom and their country he cherished the most bitter animosity-\\nWhile admitting, with frankness, the merits of subjects of other nations, as discoverers\\nor as men, he did not hesitate to adopt unworthy means to deprive the Americans of\\nthe reputation which they had justly earned by their labors in exploring, and to blacken\\ntheir characters as individuals for this object, he made use of misrepresentations,\\nmisstatements, insinuations, and concealments, whenever occasions presented them-\\nselves; and that which he would have commended in a Briton, or excused in a Rus-\\nsian or a Spaniard, became criminal in his eyes when committed by a citizen of the\\nhated republic. He, nevertheless, appears to have given satisfaction to all with\\nwhom he came personally into communication. Ingraham speaks of him with the\\nutmost respect, and acknowledges his obligations for the uniform kindness of the\\nBritish navigator. In the Sandwich Islands his memory is universally cherished.\\nHe was long expected to return and establish himself there, as a commissioner from\\nhis sovereign and he probably would have been admitted among the number of\\ntheir gods, if the ship which he is said to have promised to Tamahamaha had ever\\nDeen sent.\\nt Journal of a Voyage in the Pacific, by Captain Robert Broughton, p. 50.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0286.jp2"}, "287": {"fulltext": "1796.] END OF THE NOOTKA CONTROVERSY. 2.57\\nin March, 1795, after which the place had been entirely evacuated\\nby both parties. This is the account given by Broughton in his\\njournal, which, however, affords no information as to the mode of\\nrestitution thus settled. On tiie other hand, Belsham, an historian\\nwho, notwithstanding the violence of his prejudices, cannot be sus-\\npected of want of attachment to the honor or interests of his country,\\nand who possessed ample means of ascertaining the fact, writes, in\\n1805,* It is nevertheless certain, from the most authentic subse-\\nquent information, that the Spanish jlag jlying at Nootlca was never\\nstruck, and that the territory has been virtually relinquished by\\nGreat Britain. It indeed seems very improbable that the British\\ngovernment, which had just concluded a treaty of alliance with\\nSpain, and had induced that power to declare war against France,\\nwhen Broughton was sent to the Pacidc, should at the same time\\nhave required the surrender of this territory, or that Spain should\\nhave assented to it while she possessed the right, by the convention,\\nto indemnify the British claimants for all such losses of land or build-\\nings, as they could prove to have been sustained by tiiem, since the\\nmonth of April, 1789. It is more reasonable to suppose that the\\nSpaniards merely abandoned the place, the occupation of which was\\nuseless and very expensive.f Since that period, no civilized nation\\nhas ever attempted to form an establishment at Nootka Sound, nor\\nhave the Spaniards occupied any spot on the Pacific coast of America\\nnorth of Port San Francisco.\\nIn July, 1796, Spain, having been unsuccessful in her hostile\\noperations against the French republic, was obliged to make peace\\nwith that power and, in October following, she was likewise obliged\\nHistory of Great Britain, vol. viii. p. 337.\\nt In the library of Congress, at Washington, is an interesting Spanish manuscript\\npresented by General Tornel, during his residence in the United States as minister\\nfrom Mexico, entitled Instruccion reservada del Rcyno do Nueva Espaiia que el\\nExmo. Seiior Virrey Conde de Revillagigedo dio i su Sucesor el Exmo. Senor Mar-\\nques de Branciforte en el Aifio de 1794 Secret Iiistmctions respecting the Kingdom of\\nKexo Spain, given, in 1794, by the Viceroy, Count de Revillagigedo, to his Successor, the\\nMarquis de Branciforte. This work, which abounds in curious details relative to the\\nadministration of affairs in Mexico, has been carefully examined with reference to the\\nobjects of the present memoir. Nothing, however, has been collected from it, except\\nm confirmation of statements elsewhere made. The paragraphs from 703 to 713, in-\\nclusive, arc devoted to the Marine Department of San Bias, to whicli, as already men-\\ntioned, the care of the Spanish colonics in California was committed. The count\\nrecommends to his successor the maintenance of those colonies, as the best means of\\npreserving Mexico from foreign influences advising him, at the same time, however,\\nnot to extend the establishments beyond the Strait of Fuca. With regard to Nootka,\\nit is merely stated, in paragraph 713, that orders had been sent to the commandant to\\nabandon the place, agreeably to a royal dictamcn.\\n33", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0287.jp2"}, "288": {"fulltext": "258 WAR BETWEEN SPAIN AND ENGLAND. [1796.\\nto declare war against her former ally, Great Britain. In the mani-\\nfesto published by the court of Madrid, on the latter occasion, the\\nfrequent arrival of English vessels on the coasts of Peru and Chili,\\nto carry on contraband trade, and to reconnoitre those coasts,\\nunder the pretext of the whale fishery, which privilege they claimed\\nunder the Nootka convention, is alleged among the causes of the\\nrupture. The British government, in its answer, denied that the\\nwhale fishery by the English, in these parts, was, as asserted, claimed\\nin the convention of Nootka, as then for the first time established,\\ninsisting that the right was, in that convention, solemnly recognized\\nby the court of Madrid, as having always belonged to Great Britain,\\nand the full and undisturbed exercise of which was guarantied to\\nhis majesty s subjects, in terms so express, and in a transaction so\\nrecent, that ignorance of it cannot be pretended. That Great\\nBritain did always possess the right to fish in the Pacific and South-\\nern Oceans, agreeably to the principles of common justice, is un-\\nquestionable but that this right was acknowledged by Spain in\\nthe Nootka convention, or in any other treaty between those powers\\nprevious to 1796, is by no means exact. In the Nootka conven-\\ntion, all assertions and recognitions of rights are, on the contrary,\\navoided the whole instrument being, in fact, a series of conces-\\nsions, limitations, and restrictions, resting entirely on the consent of\\nboth parties, and expiring on the withdrawal of its consent by either.\\nOn this declaration of war by Spain against Britain, the Nootka\\nconvention, with all its stipulations, of whatsoever nature they might\\nhave been, expired, agreeably to the rule universally observed and\\nenforced among civilized nations, that all treaties are ended by war\\nbetween the parties. From that moment, Spain might, as before\\nthe convention, claim the exclusive navigation of the Pacific and\\nSouthern Oceans, and the sovereignty of all their American coasts\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2and Great Britain might again assert the right of her subjects to sail\\nand fish in every open sea, and to settle on every unoccupied coast.*\\nFrom the preceding view of the circumstances connected with\\nthe convention of October, 1790, and the occupation of Nootka\\nSound by the Spaniards, we are authorized to conclude,\\nThat no part of the north-west coasts of the continent of North\\nAmerica, or of the adjacent islands, had ever been owned or occu-\\npied by British subjects, anterior to the establishment of the Spanish\\npost at Nootka Sound, in May, 1789: Consequently,\\nFurther considerations on this subject will be found in the fifteenth chapter of\\nthis History.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0288.jp2"}, "289": {"fulltext": "1796.] WAR BETWEEN SPAIN AND ENGLAND. 259\\nThat no buildings or tracts of land, on those coasts or islands,\\nwere to be restored to British subjects, agreeably to the first and\\nsecond articles of the convention of October, 1790: And, as a\\nfurther consequence,\\nThat the abandonment of Nootka Sound by the Spaniards in\\n1795, under whatsoever circumstances it may have been effected,\\ngave to Great Britain no oilier rights at that place, than those which\\nshe enjoyed in common with Spain, in every other part of the coasts\\nand islands north of Port San Francisco, by virtue of the third and\\nfifth articles of the same convention.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0289.jp2"}, "290": {"fulltext": "260\\nCHAPTER XII.\\n1788 TO 1810.\\nEstablishment of the North- West Fur Trading Company of Montreal, in 1783\\nExpeditions of Mackenzie to the Arctic Sea and to the Pacific Coast The Trade\\nbetween the North Pacific Coasts of America and Canton conducted almost ex-\\nclusively by Vessels of the United States from 1796 to 1814 Establishment of\\nthe Russian American Company Its Settlements and Factories on the American\\nCoasts Expedition of Krusenstern through the North Pacific Proposition of\\nthe Russian Government to that of the United States, with Regard to the Trade\\nof the North Pacific.\\nWhilst the navigators of various nations were thus completing\\nthe survey of the shores of North-West America, important infor-\\nmation respecting the interior regions of that section of the conti-\\nnent was obtained by the agents of an association formed at\\nMontreal, in 1784, for the prosecution of the fur trade in the Indian\\nterritories, which were supposed to be beyond the jurisdiction of\\nthe Hudson s Bay Company.\\nBefore Canada came into the possession of Great Britain, a large,\\nif not the greater, portion of the furs sent from America by the\\nsubjects of that power was shipped from New York. After that\\nperiod, Montreal became the principal seat of the trade and dis-\\nputes immediately arose between the Hudson s Bay Company, which\\nclaimed the whole division of America drained by streams falling\\ninto that sea, and the Canadians, who pursued their trade in the\\nsouthern and western parts of that territory. These disputes, with\\nwhich the British government did not, from policy, choose to inter-\\nfere, were injurious to the interests of both parties and, the Indian\\ncountries north of Lake Superior having been, about the same\\ntime, almost depopulated by the smallpox, the trade was confined,\\nfor some years, to the environs of Hudson s Bay, the lower lakes,\\nand the St. Lawrence, where the animals were less numerous, and\\ntheir furs inferior in quality.\\nAt length, about the year 1775, some enterprising merchants of\\nMontreal penetrated into the countries, far north-west of Lake\\nSuperior, drained by the Saskatchawine and Athabasca Rivers,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0290.jp2"}, "291": {"fulltext": "1784.] NORTH-WEST COMPANY FORMED. 261\\nwhich had long before been frequented by the French and their\\nsuccess in trade was such as to induce others to make similar ex-\\npeditions. The Canadians were, however, exposed, on their way,\\nto great difficulties and annoyances from the Hudson s Bay Com\\npany, with which they were unable separately to contend and\\nthey, in consequence, in the year 1784, united their interests, and\\nassumed for their association the title of the North- West Company\\nof Montreal. Other associations were afterwards formed, under\\ndifferent names but they were soon either dissolved or united with\\nthe North- West Company.\\nThe organization of this new company was such, as to insure the\\nutmost regularity and devotion to the interests of the concern,\\namong all who were engaged in its service. The number of the\\nshares was at first sixteen it was afterwards increased to twenty,\\nand then to forty a certain proportion of them was lield by the\\nagents, residing in Montreal, who furnished the capital the remain-\\nder being distributed among the proprietors, or partners, who super-\\nintended the business in the forts or posts in the interior, and the\\nclerics, who traded directly with the Indians. The clerks were\\nyoung men, for the most part natives of Scotland, who entered the\\nservice of the company for five or seven years and, at the end of\\nthat time, or even earlier, if they conducted themselves well, they\\nwere admitted as proprietors. The inferior servants of the com-\\npany were guides, interpreters, and voyageurs, the latter being\\nemployed as porters on land, and as boatmen on the water, all of\\nwhom were bound to the interests of the body by hopes of advance-\\nment in station or in pay, and of pensions in their old age.\\nThe agents imported from England the goods required for the\\ntrade, had them packed into bundles of about ninety pounds\\nweight each, and despatched them to the different posts and they\\nreceived the furs in packs of the same size, and conducted the\\nshipment and sale of them. The furs, as also the articles for the\\ntrade and use of the persons employed, were transported through\\nthe continent principally in canoes, for which the Ottowa River,\\nLakes Huron and Superior, and the other innumerable lakes, and\\nthe streams connecting them farther north-west, offered great fa-\\ncilities the portage between the navigable waters on the lines of\\nthe route being effected by the voyageurs, who carried the bundles,\\nand sometimes, also, the canoes, across the intervening tracts of\\nland. In this manner the goods and furs passed one, two, and even\\nthree, thousand miles between the agent at Montreal and the pro-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0291.jp2"}, "292": {"fulltext": "262 EXPEI ITION TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. [1788.\\nprietor at the trading-post and nearly four years elapsed between\\nthe period of ordering the goods in Canada, and that at which the\\nfurs could be sold in London.\\nBefore the formation of the North- West Company, the farther-\\nmost trading establishment of British subjects was one on the\\nAthabasca or Elk River, about twelve hundred miles north-west of\\nLake Superior, which had been founded by Messrs. Frobisher and\\nPond, in 1778 and this continued to be the principal post in that\\npart of the continent for ten years, when it was abandoned, and\\nanother, called Fort Chipewyan, was established on the south-west\\nside of the Athabasca Lake, or Lake of the Hills, into which\\nthe Elk River discharges its waters. In the mean time, several\\nlarge parties had been sent, for the purposes of trade and discovery,\\nfrom Canada towards the west, one of which, consisting of about\\na hundred men, penetrated to the foot of the great dividing chain\\nthen called the Shining Mountains, or Mountains of Bright Stones,\\nand now commonly known as the Rocky Mountains but they were\\nOf this expedition an account appeared in a letter written at Pittsburg, in 1791,\\nby an officer of General St. Clair s army, and published in the Collections of the\\nMassachusetts Historical Society for 1794. The writer, whose name is not given,\\nreceived his information from a Mr. M who had, as he said, commanded the\\nparty in question. The following extracts will show the principal circumstances\\nconnected with the expedition, and among them will be found nothing which should\\ninduce us to doubt the truth of the account\\nMr. M. stated that he had, about five years ago, departed from Montreal, with\\na company of about one hundred men, for the purpose of making a tour through the\\nIndian countries, to collect furs, and to make remarks, c. He pursued his route\\nfrom Montreal, and entered the Indian country, and coasted about three hundred\\nleagues along the banks of Lake Superior, whence he made his way to the Lake of\\nthe Woods, of which he took an accurate survey, and found it to be thirty-six leagues\\nin length, and thence to Lake Ounipique, [Winnipeg,] of which he also gives a\\ndescription. The tribes of Indians through which he passed were called the Mus-\\nkego, Shipewyan, Cithnistinee, Great-belly, Beaver, Blood, Black-feet, Snake,\\nOssnobian, Shiveyton, Mandon, Paunee, and several others, c. In pursuing his\\nroute, he found no difficulty in obtaining a guide to accompany him from one nation\\nto another, until he reached the foot of the Shininff Mountains, or Mountains of Bright\\nStones, where, in attempting to pass, he was frustrated by the hostile appearance of\\nthe Indians who inhabit that part of the country the consequence of which was,\\nthat he was disappointed in his intention, and obliged to turn his back upon them.\\nHaving collected a number of Indians, he went forward again, with an intention to\\nforce his way over these mountains, if necessary and practicable, and to reach Cook s\\nRiver, on the north-west coast of America, supposed by him to be about three\\nhundred leagues from the mountains; but the inhabitants of the mountains again met\\nhim with their bows and arrows, and so superior were they in numbers to his little\\nforces, that he was obliged to flee before them. Cold weather coming on, he built\\nhuts for himself and party in the Ossnobian [Assinaboin] country, and near to the\\nsource of a large river called the Ossnobian River, where they tarried duriog the\\ncold season, and until some time in the warm months.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0292.jp2"}, "293": {"fulltext": "1789.] MACKENZIE REACHES THE ARCTIC SEA. 263\\nunable to proceed farther, in consequence of the hostile dispositions\\nof the natives.\\nBetween 1788 and 1794, two other expeditions were made from\\nFort Chipewyan by Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, the superintending\\nproprietor at that place, of which a particular account should be\\nhere given, as the geographical information obtained in them was\\nhighly interesting, and led to important commercial and political\\nresults.*\\nThe Athabasca Lake is a basin about two hundred miles in\\nlength from east to west, and about thirteen in average breadth, sit-\\nuated under the 59th parallel of latitude, midway between the\\nPacific Ocean and Hudson s Bay. It is supplied by several streams,\\nof which the principal are the Athabasca or Elk River, flowing from\\nthe south, and the Unjigah or Peace River, from the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, on the west and its waters are discharged through the Slave\\nRiver, running about two hundred miles north, into the Great Slave\\nLake, discovered by Hearne in 1771. All these rivers join the\\nAthabasca Lake at its south-west end, near which Fort Chipewyan\\nwas then situated.\\nMackenzie s first expedition was made in 1789, and its principal\\nobject was to ascertain the course of the waters from the Great Slave\\nLake to the sea, which Hearne had left undetermined. For this\\npurpose, he left Fort Chipewyan, with his party, in bark canoes, on\\nthe 3d of June, 1789, and, passing down the Slave River into the\\nGreat Slave Lake, he discovered a large stream flowing out of tiie\\nlatter basin, at its north-west extremity, to which he gaxe the name\\nof Mackenzie Rive} and this stream he descended about nine\\nhundred miles, in a north-west direction, along the base of a chain\\nof mountains, to its termination in the sea. On his return, he\\nexamined the country east of his great river, which had been\\ntraversed by Hearne, and arrived at Fort Chipewyan on the 12th\\nof September, after an absence of nearly three months.\\nThe mouth of the Mackenzie was suj)posed by its discoverer to\\nbe situated near the 69th degree of latitude, and about 25 degrees\\nof longitude, or five hundred miles, west of the mouth of Hearne s\\nCoppermine River, which is not far from its t.ue position.f Still\\nVoyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of\\nNorth America, to the Frozen and the Pacific Oceans, in 1789 and 1793, with a pre-\\nliminary Account of the Fur Trade of that Country by Sir Alexander Mackenzie.\\nLondon, 1801.\\nt Its principal mouth is in latitude 69 longitude 136 west from Greenwich.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0293.jp2"}, "294": {"fulltext": "264 Mackenzie s journey to the pacific. [1792.\\nfarther west must, of course, be situated any passage or sea con-\\nnecting the Pacific witii the part of the ocean into which both those\\nrivers were supposed to empty and the existence of any such\\npassage east of Bering s Strait became, in consequence, much less\\nprobable.\\nIn his second expedition, Mackenzie quitted Fort Chipewyan on\\nthe lOtli of October, 1792, and ascended the Unjigah or Peace\\nRiver, from the Athabasca Lake, with much difficulty, to the foot\\nof the Rocky Mountains, where he spent the winter in camp. In\\nJune of tlie following year, he resumed his voyage up the same\\nstream, which he traced, in a south-west direction, through the\\nmountains, to its springs, near the 54th degree of latitude, distant\\nmore than nine hundred miles from its mouth. Within half a mile\\nof one of these springs, he embarked on another stream, called by the\\nnatives Tacoutchce-Tessee, down which he floated in canoes about\\ntwo hundred and fifty miles then, leaving the river, he proceeded\\nwestward about two hundred miles over land, and, on the 22d of\\nJuly, 1793, he reached the Pacific Ocean, at the mouth of an inlet,\\nin the latitude of 52 degrees 20 minutes, which had, a few weeks\\nprevious, been surveyed by Vancouver, and been named the Cascade\\nCanal. Having thus accomplished a passage across the American\\ncontinent at its widest part, he retraced his steps to Fort Chipewyan,\\nwhere he arrived on the 24th of August.\\nBy this expedition, Mackenzie ascertained beyond all doubt the\\nfact of the extension of the American continent, on the Pacific\\nOcean, undivided by any water passage, as far north as the latitude\\nof 52 degrees 20 minutes which fact was, about the same time,\\nrendered nearly, though not absolutely, certain by the examinations\\nof Vancouver. The River Tacoutchee-Tessee was supposed to be\\nthe upper part of the Columbia, until 1812, when it was traced to\\nits mouth, in the Strait of Fuca, near the 49th degree of latitude\\nand since that time it has been called Fraser s River.\\nThe discoveries of Mackenzie, taken in conjunction with the re-\\nsults of Vancouver s surveys, strengthened the conclusion, at which\\nCook had arrived, that the American continent extended uninter-\\nruptedly north-westward to Bering s Strait and Mackenzie him-\\nself conceived, though certainly without sufficient grounds, that he\\nhad clearly determined in the negative the long-agitated question\\nas to the practicability of a voyage from the Atlantic to the Pacific,\\naround the northern shores of America. For the advancement of\\nBritish interests in the North Pacific, he recommended that the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0294.jp2"}, "295": {"fulltext": "1792.] JOURNEYS OF FIDLER AND TRUDEAU. 265\\nHudson s Bay and the North- West Companies, which had been\\nopposed to each other ever since the formation of the latter, should\\nbe united that the British government should favor the establish-\\nment of commercial communications across North America, for\\nwhich the rivers and lakes in the portion claimed by him for that\\npower aftbrded unrivalled facilities and that the East India Com-\\npany should throw open to their fellow-subjects the direct trade\\nbetween the north-west coasts of America and China, which was\\nthen, he says, left to the adventurers of the United States, acting\\nwithout regularity or capital, or the desire of conciliating future\\nconfidence, and looking only to the interest of the moment.\\nThese recommendations were not thrown away, but were nearly all\\nadopted by those to whom they were addressed and the result has\\nbeen, the extension of British commerce and dominion throughout\\nthe whole northern section of America.\\nWhilst Mackenzie was engaged in his journey to the Pacific\\ncoast, Mr. Fidler, a clerk in the service of the North- West Company,\\nmade an expedition from Fort Buckingham, a trading-post on the\\nSaskatchawine River, south-westward, to the foot of the Rocky\\nMountains,* along which he seems to have travelled, through the\\nregions drained by the head-waters of the Missouri. About the\\nsame time, several trading voyages were made up the Missouri by\\nthe French and Spaniards of St. Louis particularly by the mem-\\nbers of a company formed at that place by a Scotchman named\\nTodd, under the special protection of the Spanish government, the\\nobject of which was to monopolize the whole trade of the interior\\nand western portions of the continent.f\\nThe trade of the citizens of the United States with the Indians\\nin the central portion of the continent was much restricted, for\\nmany years after the establishment of the independence of the\\nrepublic, in consequence of the possession of Louisiana by the\\nSpaniards, and the retention by the British of several important\\nposts south of the great lakes, within the territory acknowledged as\\nOn Arrowsmith s Map of all the new Discoveries in J^orth America, published\\nQt London in 1795, several streams are represented, on the authority of Mr. Fidler,\\nas flowing from the Rocky Mountains on both sides but none corresponding with\\nthem in course or position have been since found.\\nt The journal of one of these voyages, made by M. Trudeau, in 1794, has been\\npreserved in the archives of the Department of State at Washington it is, however,\\ndevoted chiefly to the numbers, manners, customs, religion, c., of the natives on\\nthe banks of the Missouri, particularly of the Arickaras, inhabiting the country\\nunder the 46th parallel of latitude.\\n34", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0295.jp2"}, "296": {"fulltext": "266 AMERICAN COMMERCE IN THE PACIFIC. [1796 1814.\\nbelonging to the Union, by the treaty of 1783. At length, by the\\ntreaty of November 19, 1794, between Great Britain and the\\nUnited States, it was agreed that these posts should be given up\\nto the Americans, and that the people of both nations, and the\\nIndians dwelhng on either side of the boundary line, should have\\nliberty freely to pass and repass, by land or inland navigation, into\\nthe respective territories of the two parties, on the continent of\\nAmerica, (the country within the limits of the Hudson s Bay only\\nexcepted,) and to navigate all the lakes, rivers, and waters thereof,\\nand freely to carry on trade with each other. The surrender of\\nthese posts, especially of Detroit and Michilimackinac, was very\\ninconvenient to the North-West Company, whilst the trade of the\\nAmericans with the central regions was thereby increased and\\nlarge quantities of furs were annually transported to the Atlantic\\ncities, principally to New York, from which place they were dis-\\ntributed throughout the United States, or shipped for London or\\nCanton.\\nOn the North Pacific, the direct trade between the American\\ncoasts and China remained, from 1796 to 1814, almost entirely, as\\nMackenzie said, in the hands of the citizens of the United States\\nthe British merchants were restrained from engaging in it by the\\nopposition of their East India Company the Russians were not\\nadmitted into Chinese ports and few ships of any other nation\\nwere seen in that part of the ocean. That these American\\nadventurers acted without regularity or capital, or the desire of\\nconciliating future confidence, and looking only to the interest of the\\nmoment^ was also, to a certain extent, true though the facts can\\nscarcely be considered discreditable to them, as Mackenzie insinu-\\nated, even supposing their operations to have been conducted in\\nthe manner represented by a British writer, whose hostility to the\\nUnited States and their citizens was even more violent than that of\\nVancouver.\\nThese adventurers, says the writer above mentioned,* set\\nout on the voyage with a few trinkets of very little value. In the\\nSouthern Pacific, they pick up some seal-skins, and perhaps a few\\nbutts of oil at the Gallipagos, they lay in turtle, of which they\\nReview of A Voyage around the World, from 1806 to 1812, by Archibald\\nCampbell, in the London Quarterly Review for October, 1816, written in a spirit of\\nthe most deadly hatred towards the United States, and filled with assertions most\\nimpudently false.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0296.jp2"}, "297": {"fulltext": "1796 1814.] AMERICAN COMMERCE IN THE PACIFIC. 267\\npreserve the shells at Valparaiso, they raise a few dollars in ex-\\nchange for European articles at Nootka, and other parts of the\\nnorth-west coasts, they traffic with the natives for furs, which, when\\nwinter commences, they carry to the Sandwich Islands, to dry and\\npreserve from vermin here they leave their own people to take\\ncare of them, and, in the spring, embark, in lieu, the natives\\nof the islands, to assist in navigating to the north-west coast, in\\nsearch of more skins. The remainder of the cargo is then made\\nup of sandal, which grows abundantly in the woods of Atooi and\\nOwyhee, of tortoise shells, sharks fins, and pearls of an inferior\\nkind, [meaning, probably, mother-of-pearl shells,] all of which are\\nacceptable in the China market and with these and their dollars\\nthey purchase cargoes of tea, silks, and nankins, and thus complete\\ntheir voyage in the course of two or three years.\\nThis account appears to be, in most respects, correct, with regard\\nto many of the American vessels engaged in the Pacific trade at the\\nperiod to which it relates and it serves only to prove the industry,\\nenergy, courage, and fijvill, of those who embarked in such difficult\\nand perilous enterprises, and conducted them so successfully. It\\nwould, however, be easy to show, from custom-house returns and\\nother authentic evidence, that the greater number of the vessels sent\\nfrom the United States to the north-west coasts were fine ships\\nor brigs, laden with valuable cargoes of West India productions,\\nBritish manufactured articles, and French, Italian, and Spanish\\nwines and spirits and that the owners were men of large capital\\nand high reputation in tlie commercial world, some of whom were\\nable to compete with the British companies, and even occasionally\\nto control their movements.\\nThe American traders in the Pacific have also been accused, by\\nBritish writers, of practising every species of fraud and violence in\\ntheir dealings with the natives of the coasts of that sea yet the\\nacts cited in support of these general accusations are only such as\\nhave been, and ever will be, committed by people of civilized\\nnations, and by none more frequently than the British, when\\nunrestrained by laws, in their intercourse with ignorant, brutal, and\\ntreacherous savages, always ready to rob or murder upon the\\nslightest prospect of gain, or in revenge for the slightest affi-ont.\\nSeldom did an American ship complete a voyage through the\\nPacific without the loss of some of her men, by the treachery or\\nthe ferocity of the natives of the coasts which she visited and", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0297.jp2"}, "298": {"fulltext": "268 AMERICAN COMMERCE IN THE PACIFIC. [1796 1814.\\nseveral instances have occurred of the seizure of such vessels, and\\nthe massacre of their whole crews, in this manner.*\\nAH the islands in the Pacific, and every part of the north-west\\ncoasts of America, were visited by the vessels of the United States\\nin the course of these voyages. Their principal places of resort\\nwere the Sandwich Islands, where they obtained fresh provisions,\\nand occasionally seamen from among the natives; and the mouth\\nof the Columbia, Nootka Sound, and Queen Charlotte s Island, in\\nwhich they traded with the Indians for furs. They occasionally\\ntouched at the ports of California, where they were, hoM ever, viewed\\nwith great distrust by the Spanish authorities and they generally\\nmade the tour of the Russian settlements, which derived from the\\nAmericans, in this way, the greater part of their supplies of European\\nmanufactures, ammunition, sugar, wines, and spirits, in exchange for\\npeltries. The furs were, as before, sold in Canton, at prices not\\nhigh, though sufficient to encourage a moderate importation but\\nthey seldom formed the whole cargo of the vessels arriving there,\\nthe remainder being composed of sandal-wood, and pearl and tor-\\ntoise shells.\\nThe Sandwich Islands fell in succession under the authority of\\nTamahamaha, who displayed admirable sagacity in his mode of\\nconducting the government, amid all the dangers and difficulties\\narising from internal opposition and the constant presence of stran-\\ngers of various nations. Like the present pacha of Egypt, he was\\nnot only the political chief, but also the chief merchant of his\\nterritories in his minor commercial operations he was generally\\nIn 1805, the ship Atahualpa, of Rhode Island, was attacked by tne savages in\\nMillbank Sound, and her captain, mate, and six seamen, were killed after which\\nthe other seamen succeeded in repelling the assailants and saving the vessel. In\\nMarch, 1803, the ship Boston, of Boston, while lying at Nootka Sound, was attacked\\nby Maquinna and his followers, who obtained possession of her, and put to death all\\non board, with the exception of two men, who, after remaining in slavery four\\nyears, effected their escape. In the same manner, the ship Tonquin was, in June,\\n1811, seized by the natives, at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, and her whole crew\\nmurdered in a moment, as will be hereafter more particularly related and other\\ninstances of a similar nature might be cited.\\nThe account of the capture of the Boston, by John R. Jewitt, the armorer of the\\nship, contains many curious details respecting the country around Nootka Sound,\\nand its inhabitants, as observed by the author during his residence there, from\\n1803 to 1807. This little work has been frequently reprinted, and, though seldom\\nfound in libraries, is much read by boys and seamen in the United States. It presents\\nthe last notices which have been found on record of Maquinna, for whom Jewitt\\nappears to have entertained a great admiration.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0298.jp2"}, "299": {"fulltext": "1799.] RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY ESTABLISHED. 269\\nsuccessful but when he ventured to extend the scale of his specu-\\nlations, by sending vessels laden with sandal-wood to Canton, he\\nwas, as he asserted, always cheated by those to whom he committed\\nthe management of the business.\\nIn California, the Franciscan missionaries were proceeding\\nsteadily in their course, and the number of their converts was\\ndaily increasing. The government appears to have been liberal in\\nthe appropriation of funds for their use but, in Spanish America, a\\nlong time always elapsed between the issue of an order for supplies\\nand their delivery, and a large proportion of the amount originally\\nordered was generally subtracted before it reached those for whose\\nuse it was designed. Soldiers, whose terms had expired, were also,\\nin some cases, allowed to remain in the country and the com-\\nmandants permitted a little contraband trade with the Americans,\\nwho introduced manufactured articles in return for hides.\\nIn the mean time, the Russians of Northern Asia, though ex-\\ncluded from the ports of China, continued their commerce with\\nthat empire, as also with Europe, as formerly, by means of caravans\\npassing over land the communications being conducted principally\\nby a company established at Irkutsk, the great mart of that part of\\nthe world. The fur trade of the northernmost coasts of the Pacific\\nwas monopolized by the association, formed in 1781, under the\\ndirection of Schelikof and Gollikof, which was protected by the\\nempress Catharine, and endowed with many important privileges.\\nAfter the death of Catharine, in 1794, her son and successor, Paul,\\nat first determined to put an end to the association, on account of\\nthe alleged cruelty of its agents towards the natives of the American\\ncoasts he was, however, induced to change his resolution and, a\\nunion having been effected, in 1798, between the two companies\\nabove mentioned, a decree was issued, on the 8th of July of the\\nfollowing year, conceding to them, under the title of the Russian\\nAmerican C/)mpany, the entire use and control, for twenty years, of\\nall the coas ts of America on the Pacific, from the 55th degree of\\nnorth latitude to Bering s Strait, together with the adjacent islands,\\nincluding the Kurile and the Aleutian groups, all of which were\\nclaimed as having been discovered by Russians. The company\\nwas also authorized to explore, and bring under subjection to the\\nimperial crown, any other territories in America not previously\\nattached to the dominions of some civilized nation with the\\nexpress provision that the natives of all these countries should\\nbe treated with kindness, and, if possible, be converted to the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0299.jp2"}, "300": {"fulltext": "270 RUSSIAN ESTABLISHMENTS IN AMERICA. [1806.\\nGreek Catholic faith. Tliese privileges were, confirmed and in-\\ncreased by the emperor Alexander, whose chief minister of state,\\nCount RomanzofF, was a zealous promoter of all that could tend to\\nadvance the power and interests of Russia in the Pacific and the\\ncompany still enjoys the favor of the government, its charter having\\nbeen renewed by successive decrees in 1821 and 1839.\\nUnder these advantageous circumstances, combined with great\\nskill and energy in the management of its aflfairs, and aided by the\\nconstant increase of facilities for communication throughout the\\nempire, the Russian American Company prospered and its estab-\\nlishments soon extended over the whole of the Aleutian Archipelago,\\nand thence eastward along the coast and islands of the American\\ncontinent, to the distance of more than a thousand miles. In 1803,\\nthe most eastern of these establishments was on Norfolk Sound, the\\nPort Guadelupe of the Spaniards, near the 56th degree of latitude,\\nat the southern entrance of the passage which separates Mount\\nSan Jacinto or Edgecumb from the largest island of King George\\nIII. s Archipelago. This settlement, founded in 1799, was de-\\nstroyed, in 1803, by the natives of the country, with the assistance,\\nas it is said, of some seamen who had deserted from an American\\nvessel but another was formed there in 1805, which received tlie\\nname of Neiv Archangel of Sitca, and has ever since been the\\ncapital of Russian America. The other principal establishments\\nof the company were in Unalashka and Kodiak, and on the shores\\nof Cook s Inlet, Prince William s Sound, and Admiralty or Bering s\\nBay. In 1806, preparations were made for occupying the mouth\\nof the Columbia River but the plan was abandoned, although that\\nspot, and the whole region north of it, was then, and for some time\\nafter continued to be, represented, on the maps pubhshed by the\\ncompany, as within the limits of its rightful possessions.\\nThe population of each of these establishments consisted princi-\\npally of natives of America, brought by the Russians from other and\\ndistant parts of the coast between whom and the people of the\\nsurrounding country there were no ties of kindred or language,\\nand there could be httle community of feelings or interests. The\\nAleutian Islands and Kodiak furnished the greater number of these\\nforced emigrants, and also a large proportion of the crews of the\\nvessels employed in the service of the company. The Russians\\nwere enlisted in Kamtchatka and Siberia, for a term of years\\nthey entered as Promuschleniks, or adventurers, and were employed,\\naccording to the will of their superiors, as soldiers, sailors, hunters,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0300.jp2"}, "301": {"fulltext": "1806.] GOVERNMENT OF RUSSIAN AMERICA. 271\\nfishermen, or mechanics in the best of which situations their lot\\nwas more wretched than that of any other class of human beings\\nwithin the pale of civilization, or, indeed, of any other class of per-\\nsons whatsoever, except the natives of the American coasts, whom\\nthey assisted in keeping under subjection. Under such circum-\\nstances, it will be easily believed that none but vagabonds and\\nadventurers ever entered the company s service as Promuschleniks\\nthat it was their invariable destiny to pass a life of wretchedness\\nin America that few had the good fortune ever to touch Rus-\\nsian ground again, and very few to attain the object of their wishes\\nby returning to Europe.\\nThe government of Russian America was arranged on a plan\\neven more despotic than that of the other parts of the empire.\\nThe general superintendence of the affairs of the company was in\\nthe hands of a Directory, residing at St. Petersburg, by which all\\nthe regulations and appointments were made, and all questions\\nwere decided, with the approval, however, of the imperial depart-\\nment of conmierce. All the territories belonging to the company,\\nand all persons and things in them, were placed under the control\\nof a chief agent or governor, residing at Kodiak or Si tea, from\\nwhose orders there was no appeal, except to the Directory in like\\nmanner, each district or group of settlements was ruled by an\\ninferior agent, accountable directly to the governor-general and\\neach factory or settlement was commanded by an overseer, chosen\\nfrom among the Promuschleniks, who possessed the right to pun-\\nish, to a certain extent, those within the circle of his authority.\\nThe regulations for the government of these territories were,\\nlike those of the Spanish Council of the Indies, generally just and\\nhumane but the enforcement of them, as in Spanish America, was\\nintrusted, for some time, to men with whom justice and humanity\\nwere subordinate to expediency. The first chief agent was Alex-\\nander Baranof, who had accompanied Schelikof in his expedition in\\n1783, and was the superintendent of the settlements at Kodiak and\\nCook s Inlet when Vancouver visited those places in 1794. He was\\na shrewd, bold, enterprising, and unfeeling man, of iron frame and\\nnerves, and the coarsest habits and manners. By his inflexible\\nseverity and energy, he seems to have maintained absolute and in-\\ndependent sway over all the Russian American coasts for more than\\ntwenty years showing little respect to the orders of the Directory,\\nKnisenstern s Account of his Voyage to the North Pacific.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0301.jp2"}, "302": {"fulltext": "272 GOVERNMENT OF RUSSIAN AMERICA. [1806.\\nand even to those of the emperor, when they were at variance with\\nhis own views. He was, however, devoted to the interests of the\\ncompany, and, its affairs being most profitably managed under his\\ndirection, he was allowed to follow his own course, and the com-\\nplaints against him which reached the Directory were unheeded.\\nThese complaints were, it is true, not frequent for the Directory\\nand the imperial throne at St. Petersburg were almost as completely\\ninaccessible to the subjects and servants of the company residing in\\nAmerica, as they would have been in another planet. Among the in-\\nferior agents were men of higher and better character than their chief;\\nbut they were forced to bend under his authority, and their efforts\\nto introduce improvements were vain, if they in any degree conflicted\\nwith his views as to the immediate interests of the company.\\nOf the furs which formed the whole returns from these territories,\\nsome were transported in the company s vessels to Petropawlowsk\\nand Ochotsk, whence were brought back the greater part of the\\nsupplies of provisions for the use of the establishments the re-\\nmainder of the furs being exchanged for arms, ammunition, spirits,\\nwine, tobacco, sugar, and European manufactures, furnished by the\\ntrading ships of the United States, of which a large number were\\nthen constantly employed in the North Pacific. The presence of\\nthese American vessels was by no means agreeable to the Russians,\\nwho would willingly have excluded them from that part of the\\nocean, not only for the purpose of monopolizing the fur trade, but\\nalso in order to prevent the natives of the coasts from obtaining\\narms and ammunition from the Americans, as they frequently did,\\nto the detriment of the authority and interests of the company.\\nThis, however, could not have been effected without maintaining a\\nlarge naval force in the North Pacific nor could the settlements\\nhave been extended or supported without the supplies furnished by\\nthe Americans, unless a direct intercourse were estabhshed by sea\\nwith Europe, China, or Japan.\\nWith the view of inquiring what measures would be most effect-\\nual for the advancement of the interests of the Russian American\\nCompany in these and other respects, it was determined at St.\\nPetersburg, in 1803, that an expedition, scientific and political,\\nshould be made through the North Pacific. Two ships, the Na-\\ndeshda, commanded by Captain Krusenstern, and the Neva, by\\nCaptain Lisiansky, were accordingly despatched from Cronstadt,\\nin August of that year, under the direction of Krusenstern, carry-\\ning out a large body of officers and men, distinguished in various", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0302.jp2"}, "303": {"fulltext": "1806.] rOTAGE OF KRUSENSTERN. 273\\nbranches of science, together with the chamberlain, Von Resanoff,\\nwho was commissioned as ambassador to Japan, and as plenipoten-\\ntiary of the Russian American Directory.\\nThe two ships passed together around Cape Horn, touched at the\\nWashington and the Sandwich Islands, and then separated the\\nNeva going to the north-west coasts of America, and the Nadeshda\\nto Petropawlowsk, where she arrived in the middle of July, 1804.\\nFrom Kamtchatka, Krusenstern proceeded, with the ambassador, to\\nNangasaki, the capital of Japan, at which place their arrival only\\nserved to excite suspicions they were not allowed to land, except\\nfor the purpose of taking exercise in a confined space the letter\\nand presents of the Russian emperor were rejected and the am-\\nbassador was distinctly informed that no vessels belonging to his\\nnation would, in future, be permitted to enter a Japanese port.\\nAfter this rebuff, the Nadeshda returned to Kamtchatka, and Kru-\\nsenstern passed several months in examining the coasts of Tartary\\nand the adjacent islands between that peninsula and Japan these\\nlabors being completed, he went to Canton, where she arrived in the\\nend of November, 1805.\\nLisiansky, in the Neva, had, in the mean time, visited Sitca,\\nKodiak, and other Russian establishments, on the north-west coasts\\nof America, at which his presence was advantageous to the interests\\nof the company, by controlling the hostile dispositions of the natives\\nand having performed all that could be done by him in that quar-\\nter, he proceeded to Canton, with a cargo of furs, and there rejoined\\nKrusenstern, in December, 1805. The Chinese were found equally\\nas determined as the Japanese to allow no commerce by sea with\\nthe Russians and many difficulties were experienced before the\\nfurs brought by the Neva could be landed for sale. This business\\nbeing at length despatched, the two vessels took their departure,\\nand, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, reached Cronstadt in\\nAugust, 1806, having carried the Russian flag for the first time\\nacross the equator and around the world.\\nIn the mean time, also. Von Resanoff, a singularly ridiculous\\nand incompetent person, after the failure of his embassy to Japan,\\nhad gone, as plenipotentiary of the Russian American Company, to\\nSitca, where he passed the winter of 1805-1806, engaged in devis-\\ning plans for the conduct of the company s affairs, all of which were\\nquietly set aside by the chief agent, Baranof. The propriety of\\nexpelling the Americans from the North Pacific was at the same\\ntime rendered questionable, by the fact that the garrison and set-\\n35", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0303.jp2"}, "304": {"fulltext": "274 VOYAGE OF KRUSENSTERN. [1808.\\ntiers at this place would have all perished from famine, had they\\nnot fortunately been supplied with provisions by the ship Juno, from\\nRhode Island. This ship was purchased for the use of the company,\\nand Von Resanoff, embarking in her, sailed along the coast to Cal-\\nifornia, endeavoring, in his way, but without success, to enter the\\nmouth of the Columbia, where he proposed to form a settlement\\nand having spent some time in trifling at San Francisco, he returned\\nto Kamtchatka, on his way from which to Europe he died.\\nThough not one of the commercial or political objects proposed\\nby this expedition was attained, it was, nevertheless, productive of\\ngreat advantages, not only to the Russians, but to the cause of hu-\\nmanity and of science in general particularly by the rectification\\nof numerous errors in the charts of the Pacific Ocean, and by the\\nexposure of the abuses in the administration of the Russian Amer-\\nican Company s dominions, which led to the immediate removal of\\nmany of them. No one could have been better qualified for the\\ndirection of such an expedition than Krusenstern, whose narrative\\nis equally honorable to him as a commander, as a man of science,\\nand as a philanthropist. Those who wish to learn at what cost of\\nhuman life and suffering the furs of the North Pacific coasts are pro-\\ncured, will find ample information on the subject in his pages while,\\nat the same time, he presents instances of fortitude, perseverance,\\nand good feeling, on the part of his countrymen, calculated to coun-\\nteract, in a great measure, the unfavorable impressions, with regard\\nto them, which his other details might have produced.*\\nIn 1808, soon after the return of Krusenstern s ships to Europe,\\ndiplomatic relations were established between Russia and the United\\nStates and in the following year, a representation was addressed\\nby the court of St. Petersburg to the government of the Union,\\non the subject of the illicit trade of American citizens with the\\nnatives of the North Pacific coasts, by means of which those savages\\nwere supplied with arms and ammunition, to the prejudice of the\\nauthority and interests of the emperor and his people in that portion\\nAccounts of this expedition have been published by Krusenstern, by Lisiansky,\\nand by Langsdorf, the surgeon of the Nadeshda, all of which have been translated\\ninto English and other European languages.\\nKrusenstern was, soon after his return to Russia, raised to the rank of admiral. He\\nBtill lives at St. Petersburg, honored by his government, and esteemed by all who\\nknow him. His communications frequently appear in the reports of the proceedings\\nof various scientific societies in Europe; they are chiefly respecting the hydrography\\nof the Pacific Ocean, to which subject his labors have been long and assiduously\\ndevoted, with results important and beneficial to the whole world.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0304.jp2"}, "305": {"fulltext": "1810.] PROPOSITIONS OF RUSSIA TO THE UNITED STATES. 275\\nof his dominions. A desire was at the same time expressed, that\\nsome act should be passed by Congress, or some convention be\\nconcluded between the two nations, which might have the effect of\\npreventing the continuance of such irregularities. No disposition\\nbeing shown by the American government to adopt any of those\\nmeasures. Count Romanzoff, the minister of foreign affairs at St.\\nPetersburg, proposed to Mr. John Quincy Adams, the plenipoten-\\ntiary of the United States at that court, an arrangement, by which\\nthe vessels of the Union should supply the Russian settlements on\\nthe Pacific with provisions and manufactures, and should transport\\nthe furs of the company to Canton, under the restriction of their\\nabstaining from all intercourse with the natives of the north-west\\ncoasts of America. Mr. Adams, in his answer, showed several\\nreasons for which his government could not, with propriety, accede\\nto this proposition and he moreover desired to know within what\\nlimits it was expected that the restriction should be observed. This\\nquestion was, doubtless, embarrassing to the Russian minister, who,\\nhowever, after some time, replied, that the Russian American Com-\\npany claimed the whole coast of America on the Pacific and the\\nadjacent islands, from Bering^s Strait, southward to and beyond\\nthe mouth of the Columbia River whereupon the correspondence\\nwas immediately terminated.\\nThere was, certainly, no disposition, on the part of the United\\nStates, to encourage their citizens in the trade which formed the\\nsubject of the complaints of the Russians, or to offend that power\\nby refusing to cooperate in suppressing such a trade. But the\\nAmerican government properly considered that no means existed\\nfor enforcing the restrictions, with justice and regularity, even on\\nthe coasts which might be admitted to belong to Russia while, at\\nthe same time, the right of that nation to the possession of the\\ncoasts so far south as the Columbia, could not be recognized, for\\nreasons which will be made apparent in the ensuing chapter.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0305.jp2"}, "306": {"fulltext": "276\\nCHAPTER XIII.\\n1803 TO 1806.\\nCession of Louisiana by France to the United States Inquiries as to the true Extent\\nof Louisiana Erroneous Supposition that its Limits towards the North had been\\nfixed by Commissaries agreeably to the Treaty of Utrecht President Jefferson\\nsends Lewis and Clarke to examine the Missouri and Columbia Account of their\\nExpedition from the Mississippi to the Pacific.\\nf The discovery, or rediscovery, of the Columbia River, by Gray,\\nremained almost entirely unknown, until it was communicated to the\\nworld by the publication of the narrative of Vancouver s expedition,\\nin 1798 at which time, and for several years afterwards, no one\\nimagined that any thing connected with that river would ever be-\\ncome particularly interesting to the people or government of the\\nUnited States of America.\\nThe territories of the United States were, at that time, all in-\\ncluded between the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Mississippi\\nRiver on the west. In the north were the British provinces in the\\nsouth lay Florida, belonging to Spain and beyond the Mississippi,\\nthe Spaniards also claimed the vast region called Louisiana, stretch-\\ning from the Gulf of Mexico northward and north-westward to an\\nundefined extent. Thus all communication between the States of\\nthe Federal Union and the Pacific was completely cut off by the in-\\nterposition of countries possessed by foreign and unfriendly nations.\\nThe position of the United States, and of their government and\\npeople, with regard to the north-western portion of the continent,\\nwas, however, entirely changed after the 30th of April, 1803, when\\nLouisiana, which had been ceded by Spain to France in 1 800, came\\ninto their possession, by purchase from the latter power. From that\\nmoment, the route across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pa-\\ncific lay open to the Americans and nothing could be anticipated\\ncapable of arresting their progress in the occupation of the whole\\nterritory included between those seas.\\nBefore relating the measures taken by the government of the\\nUnited States in consequence of the acquisition of Louisiana, it will", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0306.jp2"}, "307": {"fulltext": "1712.] GRANT OF LOUISIANA TO CROZAT. 277\\nbe convenient to present some observations respecting the northern\\nand western hmits of that portion of America.\\nThe first discovery of the southern part of the Mississippi and the\\nadjacent countries, by the Spaniards, in the sixteenth century, has\\nbeen already mentioned. The northern branches of that river vv^ere\\nexplored in the latter years of the seventeenth century, by the French,\\nfrom Canada and before 1710, many French colonies and posts had\\nbeen estabhshed on its banks, in virtue of which. King Louis XIV.\\nclaimed possession of all the territories to a great distance on either\\nside of the stream. In 1712, the exclusive trade of the southern\\ndivision of these territories, then called Louisiana, was granted by\\nKing Louis to Antoine Crozat, in a royal decree or charter, bearing\\ndate the 17th of September, which contains the earliest exposition of\\nthe limits of that region. The words of the decree are as follows f\\nNous avons par ces presentes, signees de notre main, etabli et\\netablissons ledit Sieur Crozat, pour faire seul, le commerce dans\\ntoutes les terres par Nous possedees, et bornees par le Nouveau Mex-\\nique, et par celles des Anglais de la Caroline, tous les etablissemens,\\nports, havres, rivieres, et principalement le port et havre de I isle\\nDauphine, appellee autrefois de Massacre, le fleuve St. Louis, au-\\ntrefois appellee Mississippy, depuis le bord de la mer jusqu aux Illinois,\\nensemble les rivieres St. Philippe, autrefois appellee des Missourys,\\net St. Hierosme, autrefois appellee Ouabache, avec tous les pays,\\ncontrees, lacs dans les terres, et les rivieres qui tombent directement\\nou indirectement dans cette partie du fleuve St. Louis. Voulons\\nJeiFreys or whoever wrote the history of the French dominions in America, pub-\\nlished under the name of JeiFreys, in 1759 says, at p. 134 of that work, The Mis-\\nsissippi, the chief of all the rivers of Louisiana, which it divides almost into two equal\\nparts, was discovered by Colonel Wood, who spent almost ten years, or from 1654 to\\n1664, in searching its course, as also by Captain Bolt, in 1670.\\nt We have, by these presents, signed with our hand, authorized, and do authorize,\\nthe said Sieur Crozat, to carry on exclusively the trade in all the territories by us pos-\\nsessed, and bounded by New Mexico and by those of the English in Carolina, all the\\nestablishments, ports, harbors, rivers, and especially the port and harbor of Dauphin\\nIsland, formerly called Massacre Island, the River St. Louis, formerly called the Mis-\\nsissippi, from the sea-shore to the Illinois, together with the Rivers St. Philip, formerly\\ncalled the Missourics River, and the St. Jerome, formerly called the Wabash, [the\\nOhio,] with all the countries, territories, lakes in the land, and the rivers emptying\\ndirectly or indirectly into that part of the River St. Louis. All the said territories,\\ncountries, rivers, streams, and islands, we will to be and remain comprised under the\\nname of the government of Louisiana, which shall be dependent on the general gov-\\nernment of New France, and remain subordinate to it; and we will, moreover, that\\nall the territories which we possess on this side of the Illinois, be united, as far as need\\nbe, to the general government of New France, and form a part thereof; reserving to\\nourself, nevertheless, to increase, if we judge proper, the extent of tbe government\\nof the said country of Louisiana.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0307.jp2"}, "308": {"fulltext": "278 LOUISIANA CEDED BY FRANCE TO SPAIN. [1762-\\nque les dites terres, contrees, fleuves, rivieres et isles, soient et de-\\nmeurent compris sous le nom du gouvernement de la Louisiane, qui\\nsera dependant du gouvernement general de la Nouvelle France,\\nauquel il demeurera subordonne et voulons en outre, que toutes\\nles terres que nous possedons, depuis les Illinois, soient reunies, en\\ntant que besoin est, au gouvernement general de la Nouvelle France,\\net en fassent partie Nous reservant neanmoins d augmenter, si\\nnous le jugeons a propos, I etendue du gouvernement du dit pays\\nde la Louisiane.\\nThis description of the extent of Louisiana v^^as sufficiently defi-\\nnite for the immediate purposes of the concession as the trade and\\nsettlement of the country would necessarily be, for a long time, con-\\nfined to the vicinity of the great rivers, the precise determination of\\nits boundaries on the east and the west might well be deferred for\\nfuture arrangement with Great Britain and Spain. Crozat relin-\\nquished his privilege in 1717 the Illinois country was then annexed\\nto Louisiana, by a royal decree, and the whole region was granted\\nto the Compagnie d Orient, better known as Law^s Mississippi Com-\\npany, which held it until 1732 in that year it reverted to the\\nFrench crown, and was governed as a French province until 1769.\\nOn the 3d of November, 1762, the preliminaries of peace were\\nsigned at Paris, between France and Spain on the one part, and\\nEngland and Portugal on the other and on the same day, the\\nmost Christian king authorized his minister, the duke de Choiseul,\\nto deliver to the marquis di Grimaldi, the ambassador of the Catholic\\nking, in the most authentic form, an act, whereby his most Christian\\nmajesty cedes, in entire possession, purely and simply, without ex-\\nception, to his Catholic majesty, and his successors in perpetuity, all\\nthe country known under the name of Louisiana, as also New Or-\\nleans and the island in which that city is situated. The cession\\naccordingly took place in form, on the 23d of the same month, in\\nprecisely the same terms as to the extent of the territory ceded\\nand on the 10th of February following, a treaty was concluded at\\nParis, between France and Spain on the one part, and Great Britain\\nand Portugal on the other, by which Great Britain obtained posses-\\nsion of Canada, Florida, and the portion of Louisiana east of a\\nline, drawn along the middle of the Mississippi, from its source to\\nThe documents relating to this cession were kept secret until 1836, when copies\\nof them were obtained from the archives of the Department of Foreign Affairs at Mad-\\nrid, by the late J. M. White, of Florida; from which translations were made by the\\nauthor of this History, and published by the Senate of the United Statw, in 1837.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0308.jp2"}, "309": {"fulltext": "1803.] LOUISIANA CEDED TO FRANCE, AND TO THE U. STATES. 279\\nthe River Iberville, and thence along the middle of the Iberville,\\nand the Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the sea.\\nBy these treaties, the eastern boundary of Louisiana was defini-\\ntively fixed, from the Mexican Gulf to the head of the Missis-\\nsippi and Great Britain, at the same time, formally renounced all\\nher claims to the territories west of that river. With regard to\\nthe western limits of Louisiana, no settlement of boundaries was\\nnecessary as the territory thus acquired by Spain would join\\nother territories, of which she also claimed possession.\\nThe transfer of Louisiana by France to Spain was not officially\\npromulgated until 1765 nor did the Spaniards obtain possession\\nof the country until 1769, from which period they occupied it\\ncontinually, until the 30th of November, 1803. In the mean\\ntime, Louisiana twice changed its masters. On the 1st of\\nOctober, 1800, a treaty was concluded between the French re-\\npublic and the king of Spain, by which the former party en-\\ngaged to enlarge the dominions of the duke of Parma, a prince\\nof the royal family of Spain, by adding to them some other\\nterritories in Italy and his Catholic majesty, by the third article,\\nengaged, on his part, to retrocede to the French republic, six\\nmonths after the full and entire execution of the above-mentioned\\nconditions and stipulations relative to the duke of Parma, the\\ncolony or province of Louisiana, ivith the same extent which it\\nnow has in the hands of Sjyain, and which it had when France\\npossessed it, and such as it should be, according to the treaties\\nsubsequently made between Spain and other states. The conditions\\nrelative to the duke of Parma having been fulfilled by France,\\nLouisiana became the property of that republic between which\\nand the United States of America a treaty was concluded, on\\nthe 30th of April, 1803, wherein, after reciting the third article\\nof the treaty of 1800, the territory thus retroceded to France\\nwas ceded to the United States, in the name of the French\\nrepublic, forever, and in full sovereignty, with all its rights and\\nappurtenances, as fully, and in the same manner, as they have been\\nacquired by the French republic, in virtue of the above-mentioned\\ntreaty with his Catholic majesty.\\nThe treaty of October 1st, 1300, was never made public until 1820, when\\nit appeared, for the first time, in the French and the Spanish languages, in the\\nMemoir published at Madrid by the Chevalier de Onis, formerly minister plenipo-\\ntentiary of Spain in the United States, in defence of his conduct, in concluding\\nthe treaty by which Florida became the property of the American Union.\\n3 7", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0309.jp2"}, "310": {"fulltext": "280 LOUISIANA CEDED TO THE UNITED STATES. [1803.\\nAt the time when the treaty for the cession of Louisiana to the\\nUnited States was concluded, the Spaniards still remained in pos-\\nsession of the country the order from the court of Madrid for the\\ndelivery to France, was not executed until the 30th of November,\\n1804, twenty days after which the surrender to the American com-\\nmissioners took place in due form at New Orleans. The Spanish\\ngovernment had already protested sigainst the transfer of Louisiana\\nto the United States, as being contrary to engagements previously\\nmade by France, of which, however, no proof was adduced and\\nsome disposition was at first manifested on the part of the Spanish\\nauthorities at New Orleans, and in the provinces of Mexico adjacent,\\nto dispute the entrance of the Americans. This opposition was, how-\\never, abandoned, and a negotiation was commenced at Madrid, in\\n1804, between the governments of the United States and Spain,\\nfor the adjustment of the lines which were to separate their re-\\nspective territories.\\nIn this negotiation, the United States claimed the whole of the\\nterritory ceded by France to Spain in 1762, with the exception of\\nthe portion east of the Mississippi, which had been surrendered to\\nGreat Britain in 1763 and this territory was considered by them\\nas including the whole coast on the Mexican Gulf, from the Perdido\\nRiver as the western limit of Florida, west and south to the River\\nBravo del Norte as the north-east boundary of Mexico, with all the\\nintermediate rivers and all the countries drained by them, not pre-\\nviously possessed by the United States. The Spanish government,\\non its side, contended that France had never rightfully possessed\\nany part of America west of the Mississippi, the whole of which\\nhad belonged to Spain ever since its discovery that the French\\nestablishments in that territory were all intrusive, and had only\\nbeen tolerated by Spain, for the sake of preserving peace and\\nthat the Louisiana ceded to Spain by France in 1762, and retro-\\nceded to France in 1800, and transferred by the latter power to the\\nUnited States in 1803, could not, in justice, be considered as com-\\nprising more than New Orleans, with the tract in its vicinity east of\\nthe Mississippi, and the country immediately bordering on the west\\nbank of that river. The parties were thus completely at variance\\non fundamental principles and, neither being disposed to yield, the\\nnegotiation, after having been carried on for some months, was\\nbroken off, and it was not renewed until 1817. Meanwhile, how-\\never, the United States remained in possession of nearly all the\\nJ", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0310.jp2"}, "311": {"fulltext": "1804.] NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF LOUISIANA. 281\\nterritories drained by the Mississippi the Sabine River being, by\\ntacit consent, regarded as the dividing Une betvv^een Louisiana\\nand the Mexican provinces.\\nA negotiation was at the same time in progress, betv^^een the\\ngovernment of the United States and that of Great Britain, re-\\nspecting the northern boundary of Louisiana, for which the Amer-\\nicans claimed a Une running along the 49th parallel of latitude,\\nupon the grounds that this parallel had been adopted and definitive-\\nly settled, by commissaries appointed agreeably to the tenth article\\nof the treaty concluded at Utrecht, in 1713, as the dividing line\\nbetioeen the French possessions of Western Canada and Louisiana on\\nthe south, and the British territories of Hudson s Bay on the north\\nand that, this treaty having been specially confirmed in the treaty\\nof 1763, by which Canada and the part of Louisiana east of the\\nMississippi and Iberville were ceded to Great Britain, the remainder\\nof Louisiana continued, as before, bounded on the north by the 49th\\nparallel.\\nThis conclusion would be undeniable, if the premises on which\\nit is founded were correct. The tenth article of the treaty of\\nUtrecht does certainly stipulate that commissaries should be ap-\\npointed by the governments of Great Britain and France respec-\\ntively, to determine the line of separation between their possessions\\nin the northern part of America above specified and there is\\nreason to believe that persons were commissioned for that object\\nbut there is no evidence which can be admitted as establishing the fact\\nthat a line running along the 49th parallel of latitude, or any other\\nline, was ever adopted, or even proposed, by those commissaries, or by\\ntheir governments, as the limit of any part of the French possessions\\non the north, and of the British Hudson s Bay territories on the\\nsouth.\\nIt is true that, on some maps of Northern America, published in\\nthe middle of the last century, a line drawn along the 49th parallel\\ndoes appear as a part of the boundary between the French posses-\\nsions and the Hudson s Bay territories, as settled according to the\\ntreaty of Utrecht but, on other maps, which are deservedly held\\nin higher estimation, a different line, following the course of the\\nhighlands encircling Hudson s Bay, is presented as the limit of the\\nHudson s Bay territory, agreeably to the same treaty and, in other\\nmaps again, enjoying equal, if not greater, consideration, as having\\nbeen published under the immediate direction of the British gov-\\n36", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0311.jp2"}, "312": {"fulltext": "282 TREATY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES. [1807.\\nernment, no line separating those British possessions from Louisiana\\nor Canada is to be seen. In the other works, pohtical, historical,\\nand geographical, which have been examined with reference to this\\nquestion, nothing has been found calculated to sustain the belief\\nthat any line of separation was ever settled, or even proposed nor\\nhas any trace of such an agreement been discovered in the archives\\nof the Department of Foreign Affairs of France, which have been\\nsearched with the view of ascertaining the fact.*\\nThe belief, nevertheless, that the 49th parallel of latitude was\\nfixed, by commissaries appointed agreeably to the provisions of the\\ntreaty of Utrecht, as the northern limit of Louisiana and Western\\nCanada, has been hitherto universally entertained without suspicion\\nin the United States, and has formed the basis of most important\\ntreaties.\\nDuring the negotiations above mentioned, between the United\\nStates and Great Britain, no attempt was made, on the part of the\\nlatter power, to controvert the assertion of the Americans respecting\\nthis supposed boundary line and, in the fifth of the additional and\\nexplanatory articles proposed to be annexed to the treaty signed by\\nthe plenipotentiaries on that occasion, it was agreed that a line\\ndrawn due north or south (as the case may require) from the most\\nnorth-western point of the Lake of the Woods, until it shall inter-\\nsect the 49th parallel of north latitude, and from the point of such\\nintersection, due west, along and with the said parallel, shall be the\\ndividing line between his majesty s territories and those of the\\nUnited States, to the westward of the said lake, as far as their said\\nrespective territories extend in that quarter and that the said line\\nshall, to that extent, form the southern boundary of his majesty s\\nsaid territories and the northern boundary of the said territories of\\nthe United States Provided, That nothing in the present article\\nshall be construed to extend to the north-west coast of America,\\nor to the territories belonging to or claimed by either party on the\\ncontinent of America to the westward of the Stony Mountains. f\\nThis article was approved by both governments President Jeffer-\\nson, nevertheless, wished that the proviso respecting the north-west\\ncoast should be omitted, as it could have little other effect than\\nas an offensive intimation to Spain that the claims of the United\\nStates extend to the Pacific Ocean. However reasonable such\\nclaims may be, compared with those of others, it is impolitic, espe-\\nSee the complete investigation of this subject in the Proofs and Illustrations,\\nunder the letter F.\\n1 President Jefferson s Message to Congress of March 22d, 1808.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0312.jp2"}, "313": {"fulltext": "1803.] WESTERN BOUNDARy OF LOUISIANA. 283\\ncially at the present moment, to strengthen Spanish jealousies of\\nthe United States, which it is probably an object with Great Britain\\nto excite, by the clause in question. The outrage committed by\\nthe British upon the American frigate Chesapeake, together with the\\nchange in the British ministry, prevented the ratification of this treaty;\\nand the discussion of boundaries was not renewed until 1814.\\nHow far Louisiana extended westward when it was ceded by\\nFrance to Spain, there are no means of determining. The question\\nhas never beeii^ touched in treaties, nor eveij in negotiations, so far\\nas known. The French maps and histories are, in general, so en-\\ntirely erroneous as regards the geography of America, and always\\nso absurd in their statements as to the extent of the French domin-\\nions, that they are of no value as evidence while the charters of\\nthe British sovereigns appear, at present, scarcely less extravagant.\\nThose charters, embracing, together, the whole division of North\\nAmerica between the 48th and the 31st parallels of latitude, were,\\nnevertheless, maintained by Great Britain until the peace of 1763,\\nwhen her government, by agreeing to admit the Mississippi as the\\nline of separation between her dominions and those of France on\\nthe west, implicitly recognized the right of the latter power to the\\nwhole territory beyond that river, between the same parallels and\\nLouisiana always embraced all the French possessions west of the\\nMississippi. In the absence of more direct light on the subject\\nfrom history, we are forced to regard the boundaries indicated by\\nnature namely, the highlands separating the waters of the Mis-\\nsissippi from those flowing into the Pacific or the Californian Gulf\\nas the true western boundaries of the Louisiana ceded by France\\nto Spain in 1762, and retroceded to France in 1800, and trans-\\nferred to the United States by France in 1803 but then it must\\nalso be admitted, for the same as well as for another and stronger\\nreason, that the British possessions farther north were bounded in\\nthe west by the same chain of highlands for the charter of the\\nHudson s Bay Company, on which the right to those possessions\\nwas founded and maintained, expressly included only the countries\\ntraversed by streams emptying into Hudson s Bay.\\nEven before the transfer of Louisiana to the United States was\\ncompleted, the prompt and sagacious Jefferson, then president of\\nthe republic, was preparing to have that part of the continent ex-\\namined by American agents. In January, 1803, he addressed to\\nthe Congress of the Union a confidential Message, recommending\\nthat means should be taken for the purpose without delay and,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0313.jp2"}, "314": {"fulltext": "284 EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARKE TO THE WEST. [1805.\\nhis suggestions having been approved, he commissioned Captains\\nMeriwether Lewis and WiUiam Clarke to explore the River Mis-\\nsouri and its principal branches to their sources, and then to seek\\nand trace to its termination in the Pacific, some stream, whether\\nthe Columbia, the Oregon, the Colorado, or any other, which might\\noffer the most direct and practicable water communication across\\nthe continent, for the purposes of commerce. Other persons\\nwere, at the same time, appointed to examine the Upper Mississippi,\\nand the principal streams falling into that great river from the west,\\nbelow the Missouri, in order that exact information might, as soon\\nas possible, be procured, with regard to the channels of communi-\\ncation throughout the newly-acquired territories.\\nA few days after Lewis had received his instructions as com-\\nmander of the party which was to cross the continent, the news of\\nthe conclusion of the treaty for the cession of Louisiana reached\\nthe United States; and he immediately set off for the west, with\\nthe expectation of advancing some distance up the Missouri before\\nthe winter. He was, however, unable to pass the Mississippi in\\nthat year, in consequence of the delay in the surrender of the\\ncountry, which was not terminated until the latter part of Decem-\\nber and it was not until the middle of May, 1804, that he could\\nbegin the ascent of the Missouri. His party consisted of forty-four\\nmen, who were embarked in three boats their progress against the\\ncurrent of the mighty river was necessarily slow, yet, before the\\nend of October, they arrived in the country of the Mandan Indians,\\nwhere they remained until the following April, encamped at a place\\nnear the 48th degree of latitude, sixteen hundred miles from the\\nMississippi.\\nOn the 7 th of April, 1805, Lewis and Clarke left their encamp-\\nment in the Mandan country, with thirty men, the otliers having\\nbeen sent back to St. Louis and, after a voyage of three weeks up\\nthe Missouri, they reached the junction of that river with the other\\nprincipal branch, scarcely inferior in magnitude, called by the old\\nFrench traders the Roche jaune, or Yellowstone River. Thence\\ncontinuing their progress westward on the main stream, their navi-\\ngation was, on the 13th of June, arrested by the Great Foils of the\\nMissouri, a series of cataracts extending about ten miles in length,\\nin the principal of which the whole river rushes over a precipice of\\nrock eighty-seven feet in height. Above the falls, the party again\\nembarked in canoes hollowed out from tiie trunks of the largest\\ncotton-wood trees, growing near the river and, advancing south-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0314.jp2"}, "315": {"fulltext": "1805.] PASSAGE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 285\\nward, they, on the 19th of July, passed through the Gates of the\\nRocky Mountains, where the Missouri, emerging from tliat chain,\\nruns, for six miles, in a narrow channel, between perpendicular\\nparapets of black rock, rising twelve hundred feet above its surface.\\nBeyond this place, the river is formed by the confluence of several\\nstreams, the largest of which, named by Lewis the Jefferson, was\\nascended to its sources, near the 44th degree of latitude, where the\\nnavigation of the Missouri ends, at the distance of about three\\nthousand miles from its entrance into the Mississippi.\\nWhilst the canoes were ascending the Jefferson River, Captains\\nLewis and Clarke, with some of their men, proceeded through the\\nmountains, and soon found streams flowing towards the west, one\\nof which was traced in that direction, by Clarke, for seventy miles\\nthey also met several parties of Indians belonging to a nation\\ncalled Shoshonee, from whose accounts they were convinced that\\nthose streams were the head-waters of the Columbia. Having re-\\nceived this satisfactory information, the commanders rejoined their\\nmen at the head of the Jefferson and preparations were commenced\\nfor pursuing the journey by land. For this purpose, the canoes\\nand a portion of the goods were concealed in caches, or covered\\npits, and a number of horses, with some guides, being procured\\nfrom the Shoshonees, the whole body of the Americans, on the 30th\\nof August, entered on the passage through the Rocky Mountains.\\nUp to this period, the difficulties of the journey had been com-\\nparatively light, and the privations few. But, during the three\\nweeks which the Americans spent in passing the Rocky Mountains,\\nthey underwent, as Clarke says, every suffering which hunger,\\ncold, and fatigue, could impose. The mountains were high, and\\nthe passes through them rugged, and, in many places, covered with\\nsnow and their food consisted of berries, dried fish, and the meat\\nof dogs or horses, of all which the supplies were scanty and preca-\\nrious. They crossed many streams, some of them large, which\\nemptied into the Columbia but their guides gave them no encour-\\nagement to embark on any, until they reached one called the\\nKoosTcooskee, in the latitude of 43 degrees 34 minutes, about four\\nhundred miles, by their route, from the head of navigation of the\\nMissouri.\\nAt this place, they constructed five canoes, and, leaving their\\nhorses in charge of a tribe of Indians of the Chopunnish nation,\\nthey, on the 7th of October, began the descent of the Kooskooskee.\\nThree days afterwards, they entered the principal southern branch", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0315.jp2"}, "316": {"fulltext": "286 DESCENT OF THE COLUMBIA. [1805.\\nof the Columbia, to which they gave the name of Lewis and, in seven\\ndays more, they reached the point of its confluence with the larger\\nnorthern branch, called by them the Clarice. They were then fairly\\nlaunched on the Great River of the West, and passing down it,\\nthrough many dangerous rapids, they, on the 31st, arrived at the\\nFalls of the Columbia, where it rushes through the lofty chain of\\nmountains nearest the Pacific. Some of their canoes descended\\nthese falls in safety the others and the goods were carried around\\nby land, and replaced in the water at the foot of the cataract. At\\na short distance below, the tides of the Pacific were observed and,\\non the 15th of November, the whole party landed on Cape Disap-\\npointment, at the mouth of the Columbia, about six hundred miles\\nfrom the place at which they had embarked on its waters, and more\\nthan four thousand, by their route, from the mouth of the Missouri.\\nThe winter, or rather the rainy season, having commenced when\\nthe party reached the mouth of the Columbia, it became necessary\\nfor them to remain there until the following spring. They accord-\\ningly prepared a habitation on the north side of the river, eleven\\nmiles in a straight line from Cape Disappointment, from which they\\nwere, however, soon driven by the floods they then found a suit-\\nable spot on the south side, a little higher up, where they formed\\ntheir dwelling, called by them Fort Clatsop, and remained until\\nthe middle of March, 1806. During this period, the cold was by\\nno means severe, less so, indeed, than on the Atlantic shore of the\\ncontinent ten degrees farther south but the rains were incessant\\nand violent, and the river being at the same time generally too\\nmuch agitated by the winds and the waves from the ocean for the\\nAmericans to venture on it in their canoes, they were often unable\\nto obtain provisions, either by hunting or fishing. The Clatsop\\nIndians who occupy the south side of the Columbia, at its mouth,\\nand the ChinnooTcs, on the opposite shore, conducted themselves\\npeaceably but their prices for every thing which they offered for\\nsale were so high, that no trade could be carried on with tliem.\\nThe party were, in consequence of the rains, seldom able to quit\\ntheir encampment and the only excursion of any length made by\\nthem during the winter, was as far as the promontory overhanging\\nthe Pacific, thirty miles south of the Columbia, which they called\\nClarice s Point of View, near the Cape Lookout of Meares.\\nOn the 23d of March, 1806, the Americans commenced the\\nascent of the Columbia in canoes, on their return to the United\\nStates. Proceeding slowly up the river, they carefully examined", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0316.jp2"}, "317": {"fulltext": "1806.] RETURN or LEWIS AND CLARKE. 287\\nits shores, and discovered a large stream, called by the natives the\\nCowelitz, flowing into it from the north, at the distance of sixty\\nmiles from the ocean. Thirty miles higher up, they found another\\nand much larger stream, joining the Columbia on the south side,\\nthe Indian name of which was supposed to bo Multonomah it is\\nnow, however, universally known as the JViUamet, and on its banks\\nare situated the most flourishing settlements as yet formed by citi-\\nzens of the United States west of the Rocky Mountains.\\nIn the middle of April, the exploring party reached the foot of\\nthe great rapids, below the Falls of the Columbia, where they aban-\\ndoned their canoes, and began their journey by land, on horses\\npurchased from the Indians. In this way, they traversed the gap or\\ndefile in the mountains through which the river pours its floods,\\nand then, pursuing their course over the elevated plains east of that\\nridge, they arrived, on the 8th of May, at the point on the Koos-\\nkooskee River, where they had left their horses, and first embarked\\non the waters of the Columbia, in the preceding year. From this\\nplace, they continued on horseback due eastward, through the\\nRocky Mountains, to the Clarke River, which flows for some dis-\\ntance in a nortiierly direction from its sources, before turning\\nsouthward to join the other branches of the Columbia and there\\nit was agreed that the chiefs of the expedition should separate, to\\nmeet again at the confluence of the Yellowstone witii the Missouri.\\nThe separation took place on the 3d of July, near the point at\\nwhich the Clarke River is crossed by the 47th parallel of latitude,\\ndue west of the Falls of the Missouri. Captain Lewis and his\\nparty proceeded some distance northward, down the Clarke, and\\nthen, quitting it, crossed the Rocky Mountains to the head-waters of\\nMaria River, which empties into the Missouri just below the falls.\\nThere they met a band of Indians belonging to the numerous and\\ndaring race called the Black-foot, who infest the plains at the base\\nof the mountains, and are ever at war with all otlier tribes these\\nsavages attempted to seize the rifles of the Americans, and Lewis\\nwas obliged to kill one of them before they desisted. The party\\nthen hastened to the Missouri, which they reached at the falls, and\\nthence floated down to the mouth of the Yellowstone.\\nMeanwhile, the others, under Clarke, rode southward up the\\nvalley of the Clarke River, to its sources and, after exploring\\nseveral passes in the mountains between that point and the head-\\nwaters of the Yellowstone, they embarked in canoes on the latter", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0317.jp2"}, "318": {"fulltext": "288 IMPORTANCE OF THE DISCOVERIES. [1806.\\nstream, and descended it to the Missouri, where they joined Lewis\\nand his men on the 12th of August.\\nFrom the point of confluence of the two rivers, the whole body\\nmoved down the Missouri and, on the 23d of September, 1806,\\nthey arrived in safety at St. Louis, having travelled, in the course\\nof their expedition, more than nine thousand miles.\\nThe preceding sketch of the long and difficult expedition of\\nLewis and Clarke will serve to show the general course of their\\nroutes between the Mississippi and the Pacific. As to the priority\\nand extent of their geographical discoveries, a few words will\\nsuffice. The Missouri had been ascended, by the French and\\nSpanish traders, to the mouth of the Yellowstone, long before\\nLewis and Clarke embarked on it but ample proofs are afforded,\\nby the maps drawn prior to their expedition, that no information\\neven approximating to correctness had been obtained respecting the\\nriver and the countries in its vicinity. With regard to the territory\\nbetween the great Falls of the Missouri and those of the Columbia,\\nand the branches of either river joining it above its falls, we have\\nno accounts whatsoever earlier than those derived from the journals\\nof the American exploring party. The Tacoutchee-Tessee, navi-\\ngated by Mackenzie m 1793, and supposed by him to be a branch\\nof the Columbia, was afterwards discovered to be a different stream,\\nnow called Fraser^s River, emptying into the Strait of Fuca and\\nno evidence has been adduced of the passage of any white person\\nthrough the country between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific,\\nnorth of California, from the time of Mackenzie s journey to that\\nof the expedition of Lewis and Clarke.*\\nPolitically, the expedition was an announcement to the world of\\nthe intention of the American government to occupy and settle the\\ncountries explored, to which certainly no other nation except Spain\\ncould advance so strong a claim on the grounds of discovery or of\\ncontiguity and the government and people of the United States\\nthus virtually incurred the obligation to prosecute and carry into\\nThe journal of the expedition of Lewis and Clarke was not published until 1814,\\nwhen it appeared nearly in the same state in which it came from the hands of Lewis,\\nshortly before the melancholy termination of his existence. It affords abundant proofs\\nof the powers of observation possessed by those who were engaged in the enterprise;\\nand the mass of facts, geographically, commercially, and politically important, which\\nit contains, causes it still to be regarded as the principal source of information respect-\\ning the geography, the natural history, and tlie aboriginal inhabitants, of the portions\\nof America traversed by the Missouri and the Columbia.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0318.jp2"}, "319": {"fulltext": "1806.] pike s expedition. 289\\nfulfilment the great ends for whicli the labors of Lewis and Clarke\\nwere the first preparatory measures.\\nDuring the absence of Lewis and Clarke, other persons were\\nengaged, under the orders of the government of the United States,\\nin exploring different parts of the interior of Louisiana. Lieutenant\\nPike ascended the Mississippi to its head-waters, near the 48th\\ndegree of latitude, where he obtained much useful information\\nrespecting the course of that stream, and the numbers, characters,\\nand dispositions, of the Indians in its vicinity, as well as concerning\\nthe trade and establishments of the North- West Company in that\\nquarter. Having completed this expedition, Pike, in 1806, under-\\ntook another, in the course of which he travelled south-westward\\nfrom the mouth of the Missouri, to the upper waters of the Arkan-\\nsas, the Red River, and the Rio Bravo del Norte on the latter\\nriver, he and his party were made prisoners by the Spaniards of\\nSanta Fe, who carried them southward as far as the city of Chi-\\nhuahua, and thence, through Texas, to the United States. The\\nRed and Washita Rivers were at the same time explored, to a con-\\nsiderable distance from the Mississippi, by Messrs. Dunbar, Hunter,\\nand Sibley, whose journals, as well as those of Pike, subsequently\\npublished, contain many interesting descriptions of those parts of\\nAmerica.\\nThus, within three or four years after Louisiana came into the\\npossession of the United States, it ceased to be an unknown region,\\nand the principal features of the territory drained by the Columbia\\nwere displayed.\\n37", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0319.jp2"}, "320": {"fulltext": "290\\nCHAPTER XIV.\\n1806 TO 1815.\\nFirst Establishments of the North- West Company in the Countries north of the\\nColumbia Pacific Fur Company formed at New York Plan of its Founder\\nFirst Expedition from New York in the Tonquin Foundation of Astoria near the\\nMouth of the Columbia River Destruction of the Tonquin by the Savages\\nMarch of the Party under Hunt and Crooks across the Continent Arrival of the\\nBeaver in the Columbia War between the United States and Great Britain fatal\\nto the Enterprise Establishments of the Pacific Company sold to the North-\\nWest Company Astoria taken by the British Dissolution of the Pacific\\nCompany.\\nThe expeditions of Lewis and Clarke, and Pike, did not fail to\\nattract the attention, and to excite the jealousy, of the British\\ngovernment and trading companies. Pike had restrained the incur-\\nsions of the North-West Company s people into the territories of\\nthe Upper Mississippi, and had lessened their influence over the\\nIndians inhabiting those regions. From the moment when Lewis\\nand Clarke appeared on the Missouri, their movements were\\nwatched by the agents of the British Association and, so soon\\nas it was ascertained that they were ordered to explore the Colum-\\nbia, preparations were made to anticipate the Americans in the\\nsettlement of that portion of the continent, for which the expedition\\nof those officers was evidently intended to open the way. A party\\nof the North- West Company s men was accordingly despatched, in\\n1805, under the direction of Mr. Laroque, to establish posts and\\noccupy territories on the Columbia but this party proceeded no\\nfarther than the Mandan villages on the Missouri. In the following\\nyear, 1806, another party was despatched from Fort Chipewyan,\\nunder Mr. Simon Fraser, who crossed the Rocky Mountains near\\nthe passage of the Peace River, and formed a trading establishment\\non a small lake, now called Frnser s Lake, situated in the 54th\\ndegree of latitude. This was the first settlement or post of any kind\\nmade hy British subjects west of the Rocky Mountains. Other posts\\nwere subsequently formed in the same country, which, in 1808,\\nreceived from the traders the name of New Caledonia but it does", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0320.jp2"}, "321": {"fulltext": "1806.] FIRST BRITISH POSTS IN NEW CALEDONIA. 291\\nnot appear, from any evidence as yet adduced, that any part of the\\nwaters of the Columbia, or of the country through which they flow,\\nwas seen by persons in the service of the North- West Company\\nuntil 1811.*\\nIn the mean time, several establishments had been formed by\\ncitizens of the United States on tiie Columbia and its branches.\\nBefore the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, the trade\\nof the Missouri and the adjacent countries inhabited by the Indians,\\nhad been granted by the Spanish government to Manuel Lisa, a\\nmerchant of St. Louis, who continued to conduct it almost exclu-\\nsively until 1806. After the return of Lewis and Clarke, other\\nindividuals engaged in the business, the competition between whom\\noccasioned many and serious disputes until at length, in 1808, an\\nassociation, called the Missouri Fur Company, was formed among\\nMany interesting details respecting the proceedings of the North-West Com-\\npany, and the geography of the parts of America in which its estabhshments are\\nsituated, may be found in the journal of D. W. Harmon, a native of Vermont, who\\nwas a partner in that company, and the superintendent of all its affairs beyond the\\nRocky Mountains for several years. This journal was published at Andover, in\\nMassachusetts, in 1819, but is now nearly out of print: a review of it, containing\\nmany curious extracts, may be seen in the London Quarterly Review for Janu-\\nary, 1822.\\nWitli regard to the dates of the earliest establishments of the North- West\\nCompany beyond the Rocky Mountains, the following extracts from Harmon s\\njournal may be considered as decisive evidence\\nSaturday, November 24th, 1804. Some people have just arrived from Montague\\nla Basse, with a letter from Mr. Chaboillez, who informs me that two captains, Clarke\\nand Lewis, with one hundred and eighty soldiers, have arrived at the Mandan village,\\non the Missouri River, which place is situated about three days distance from the\\nresidence of Mr. Chaboillez. They have invited Mr. Chaboillez to visit them. It is\\nsaid that, on their arrival, they hoisted the American flag, and informed the natives\\nthat their object was not to trade, but merely to explore the country, and that, as soon\\nas the navigation shall open, they design to continue their route across the Rocky\\nMountains, and thence descend to the Pacific Ocean.\\nWednesday, April lOtk, 1805. While at Montague la Basse, Mr. Chaboillez in-\\nduced me to consent to undertake a long and arduous tour of discovery. I am to leave\\nthat place about the beginning of June, accompanied by six or seven Canadiiins, and\\ntwo or three Indians. The first place at which we shall stop will be the Mandan\\nvillage, on the Missouri River thence we shall steer our course towards the Rocky\\nMountains, accompanied by a number of the Mandan Indians, who proceed in that\\ndirection, every spring, to meet and trade with another tribe of Indians, who reside\\non the other side of the Rocky Mountains. [This journey I never undertook a\\nMr. La Roque attempted to make this tour, but went no farther than the Mandan\\nvillage.]\\nAt page 281, Harmon says, The part of the country west of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, with which I am acquainted, has, ever since the North- West Company first\\nmade an establishment there, which was in 1806, gone by the name of JVcfc Cale-\\ndonia, c. And in many places he speaks of Mr. Simon Fraser as having led the\\nfirst company of traders beyond the Rocky Mountains, in 1806.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0321.jp2"}, "322": {"fulltext": "292 FIRST TRADING POSTS ON THE COLUMBIA. [ISIO.\\nthe principal traders in that part of America, by which posts were\\nestabhshed on the Upper Mississippi, the Missouri, and even beyond\\nthe Rocky Mountains. The trading post founded by Mr. Henry,\\none of the agents of the Missouri Company, on a branch of the Lewis\\nRiver, the great southern arm of the Columbia, appears to have been\\nthe earliest establishment of any kind made by people of a civilized\\nnation in the territory drained by the latter stream the enmity of\\nthe savages in its vicinity, and the difficulty of obtaining provisions,\\nhowever, obliged Mr. Henry to abandon it in 1810.\\nIn that year, an attempt was made by Captain Smith, the com-\\nmander of the ship Albatross, from Boston, to found a post for trade\\nwith the Indians at a place called Oak Point, on the south bank of\\nthe Columbia, about forty miles from its mouth. For this purpose a\\nhouse was built and a garden was laid out and planted there but\\nthe site was badly chosen in all respects, and the scheme was aban-\\ndoned before the close of the year.\\nIn the same year, 1810, an association was formed at New York,\\nfor the prosecution of the fur trade in the central and north-western\\nparts of the continent, in connection with the China trade, of which\\na particular account will be presented, as the transactions attend\\ning the enterprise led to important political results.\\nThis association was called the Pacific Fur Company.* At its\\nhead was John Jacob Astor, a German merchant of New York,\\nwho had been for many years extensively engaged in the commerce\\nof the Pacific and China, and also in the trade with the Indian coun-\\ntries in the centre of the American continent, and, by his prudence\\nand skill, had thus accumulated an immense fortune, ere he passed\\nthe meridian of life. He devised the scheme he advanced the\\ncapital requisite for carrying it into execution, and he directed all\\nThe following account of the proceedings of the Pacific Fur Company is derived\\nchiefly from Adventures on tlie Columbia River, c., by Ross Cox. London, 1831.\\nRelation d un Voyage a la Cote Nord-Ouest, de I Amerique Septentrionale, dans les\\nAnnees 1810-14, par Gabriel Franchcre. Montreal, 1820. [Franchere went out\\nwith the first party in the Tonquin Cox went out in the Beaver, and they both\\nreturned to Canada by way of the lakes.] Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise\\nbeyond the Rocky Mountains, by Wasliington Irving, Philadelphia, 1836 the latter\\nauthor gives the most complete account of the circumstances, particularly of the\\nadventures of the parties under Hunt, Crooks, and Stuart, derived from their state-\\nments and the papers in the possession of Mr. Astor, to which he had access. In addi-\\ntion to these autliorities, several letters and papers, addressed by Mr. Astor to the execu-\\ntive of the United States, have been examined, and some communications have been\\npersonally received from that gentleman. One of his letters, containing a summary\\nof the circiunstances connected with his enterprise, will he found among the Proofs\\nand Illustrations, at the end of this volume, under the letter G.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0322.jp2"}, "323": {"fulltext": "1810.] astor s plans for monopolizing the china trade. 293\\nthe operations. His first objects were to concentrate in the hands\\nof the company the fur trade of every part of the unsettled territo-\\nries of America claimed by the United States, and also the supply\\nof the Russian establishments on the North Pacific, which was to be\\nconducted agreeably to arrangements made with the Russian Amer-\\nican Company, similar to those proposed by the government of St.\\nPetersburg to the cabinet at Washington, as already mentioned and\\nby the attainment of these first objects, he expected to be able to con-\\ntrol, if not exclusively to possess, the whole commerce between the\\nports of China and those of America, and of a large portion of Europe.\\nFor these purposes, posts were to be established on the Missouri,\\nthe Columbia, and the coasts of the Pacific contiguous /o the latter\\nriver, at which places the furs were to be collected by trade with\\nthe Indians, or by hunters in the employ of the company. The\\nposts were to be supplied with the merchandise required, either by\\nway of the Missouri, or by ships despatched from the ports of the\\nUnited States to the North Pacific and the furs collected were to be\\ncarried either down the Missouri to the Atlantic ports of the Union,\\nor westward to the establishments of the company on the Pacific.\\nThe merchandise sent to the Pacific would be discharged, in the first\\ninstance, at a principal factory, to be founded at some point most\\nconvenient for distributing the articles among the interior posts,\\nand for receiving the furs from those places and the vessels\\nwould then take in cargoes of furs, which they would transport\\nto Canton. Vessels would also be sent, either directly from the\\nUnited States, or from the principal factory on the Pacific, to the\\nRussian American establishments, with provisions and other articles,\\nfor which furs were to be received in payment and from Canton\\nthese vessels would bring to Europe or America teas, silks, and other\\nChinese goods, procured in exchange for their furs. It is scarcely\\nnecessary to ad that all these movements were to be conducted\\nwith order and regularity, and at stated periods, so as to prevent loss\\nof time and labor, or injury to the various articles transported.\\nThe number of shares in the company was to be one hundred\\nof these half were retained by Mr. Astor, who was to advance the\\nfunds necessary for the first operations, and to manage the con-\\ncerns at New York the remaining shares being divided among the\\nother partners, who were to conduct the business in the western\\nterritories, on the Pacific, and at Canton. The association, if\\nprosperous, was to continue twenty years, after which it might be\\nprolonged but it might be abandoned by any of the partners, or", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0323.jp2"}, "324": {"fulltext": "294 PACIFIC FUR company s operations. [1810.\\ndissolved, within the first five years, Mr. Astor bearing all the\\nlosses incurred during that period.\\nThis was certainly an extensive and complicated scheme but it\\nappeared, at the time when it was devised, to be perfectly practicable.\\nThe territories in which the new establishments were to be formed,\\nhad never been occupied there could be no doubt that the Russians\\nwould gladly agree to the proposed arrangements for the trade with\\ntheir factories the demand for furs at Canton was regular, and suf-\\nficiently great to insure the superiority, in that market, to those who\\ncould control the supply and the Americans would possess, in\\nChina and on the Pacific, a decided advantage over the British,\\nwhose flag was then rarely seen in the Pacific, in consequence of\\nthe monopoly enjoyed by the East India Company. Moreover, there\\nwas then no prospect of a material change in the political positions\\nof the principal nations of the world.\\nThe only party from which the Pacific Company could apprehend\\nany immediate and serious difficulties, was the North-West Company\\nof Montreal. The resources of that body were in every respect\\ninferior to Mr. Astor s but, in order to prevent rivalry, he communi-\\ncated his intentions confidentially to its directors, and offered them\\nan interest to the extent of one third in his enterprise they, how-\\never, rejected his proposal, and took measures, as will be shown\\nhereafter, to forestall him. Was Mr. Astor a citizen of the United\\nStates justifiable in thus offering to an association of British sub-\\njects, noted for its enmity to his adopted country, a share of the ad-\\nvantages to be obtained under the flag of the United States, from ter-\\nritories exclusively belonging to the United States, or of which the\\nexclusive possession by the United States was evidently essential to\\nthe welfare and advancement of the republic\\nHaving matured his scheme, Mr. Astor engaged as partners,\\nclerks, and voyageurs, a number of Scotchmen and Canadians, who\\nhad been in the service of the North- West Company, and afterwards\\na number rather greater, of other persons, principally natives of the\\nUnited States. The partners first admitted were Alexander Mackay,\\nwho had accompanied Mackenzie in his expedition to the Pacific in\\n1793, Duncan Macdougal, and Donald Mackenzie, all Scotchmen,\\nformerly belonging to the North- West Company these persons\\nsigned tlie constitution or articles of agreement of the Pacific Com-\\npany, with Mr. Astor, on the 23d of June, 1810 having, however,\\npreviously communicated the whole plan of the enterprise to Mr.\\nJackson, the minister plenipotentiary of Great Britain in the United", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0324.jp2"}, "325": {"fulltext": "1810,] PARTNERS IN THE PACIFIC COxMPANY. 295\\nStates, who quieted all their scruples as to engaging in it, by assur-\\ning them that, in case of a tvar heixvccn the two nations, they would\\nbe respected as British subjects and merchants. The partners sub-\\nsequently admitted were David and Robert Stuart, and Ramsay\\nCrooks, Scotchmen, who had also been in the service of the North-\\nWest Company, and Wilson Price Hunt, John Clarke, and Robert\\nMaclellan, citizens of the United States. The majority of the clerks\\nwere Americans among the others were Ross Cox, an Englishman,\\nand Gabriel Franchere, a Canadian, each of whom has written an\\ninteresting history of the enterprise. The voyageurs were nearly all\\nfrom Canada. Mr. Hunt, a native of New Jersey, was chosen as\\nchief agent of the company, to superintend all its concerns on the\\nwestern side of America for five years.\\nThus it will be seen that, although the chief direction of the con-\\ncerns of the Pacific Fur Company, in New York and on the western\\nside of the continent, were at first intrusted to American citizens,\\nyet the majority not only of the inferior servants, but also of the\\npartners, were British subjects, nearly all of whom had been in the\\nservice of a rival British association.\\nThe preparations for commencing the enterprise having been\\ncompleted, four of the partners, Messrs. Mackay, Macdougal, David\\nStuart, and Robert Stuart, with eleven clerks, thirteen Canadian\\nvoyageurs, and five mechanics, all British subjects, took their\\ndeparture from New York for the mouth of the Columbia River, in\\nSeptember, 1810, in the ship Tonquin, commanded by Jonathan\\nThorne. In January following, the second detachment, conducted\\nby Mr. Hunt, the chief agent, and Messrs. Maclellan, Mackenzie,\\nand Crooks, set out for the same point, by way of the Missouri River\\nand in October, 1811, the ship Beaver, under Captain Sowles, car-\\nried out from New York, to the North Pacific, Mr. Clarke, with six\\nclerks and a number of other persons.\\nMr. Astor had already, in 1809, despatched the ship Enterprise,\\nunder Captain Ebbets, an intelligent and experienced seaman and\\ntrader, to make observations at various places on the north-west\\ncoasts of America, and particularly at the Russian settlements, and\\nto prepare the way for the new establishments. He, also, in 1811,\\nsent an agent to St. Petersburg, by whose means he concluded an\\narrangement with the Russian American Company, to the effect\\nthat his association should have the exclusive privileges, of supplying\\nthe Russian establishments on the North Pacific with merchandise,\\nreceiving furs in payment, and of transporting to Canton such", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0325.jp2"}, "326": {"fulltext": "296 THE ASTORIA ENTERPRISE BEGUN. [1811.\\nOther furs as the Russians might choose to ship for that port, on\\ntheir own account, provided that the Americans should visit no\\nother parts of the coast north of a certain latitude.\\nThe Tonquin passed around Cape Horn, and in February, 1811,\\narrived at Owyhee, where Macdougal, who was to superintend the\\naffairs of the company on the Pacific and its coasts until the arrival\\nof Hunt, endeavored to conclude a treaty of amity and commerce\\nwith King Tamahamaha but that aged chief, whom experience had\\nrendered distrustful, refused to bind himself by any contract with\\nthe white men and he would only promise to furnish the vessels of\\nthe company with provisions on the same terms with other vessels\\nnamely, on payment of the value in Spanish dollars. Having\\nobtained the necessary supplies in this way, and taken on board a\\ndozen of the islanders, who were permitted by their sovereign to\\nengage in the service of the Pacific Company, Captain Thorne sailed\\nfor the mouth of the Columbia, where he effected an entrance on\\nthe 24th of March, with great danger and difficulty, after losing\\nthree of his men, who attempted to reach the shore in a boat.\\nThe passengers immediately disembarked on the shore of Baker s\\nBay, on the north side of the Columbia, just within Cape Disappoint-\\nment, where sheds were built for their temporary accommodation. A\\nfew days afterwards, the partners set off in search of a place proper\\nfor the establishment of a factory and they soon selected for that ob-\\nject a spot on the south bank of the river, distant about ten miles from\\nthe ocean, which had received from Broughton, in 1792, the name of\\nPoint George. To this place the Tonquin was removed and, her\\ngoods and materials being landed, preparations were commenced for\\nthe erection of a fort and other houses, and for building a small\\nvessel, of which the frame had been brought out from New York. In\\nthe course of two months, these works were so far advanced, that\\nthe assistance of the ship s crew was no longer needed and Captain\\nThorne accordingly sailed on the 5th of June for the northern coasts,\\ncarrying with him Mr. Mackay who was to conduct the trade, and\\nto make arrangements with the Russians, Mr. Lewis one of the\\nclerks, and an Indian who spoke English, to serve as interpreter.\\nDuring the ensuing summer, much progress was made in the\\nbuildings for the factory, which, in honor of the head of the com-\\npany, was named Astoria. A large piece of ground was cleared\\nand laid out as a garden, in which various vegetables were planted\\nthe small vessel was finished and launched trade was carried on\\nwith the neighboring Indians, and also with others from the higher", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0326.jp2"}, "327": {"fulltext": "1811.] DAVID THOMPSON VISITS ASTORIA. 297\\nparts of the river, who gave skins, fish, and game, in exchange for\\nmanufactured articles and every thing, in fine, seemed to promise\\nsuccess to the enterprise.\\nWhile the Astorians were thus engaged, they were unexpectedly\\nvisited, on the 15th of July, by a party of the North- West Company s\\nmen, under the direction of Mr. David Thompson, the surveyor or\\nastronomer of that body. These men had been despatched from\\nCanada in the preceding year, with the object of forestalhng the\\nAmericans in the occupation of the mouth of the Columbia, wliich\\nthey hoped to effect before the end of that season but they were\\nso long delayed in seeking a passage through the Rocky Mountains,\\nthat they were obliged to winter in that ridge, near the northernmost\\nsources of the Columbia, under the 52d parallel of latitude whence\\nthey hastened down the river in the spring of 1811, building huts\\nand erecting flags at various places, \\\\yy^wa.y Q[jqkingj^ossessioii of\\nth e cou ntry. They were received at the fort not as rivals, but as\\nfriends and were treated with the utmost respect and hospitality,\\nduring their stay, by their old companion, the superintendent,\\nMacdougal, who, moreover, furnished them with provisions, and\\neven with goods, for trading on their departure up the river.\\nMr. Thompson and his followers in this expedition were, from\\nall the accounts as yet made public, the first white persons who\\nnavigated the northern branch of the Columbia, or traversed any\\npart of the country drained by it. The British commissioners, in the\\nnegotiation with the American plenipotentiary at London, in 1826,\\nnevertheless, attempted to place Mr. Thompson s expedition on\\nan equality, not only asrto extent of discovery, but also as to date,\\nwith that of Lewis and Clarke and to represent tiie establishments\\nwhich he is said to have founded on his way down the Columbia as\\nprior to those formed by the Pacific Company. In their statement\\nof the claims of Great Britain to territories west of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, they say* The United States further pretend that their\\nclaim to the country in question is strengthened and confirmed by\\nthe discovery of the sources of the Columbia, and by the exploration\\nof its course to the sea by Lewis and Clarke, in 1805-6. In reply\\nto this allegation, Great Britain affirms, and can distinctly prove,\\nthat, if not before, at least in the same and subsequent years, her\\nNorth- West Trading Company had, by means of their agent, Mr.\\nThompson, already established their posts among the Flat-head and\\nSee the British statement, among the Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part\\nof this volume, under the letter H.\\n38", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0327.jp2"}, "328": {"fulltext": "298 MARCH OF HUNT, MaCLELLAN, AND CROOKS. [1812.\\nKootanie tribes, on the head-waters or main brauch of the Columbia,\\nand were gradually extending them down the principal stream of\\nthat river thus giving to Great Britain in this particular, as in the\\ndiscovery of the mouth of the river, a title of parity at least, if not\\nof priority of discovery, as opposed to the United States. It was\\nfrom these posts that, having heard of the American establishment\\nforming in 1811 at the mouth of the river, Mr. Thompson hastened\\nthither, descending the river to ascertain the nature of that estab-\\nlishment. The expression if not hefore, at least in the same and\\nfollowing years used here, is rather indefinite. In order to show\\nhow it should be understood conformably with truth, it will be\\nproper to repeat that Lewis and Clarke descended the Columbia\\nand reached its mouth before the middle of November, 1805\\nthat the North- West Company made their first establishment beyond\\nthe Rocky Mountains, at some distance north of any part of the Co-\\nlumbia, in 1806 that American establishments were formed on\\nthe Columbia in 1809, 1810, and 1811 and, finally, that Thompson\\ndid not arrive among the Kootanie and Flat-head tribes until the\\nspring of 1811, after the foundation of Astoria.\\nMr. Thompson and his people were accompanied, on their return,\\nby a party from the factory, under Mr. David Stuart, who established\\na post at the confluence of a stream, called the OMnagan, with the\\nnorth branch of the Columbia, about six hundred miles above the\\nmouth of the latter river, and remained there during the winter.\\nThe situation of those left at Astoria was, in the mean time, very un-\\npleasant, and their spirits were depressed by various circumstances.\\nTheir supplies of provisions were scanty and uncertain, and nothing\\nwas heard, for some months, of the party who were to come over land\\nfrom the United States the Tonquin, which was expected to return\\nto the river in September, did not appear, and rumors were brought\\nby the Indians of the destruction of a ship, and the massacre of her\\ncrew, by the natives near the Strait of Fuca, Nothing, however,\\noccurred at the factory, worthy of note, until the 18th of January,\\n1812, when a portion of the detachment sent across the continent\\narrived there in the most wretched condition.\\nThis detachment, consisting of about sixty men, under the chief\\nagent, Hunt, and the partners. Crooks, Mackenzie, and Maclellan,\\nascended the Missouri River in boats, from its moutii to the country\\nof the Arickara Indians, distant about fourteen hundred miles higher\\nduring which voyage tliey were constantly annoyed by their rivals\\nof the Missouri Company and, there quitting the river, they took a", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0328.jp2"}, "329": {"fulltext": "1812.] MARCH OF HUNT AND HIS PARTY TO THE COLUMBIA. 299\\nwestward course to the Rocky Mountains, which they crossed in\\nSeptember, 1811, near the head of the Yellowstone River. On\\nthe western side of the ridge, they found a large stream, probably\\nthe main branch of the Lewis, on which they embarked in canoes,\\nwith the expectation of thus floating down to the Falls of the Colum-\\nbia but ere they had proceeded far in this way, they encountered\\nso many dangers and obstructions, from falls and rapids, that they\\nwere forced to abandon the stream and resume their march. It\\nwould be needless here to attempt to describe the many evils from\\nhunger, thirst, cold, and fatigue, which these men underwent during\\ntheir wanderings through that dreary wilderness of snow-clad moun-\\ntains, in the winter of 1811-12: suffice it to say, that, after several\\nof their number had perished from one or more of these causes, the\\nothers reached Astoria in separate parties, in the first months of\\n1812, having spent more than a year in coming from St. Louis.\\nAt the factory they found shelter, warmtii, and rest but they had\\nlittle food, until the fish began to enter the river, when they obtained\\nabundant supplies of pilchards, of the most delicious flavor.\\nOn the 5th of May, 1812, the ship Beaver,* commanded by Cap-\\ntain Sowles, arrived in the Columbia, from New York, bringing\\nthe third detachment of persons in the service of the Pacific Com-\\npany, under the direction of Mr. Clarke, and twenty-six natives of\\nRoss Cox, who arrived at Astoria in the Beaver, in May, 1812, gives the follow-\\ning account of the establishment as it then appeared\\nThe spot selected for the fort [Astoria] was a handsome eminence, called Point\\nGeorge, which commanded an extensive view of the majestic Columbia in front,\\nbounded by the bold and thickly-wooded northern shore. On the right, about three\\nmiles distant, a long, high, and rocky peninsula, covered with timber, called Tongue\\nPoint, extended a considerable distance into the river from the southern side, with\\nwhich it was connected by a narrow neck of land while, on the extreme left, Cape\\nDisappointment, with the bar and its terrific chain of breakers, were distinctly visible.\\nThe buildings consisted of apartments for the proprietors and clerks, with a capacious\\ndining-hall for both extensive warehouses for the trading goods and furs, a provision\\nstore, a trading shop, smith s forge, carpenter s shop, c. the whole surrounded by\\nstockades, forming a square, and reaching about fifteen feet above the ground. A\\ngallery ran around the stockades, in which loopholes were pierced, sufficiently large\\nfor musketry two strong bastions, built of logs, commanded the four sides of the\\nsquare each bastion had two stories, in which a number of chosen men slept every\\nnight; a six pounder was placed in the lower story of each, and they were both well\\nprovided with small arms. Immediately in front of the fort was a gentle declivity,\\nsloping down to the river s side, which had been turned into an excellent kitchen\\ngarden and, a few hundred rods to the left, a tolerable wharf had been run out, by\\nwhich bateaux and boats were enabled, at low water, to land their cargoes with-\\nout sustaining any damage. An impenetrable forest of gigantic pines rose in the\\nrear, and the ground was covered with a thick underwood of brier and whortleberry,\\nmtermingled with fern and honeysuckle.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0329.jp2"}, "330": {"fulltext": "300 DESTRUCTION OF THE TONQ,UIN BY SAVAGES. [1812.\\nthe Sandwich Islands, who were engaged ,as seamen or laborers.\\nThe Beaver, moreover, brought from Owyhee a letter which had\\nbeen left there by Captain Ebbets, of the ship Enterprise, contain-\\ning positive information of the destruction of the Tonquin and her\\ncrew by the savages on the coast near the Strait of Fuca the\\nparticulars of this melancholy affair were not, however, learned\\nuntil August of the following year, when they were communicated\\nat Astoria by the Indian who had gone in the Tonquin as inter-\\npreter, and was the only survivor of those on board the ill-fated ship.\\nAccording to this interpreter s account, the Tonquin, after quit-\\nting the river, sailed northward along the coast of the continent,\\nand anchored, in the middle of June, 1811, opposite a village on\\nthe Bay of Clyoquot, near the entrance of the Strait of Fuca. She\\nwas there immediately surrounded by crowds of Indians in canoes,\\nwho continued for some days to trade in the most peaceable manner,\\nso as to disarm Captain Thome and Mr. M^Kay of all suspicions.\\nAt length, either in consequence of an affront given to a chief by\\nthe captain, or with the view of plundering the vessel, the natives\\nembraced an opportunity when the men were dispersed on or below\\nthe decks, in the performance of their duties, and in a moment put\\nto death every one of the crew and passengers, except the inter-\\npreter, who leaped into a canoe, and was saved by some women, and\\nthe clerk, Mr. Lewis, who retreated, with a few sailors, to the cabin.\\nThe survivors of the crew, by the employment of their fire-arms,\\nsucceeded in driving the savages from the ship and, in the night,\\nfour of them quitted her in a boat, leaving on board Mr. Lewis and\\nsome others, who were severely wounded. On the following day,\\nthe natives again crowded around and on board the Tonquin and\\nwhile they were engaged in rifling her, she was blown up, most\\nprobably by the wounded men left below deck. The seamen who\\nhad endeavored to escape in the boat were soon retaken, and put\\nto death in the most cruel manner, by the Indians the interpreter\\nwas preserved, and remained in slavery two years, at the end of\\nwliich time he was suffered to depart.\\nThe loss of this ship was a severe blow to the Pacific Company\\nbut the partners at Astoria were consoled by the reflections, that\\ntheir chief could bear pecuniary damages to a far greater extent\\nwithout injury to his credit, and that, if their enterprise should prove\\nsuccessful, ample indemnification would soon be obtained. It was\\ntueicruie delermined that Mr. Hunt should embark in the Beaver,\\nto superintend the trade along the northern coasts, and visit the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0330.jp2"}, "331": {"fulltext": "1813.] WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND G. BRITAIN. 301\\nRussian establishments, as Mr. Mackay would have done, but for\\nthe destruction of the Tonquin and he accordingly took his de-\\nparture in that ship in August, 1812, leaving the superintendence\\nof the affairs at the factory, as before, in the hands of Mr. Mac-\\ndougal. A party was at the same time despatched to the upper\\ncountry, by which another trading post was established on the\\nSpoJcan, a stream joining the northern branch of the Columbia,\\nabout six hundred and fifty miles from the ocean and accounts of\\nall the transactions, to that period, were transmitted to the United\\nStates, under the care of Messrs. Crooks, Maclellan, and Robert\\nStuart, who recrossed the continent, and reached New York in the\\nspring of 1813, after encountering difficulties and dangers greater,\\nin many respects, tlian those undergone in their journey to the\\nPacific.\\nThe trade with the Indians of the Lower Missouri was, in the\\nmean time, going on prosperously provisions were abundant at\\nAstoria, and a large quantity of furs was collected there, in expecta-\\ntion of tiie arrival of the Beaver, which was to take them to Canton\\nin the ensuing spring. The hopes of the partners were thus revived,\\nand they had daily additional grounds for anticipating success in their\\nundertaking, when, in January, 1813, they learned that the United\\nStates had declared war against Great Britain in June previous.\\nThis news spread an instantaneous gloom over the minds of all,\\nwhich was increased by information received from a trading vessel,\\nthat the Beaver was lying at Canton, blockaded by a British ship of\\nwar and soon afterwards, Messrs. Mactavish and Laroque, partners\\nin the North- West Company, arrived near Astoria, with sixteen men,\\nbringing accounts of the success of the British arms on the northern\\nfrontiers of the United States, and of the blockade of all the\\nAtlantic coasts of the latter country by British squadrons.\\nNotwithstanding these circumstances, Laroque and Mactavish\\nwere received and treated by Macdougal and Mackenzie, the only\\npartners of the Pacific Company then at Astoria, with the same\\nattention and hospitality which had been shown to Thompson in\\nthe preceding year and were supplied with provisions and goods\\nfor trading, as if they had been friends and allies, instead of com-\\nmercial rivals and political enemies. A series of private conferences\\nwere then held between the chief persons of the two parties, at the\\nconclusion of which, Macdougal and Mackenzie announced their\\ndetermination that the company should be dissolved on the 1st of\\nJuly, and sent messengers to communicate the fact to the other", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0331.jp2"}, "332": {"fulltext": "302 hunt s negotiations with baranof. [1813.\\npartners, Stuart and Clarke, at the Okinagan and Spokan posts.\\nThe latter gentleman, on receiving this news, hastened to the\\nfactory, and there strongly opposed the determination to abandon\\nthe enterprise and it was at length agreed among them, that the\\nestablishments should be maintained a few months longer, at the\\nend of which time, the company should be dissolved, unless assist-\\nance were received from the United States. Three of the clerks,\\nincluding Ross Cox, however, immediately quitted the concern,\\nand, entering the service of the North- West Company, took their\\ndeparture for the upper country with Laroque and Mactavish,\\nin July.\\nFrom the United States no assistance came. The ship Lark was\\ndespatched from New York, in March, 1813, with men and goods\\nfor the Columbia but she was wrecked in October following, near\\none of the Sandwich Islands, on which the captain, Northrup, and\\ncrew succeeded in effecting a landing. The American government\\nalso determined, in consequence of the representations of Mr. Astor,\\nto send the frigate Adams to the North Pacific, for the protection\\nof the infant establishment but, just as that ship was about to sail\\nfrom New York, it became necessary to transfer her crew to Lake\\nOntario, and the blockade of the coasts of the United States by the\\nBritish rendered all further efforts to convey succors to Astoria\\nunavailing.\\nLi the mean time, Mr. Hunt, the chief agent, who had sailed\\nfrom the Columbia in the Beaver, in August, 1812, as already men-\\ntioned, visited the principal Russian establishments on the north-\\nwest coasts of America, and the adjacent islands, and collected a\\nlarge quantity of furs, besides concluding arrangements highly\\nadvantageous to the Pacific Company, with Governor Baranof,* at\\nSitka. It was then agreed between Mr. Hunt and Captain Sowles,\\nthat the Beaver should proceed, by way of the Sandwich Islands, to\\nCanton, instead of returning to the Columbia, as had been previous-\\nly determined and this was done, though Hunt went no farther in\\nher than to Woahoo, one of the Sandwich group, where he remained\\nseveral months, waiting for some vessel to carry him to Astoria.\\nAt length, in June, 1813, the ship Albatross, of Boston, arrived at\\nAn amusing account of the negotiations between Hunt and Baranof is given in\\nMr. Irving s Astoria. The chief agent of the Pacific Company appears to have been\\nin as much danger from the potations pottle deep of raw rum and burning punch,\\nwhich accompanied each of his interviews with the governor of Russian America, aa\\nfrom hunger, thirst, savages, or storms, during his whole expedition.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0332.jp2"}, "333": {"fulltext": "1813.] ASTORIA SOLD TO THE NORTH-WEST COMPANY. 303\\nWoahoo, from China, bringing information of the war between the\\nUnited States and Great Britain, and also that the Beaver was\\nblockaded by a British ship at Canton on learning which, Mr.\\nHunt chartered the Albatross, and proceeded in her to the Colum-\\nbia, where he arrived on the 4tii of August.\\nMr. Hunt was astounded on learning the resolution adopted by\\nthe other partners at Astoria during his absence, which he endeav-\\nored to induce them to change but, finding them determined, he\\nreluctantly acceded to it himself, and, after a few days, he re-\\nembarked in the Albatross, for the Sandwich Islands, in search of\\nsome vessel to convey the property of the Pacific Company to a\\nplace of safety. At the Sandwich Islands no vessel could be found\\nand Hunt accordingly continued in the Albatross until she arrived\\nat Nooahevah, (one of the Washington Islands, discovered by\\nIngraham, in 1791,) where he learned from Commodore David\\nPorter, who was lying there in the American frigate Essex, that a\\nlarge British squadron, under Commodore Hillyar, was on its way\\nto the Columbia. This news caused Hunt to hasten back to the\\nSandwich Islands, which he reached in December, soon after the\\nwreck of the Lark and, having there chartered a small brig, called\\nthe Pedler, he sailed in her to Astoria, where he arrived in\\nFebruary, 1814.\\nThe fate of the Pacific Company, and its establishments in North-\\nWest America, had, however, been decided some time before the\\nPedler reached Astoria.\\nSoon after the departure of Hunt, Mr. Mactavish and his followers\\nof the North-West Company again appeared at Astoria, where they\\nexpected to meet a ship called the Isaac Todd, which had sailed\\nfrom London in March, laden with goods, and under convoy of a\\nBritish squadron, charged to take and destroy every thing Amer-\\nican on the north-west coast. They were received as before,\\nand allowed to pitch their camp unmolested near the factory and\\nprivate conferences were held between Mactavish and Macdougal,\\nthe results of which were, after some days, communicated to the\\nother partners, and then to the clerks of the Pacific Company.\\nThese results were set forth in an agreement, signed on the\\n16th of October, 1813, between Messrs. Mactavish and Alexander\\nStuart, on the one part, and Messrs. Macdougal, Mackenzie, and\\nClarke, on the other by which all the establishments, furs, and\\nstock in hand, of the Pacific Company, in the country of the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0333.jp2"}, "334": {"fulltext": "304 ASTORIA TAKEN BY THE BRITISH. [1813.\\nColumbia, were sold to the North- West Company, for about fifty-\\neight thousand dollars.\\nWhilst the business of valuing the furs and goods at Astoria, and\\nof transferring them to their new owners, was in progress, the British\\nsloop of war Raccoon appeared at the mouth of the river, under\\nthe command of Captain Black, who had been despatched from the\\nSouth Pacific, by Commodore Hillyar, for the purpose of taking the\\nAmerican forts and establishments on the Columbia, and had hast-\\nened thither in expectation of securing some glory, and a rich share\\nof prize-money, by the conquest. On approacliing the factory,\\nhowever, the captain soon saw that he should gain no laurels and,\\nafter it had been formally surrendered to him by Mr. Macdougal,\\nhe learnt, to his infinite dissatisfaction, that its contents had become\\nthe property of British subjects. He could, therefore, only haul\\ndown the flag of the United States, and hoist that of Great Britain\\nin its stead, over the establishment,* the name of which was, with\\ndue solemnity, changed to Fort George and, having given vent to\\nhis indignation against the partners of both companies, whom he\\nloudly accused of collusion to defraud himself and his officers and\\ncrew of the reward due for their exertions, he sailed back to the\\nSouth Pacific.\\nThe brig Pedler arrived in the Columbia, as before said, on the\\n28th of February, 1814, and Mr. Hunt found Macdougal super-\\nintending the factory, not, however, as chief agent of the Pacific\\nCompany, but as a partner of the North- West Company, into\\nwhich he had been admitted. Hunt had, therefore, merely to\\nclose the concerns of the American association in that quarter, and\\nto receive the bills on Montreal, given in payment for its effects\\nafter which he reembarked in the Pedler, with two of the clerks,\\nand proceeded, by way of Canton and the Cape of Good Hope, to\\nNew York. Of the other persons who had been attached to the\\nPacific Fur Company s establishments, some were murdered by the\\nIndians on Lewis River, in the summer of 1813; some, including\\nMr. Franchere, the author of the narrative of the expeditions, re-\\nturned over land to the United States, or to Canada and some\\nremained on the Columbia, in the service of the North- West Com-\\npany. The long-expected ship Isaac Todd reached Fort George\\non the 17th of April, thirteen months after her departure from Eng-\\nSee the account of the capture of Astoria, extracted from Cox, in the Proofs\\nand Illustrations, under the letter G, No. 3.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0334.jp2"}, "335": {"fulltext": "1814.] TERMINATION OF THE ASTORIA ENTERPRISE. 305\\nland, bringing a large stock of supplies by the aid of which the\\npartners of the North- West Company were enabled to extend their\\noperations, and to establish themselves more firmly in the country.\\nSuch was the termination of the Astoria enterprise for no\\nattempt has been since made by any of the persons who were en-\\ngaged in it to form establishments on the western side of America.\\nIt was wisely planned the resources for conducting it were ample\\nand its failure was occasioned by circumstances, the principal of\\nwhich could not have been reasonably anticipated at the time of its\\ncommencement. That ships might be lost at sea, or that parties might\\nbe destroyed by savages, or perish from cold or hunger, casualties\\nsuch as these were expected, and provisions were made for the con-\\ntingencies. But, in ISIO, when the Beaver sailed from New York,\\nno one believed that, before the end of two years, the United States\\nwould be at war with the greatest maritime power in the world.\\nBy that war the whole plan was traversed. Communications by\\nsea between the United States and the Pacific coasts became diffi-\\ncult and uncertain, whilst those by land were of little advantage,\\nand were always liable to interruption by the enemy and there\\nwas, in fact, no object in collecting furs on the Columbia, when\\nthose articles could not be transported to China.\\n1 The Pacific Company, nevertheless, might, and probably would, I\\nhave withstood all these difficulties, if the directing partners on the\\\\\\nColumbia had been Americans, instead of being, as the greater part\\nof them were, men unconnected with the United States by birth, or\\\\\\ncitizenship, or previous residence, or family ties. Mr. Astor de-\\nclares that he would have preferred the loss of the establishments\\nand property by a fair capture, to the sale of them in a manner\\nwhich he considered disgraceful yet, although the conduct of\\nMacdougal and Mackenzie, in that sale, and subsequently, was\\nsuch as to authorize suspicions with regard to their motives, they\\ncould not have been expected to engage in hostilities against their\\ncompatriots and former friends. Being thus restrained from defend-\\ning the honor of the Pacific Company by force, they may have con-\\nsidered themselves bound to take care of its interests, by the only\\nmeans in their power, as they did in the sale. American citizens\\nwould have resisted the North-West Company, and would doubt-\\nless have maintained their supremacy, in the country of the Co-\\nlumbia, for some time, possibly until peace had been made between\\nGreat Britain and the United States.\\n39", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0335.jp2"}, "336": {"fulltext": "306\\nCHAPTER XV.\\n1814 TO 1820.\\nRestitution of Astoria to the United States by Great Britain, agreeably to the Treaty\\nof Ghent Alleged Reservation of Rights on the Part of Great Britain First\\nNegotiation between the Governments of Great Britain and the United States,\\nrespecting the Territories west of the Rocky Mountains, and Convention for the\\njoint Occupancy of those Territories Florida Treaty between Spain and the\\nUnited States, by which the Latter acquires the Title of Spain to the North-\\nWest Coasts Colonel Long s exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains\\nDisputes between the British North- West and Hudson s Bay Companies Union\\nof those Bodies Act of Parliament extending the Jurisdiction of the Canada\\nCourts to the Pacific Countries Russian Establishments on the North Pacific\\nExpeditions in Search of Northern Passages between the Atlantic and the Pacific\\nDeath of Tamahamaha, and Introduction of Christianity into the Sandwich\\nIslands.\\nThe capture of Astoria by the British, and the transfer of the\\nPacific Company s estabhshments on the Columbia to the North-\\nWest Company, were not known to the plenipotentiaries of the\\nUnited States at Ghent, on the 24th of December, 1814, when\\nthey signed the treaty of peace between their country and Great\\nBritain. That treaty contains no allusion whatsoever to the north-\\nwest coasts of America, or to any portion of the continent west of\\nthe Lake of the Woods. The plenipotentiaries of the United\\nStates had been instructed by their government to consent to no\\nclaim on the part of Great Britain to territory in that quarter south\\nof the 49th parallel of latitude, for reasons which have been already\\nstated and, after some discussion, they proposed to the British an\\narticle similar in effect to the fifth article of the convention signed,\\nbut not definitively concluded, in 1807, according to which,^ a\\nline drawn along that parallel should separate the territories of the\\npowers so far as they extended west of the Lake of the Woods,\\nprovided, however, that nothing in the article should be construed\\nas applying to any country west of the Rocky Mountains. The\\nBritish plenipotentiaries were willing to accept this article, if it were\\nalso accompanied by a provision that their subjects should have\\naccess to the Mississippi River, through the territories of the United\\nFor the rrnsovs and the conrentiov here mentioned, see chap. xiii.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0336.jp2"}, "337": {"fulltext": "1815.] THE UNITED STATES CLAIM ASTORIA. 307\\nStates, and the right of navigating it to the sea but the Americans\\nrefused positively to agree to such a stipulation, and the question\\nof boundaries west of the Lake of the Woods was left unsettled by\\nthe treaty.\\nIt was nevertheless agreed, in the first article of the treaty of\\nGhent, that all territory, places, and possessions, whatsoever, taken\\nby either party from the other during the war, or which may be taken\\nafter the signing of this treaty, excepting only the islands hereinafter\\nmentioned, [in the Bay of Fundy,] shall be restored without delay\\nand, in virtue of this article, Mr. Monroe, the secretary of state of\\nthe United States, on the 18th of July, 1815, announced to Mr.\\nBaker, the charge d affaires of Great Britain at Washington, that\\nthe president intended immediately to reoccupy the post at the\\nmouth of the Columbia. This determination seems to have been\\ntaken partly at the instance of Mr. Astor, who was anxious, if pos-\\nsible, to recommence operations on his former plan in North- West\\nAmerica but no measures were adopted for the purpose until\\nSeptember, 1817, when Captain J. Biddle, commanding the sloop\\nof war Ontario, and Mr. J. B. Prevost, were jointly commissioned\\nto proceed in that ship to the mouth of the Columbia, and there\\nto assert the claim of the United States to the sovereignty of the\\nadjacent country, in a friendly and peaceable manner, and without\\nthe employment of force.\\nA few days after the departure of Messrs. Biddle and Prevost for\\nthe Pacific, on this mission, Mr. Bagot, the British plenipotentiary\\nat Washington, addressed to Mr. J. Q. Adams, the American\\nsecretary of state, some inquiries respecting the destination of the\\nOntario, and the objects of her voyage and, having been informed\\non those points, he remonstrated against the intended occupation\\nof the post at the mouth of the Columbia, on the grounds that\\nthe place had not been captured during the late war, but that the\\nAmericans had retired from it, under an agreement with the North-\\nWest Company, which had purchased their effects, and had ever\\nsince retained peaceable possession of the coast and that the\\nterritory itself ivas early taken possession of in his majesty s name,\\nand had been since considered as forming part of his majesty s\\ndominions under which circumstances, no claim for the restitution\\nof the post could be founded on the first article of the treaty of\\nGhent. At what precise time this possession was taken, or on\\nSee President Monroe s message to Congress of April I5th, 1822, and the accom-\\npanying documents.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0337.jp2"}, "338": {"fulltext": "308 G. BRITAIN DENIES THE CLAIM OF THE U. STATES. [1818.\\nwhat grounds the territory was considered as part of the British\\ndominions, the minister did not attempt to show.\\nMr. Bagot at the same time communicated the circumstances to\\nhis government, and they became the subjects of discussion between\\nLord Castle reagh, the British secretary for foreign affairs, and Mr.\\nRush, the American plenipotentiary at London. Lord Castlereagh\\nproposed that the question respecting the claim to the post on the\\nColumbia should be referred to commissioners, as many other dis-\\nputed points had been, agreeably to the treaty of Ghent to which\\nMr. Rush objected, for the simple reasons that the spot was in the\\npossession of the Americans before the war; that it fell, by bel-\\nligerent capture, into the hands of the British during the war and\\nthat, under a treaty which stipulated the mutual restitution of all\\nplaces reduced by the arms of either party, the right of the United\\nStates to immediate and full repossession could not be impugned.\\nThe British secretary, upon this, admitted the right of the Ameri-\\ncans to be reinstated, and to be the party in possession, while\\ntreating on the title though he regretted that the government of\\nthe United States should have employed means to obtain restitution\\nwhich might lead to difficulties. Mr. Rush had no apprehensions\\nof that kind and it was finally agreed that the post should be\\nrestored to the Americans, and that the question of the title to the\\nterritory should be discussed in the negotiation as to limits and\\nother matters, which was soon to be commenced. Lord Bathurst,\\nthe British secretary for the colonies, accordingly sent to the agents\\nof the North-West Company at the mouth of the Columbia a\\ndespatch, directing them to afford due facilities for the reoccupation\\nof the post at that point by the Americans; and an order to the\\nsame effect was also sent from the Admiralty to the commander of\\nthe British naval forces in the Pacific.\\nThe Ontario passed around Cape Horn into the Pacific, and\\narrived, in February, 1818, at Valparaiso, where it was agreed\\nbetween the commissioners that Captain Biddle should proceed to\\nthe Columbia, and receive possession of Astoria for the United\\nStates, Mr. Prevost remaining in Chili for the purpose of transact-\\ning some business with the government of that country, which had\\nalso been intrusted to him. Captain Biddle accordingly sailed to\\nthe Columbia, and, on the 9th of August, he took temporary pos-\\nsession of the country on that river, in the name of the United\\nStates, after which he returned to the South Pacific.\\nIn the mean time, Commodore Bowles, the commander of the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0338.jp2"}, "339": {"fulltext": "1818.] ASTORIA RESTORED TO THE UNITED STATES. 309\\nBritish naval forces in the South Sea, received at Rio de Janeiro\\nthe order from the Admiralty for the surrender of the post on the\\nColumbia to the Americans. This order he transmitted to Captain\\nSheriff, the senior officer of the ships in the Pacific, who, meeting\\nMr. Prevost at Valparaiso, informed him of the contents of the\\norder, and offered him a passage to the Columbia, for the purpose\\nof completing the business, as it certainly could not have been done\\nby Captain Biddle. This offer was accepted by the American\\ncommissioner, who proceeded, in the British frigate Blossom, to the\\nColumbia, and entered that river in the beginning of October and\\nMr. Keith, the superintending partner of tlie North- West Company\\nat Fort George, or Astoria, having also received the order, from the\\ncolonial department at London, for the surrender of the place, the\\naffair was soon despatched.* On the 6th of the month. Captain\\nHickey and Mr. Keith, as joint commissioners on the part of Great\\nBritain, presented to Mr. Prevost a paper declaring that, in obe-\\ndience to the commands of the prince regent, as signified in Lord\\nBathurst s despatch of the 27th of January previous, and in con-\\nformity to the first article of the treaty of Ghent, they restored to\\nthe government of the United States, through its agent, Mr. Prevost,\\nthe settlement of Fort George, on the Columbia River and Mr.\\nPrevost, in return, gave another paper, setting forth the fact of his\\nacceptance of the settlement for his government, agreeably to the\\nPresident Monroe s message to Congress of April 17th, 1S22, accompanied by\\nMr. Prevost s letter, dated Monterey, November 11th, 1818. The two papers above\\nmentioned are of so much importance, that they are here given at length.\\nThe act of delivery presented by the British commissioners is as follows\\nIn obedience to the commands of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, signi-\\nfied in a despatch from the right honorable the Earl Bathurst, addressed to the part-\\nners or agents of the North-West Company, bearing date the 27th of .laiiuary, IBIS,\\nand in obedience to a subsequent order, dated the 26th of July, from W. H. Sheriff,\\nEsq., captain of his Majesty s ship Andromache, we, the undersigned, do, in conform-\\nity to the first article of the treaty of Ghent, restore to the Government of the\\nUnited States, through its agent, J. B. Prevost, Esq., the settlement of Fort George,\\non the Columbia River. Given under our hands, in triplicate, at Fort George,\\n(Columbia River,) this 6th day of October, 1818.\\nF. HicKEv, Captain of his Majesty s ship Blossom.\\nJ. Keith, of the JVorth-JVest Company.\\nThe act of acceptance, on the part of the American commissioner, is in these words\\nI do hereby acknowledge to have this day received, in behalf of the Government\\nof the United States, the possession of the settlement designated above, in conformity\\nto the first article of the treaty of Ghent. Given under my hand, in triplicate, at\\nFort George, (Columbia River,) this 6th of October, 1818.\\nJ. B. Prevost, AgerUfor the United States.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0339.jp2"}, "340": {"fulltext": "310 PRETENDED RESERVATION OF THE BRITISH. [1818.\\nabove-mentioned treaty. The British flag was then formally low^-\\nered, and that of the United States, having been hoisted in its stead\\nover the fort, was saluted by the Blossom.\\nThe documents above cited the only ones which passed\\nbetween the commissioners on this occasion are sufficient to\\nshow that no reservation or exception was made on the part of Great\\nBritain, and that the restoration of Astoria to the United States\\nwas complete and unconditional. Nevertheless, in a negotiation\\nbetween the governments of those nations, in 1826, relative to the\\nterritories of the Columbia, it was maintained by the plenipoten-\\ntiaries of Great Britain,* that the restoration of Astoria could not\\nhave been legally required by the United States, in virtue of the\\ntreaty of Ghent, because the place was not a national possession,\\nnor a military post, and was not taken during war but in order\\nthat not even the shadow of a reflection might be cast upon the good\\nfaith of the British government, the latter determined to give the\\nmost liberal extension to the terms of the treaty of Ghent and\\nin 1818, the purchase which the British Company had made in\\n1813 was restored to the United States particular care being,\\nhowever, taken, on this occasion, to prevent any misapprehension as\\nto the extent of the concession made by Great Britain. In support\\nof this last assertion, two documents are produced, as having been\\naddressed, in 1818, hy the British ministers to their own agents, and\\nwhich, though never before published, or communicated in any way to\\nthe United States, were considered by the plenipotentiaries, in 1826,\\nas putting the case of the restoration of Fort Astoria in too clear\\na light to require further observation. One of these documents is\\npresented as an extract from Lord Castlereagh s despatch to Mr.\\nBagot, dated February 4th, 1818, in which his lordship says, You\\nwill observe, that whilst this government is not disposed to contest\\nwith the American government the point of possession, as it stood\\nin the Columbia River, at the moment of the rupture, they are not\\nprepared to admit the validity of the title of the government of the\\nUnited States to this settlement. In signifying, therefore, to Mr.\\nAdams the full acquiescence of your government in the reoccupa-\\ntion of the limited position which the United States held in that\\nriver at the breaking out of the war, you will, at the same time, assert,\\nin suitable terrns, the claim of Great Britain to that territory, upon\\nwhich the American settlement must be considered an encroach-\\nStatement presented by the British plenipotentiaries to Mr. Gallatin, among the\\nProofs and Illustrations, letter H. See hereafter, chap. xvi.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0340.jp2"}, "341": {"fulltext": "1818.] PRETENDED RESERVATION OF BRITISH RIGHTS. 311\\nment the plenipotentiaries add that this instruction was ex-\\necuted verbally by the person to whom it was addressed. The\\nother document purports to be a copy of the despatch from Lord\\nBathurst to the partners of the North-West Company, mentioned in\\nthe Act of DeUvery, presented by Messrs. Keith and Hickey, direct-\\ning them to restore the post on the Columbia, in pursuance of the\\nfirst article of the treaty of Ghent, in which the words without,\\nhowever, admitting the right of that government to the possession in\\nquestion appear in a parenthesis.*\\nWithout inquiring, at present, whether or not Astoria was a\\nnational possession of the United States, agreeably to the rules and\\ndefinitions laid down by writers on national law, there can be no\\ndifficulty in showing that it was such according to the principles and\\npractice of Great Britain and for tiiat purpose, it is necessary\\nmerely to refer to the circumstances attending the dispute between\\nthat power and Spain, in 1790, wlien the British government re-\\nquired from Spain the surrender of a territory discovered by her\\nnavigators, and occupied by her forces, on the ground that it had,\\nprevious to such occupation, become the property of British sub-\\njects. Whether Astoria was a military post or not, could be of no\\nconsequence, as the treaty of Ghent provides for the restoration of\\nall territory, places, and possessions, whatsoever, taken by either\\nparty from the other, during the war, except those on the Atlantic\\n.side of America specially named and that the establishments on\\nthe Columbia were so taken by the British during war, has been\\nsufficiently proved. The right of the United States to make settle-\\nments on the Columbia, existed previous to the foundation of As-\\ntoria, in virtue of the discoveries and explorations of their private\\ncitizens and pubUc officers and that right could not be lessened,\\nby any subsequent acts of their citizens, without the consent of\\ntheir government. The agents of the Pacific Company, in expec-\\nThe following is a copy of this despatch, as given in the British statement, which\\nwill be found among the Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part of this volume,\\nunder the letter H\\nDowning Street, January 27th, 1818.\\nIntelligence having been received, that the United States sloop of war Ontario\\nhas been sent by the American government to establish a settlement on the Columbia\\nRiver, which was held by that State on the breaking out of the last war, I am to\\nacquaint you that it is the Prince Regent s pleasure, (witliout, however, admitting the\\nright of that government to the possession in question,) that, in pursuance of the first\\narticle of the treaty of Ghent, due facility should be given to the reoccupation of the\\nsaid settlement by the officers of the United States and I am to desire that you\\nwould contribute, as much as lies in yojir power, to the execution of his Royal High-\\nness s commands. I have, c. \u00c2\u00abfec.,\\nBathcrst.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0341.jp2"}, "342": {"fulltext": "312 BRITISH VIEWS OF NATIONAL FAITH. [1818.\\ntation of the arrival of an overpowering British force, sold their\\nestablishments, furs, and stock in hand, to the North-West Com-\\npany but they did not, nor could they, alienate the right of domain\\nof the United States, which continued as before that transaction\\nuntil the British forces arrived, and took possession of the country\\nby right of conquest. The same circumstances might have oc-\\ncurred with regard to places near the head of the Mississippi, or in\\nMaine and Great Britain would not have been bound more strong-\\nly by the treaty of Ghent to restore places so situated than to restore\\nthe establishments on the Columbia.\\nThe two documents, which the British plenipotentiaries consider\\nas putting the case of the restoration of Astoria in too clear a\\nlight to require further observation, are wholly inadmissible as evi-\\ndence in the case, being simply despatches from British ministers\\nto their own agents, intended exclusively for the instruction of the\\nlatter, and with which the United States have no more concern than\\nwith the private opinions of those ministers. The attempt to rep-\\nresent such communications as reservations of right on the part of\\nGreat Britain to the very territory which she was then in the act of\\nrestoring to the United States, expressedly in pursuance of a treaty,\\nis alike at variance with the common sense and the common morals\\nof the day and no arguments are required to show that, if such\\nreservations were allowable, all engagements between nations would\\nbe nugatory, and all faith at an end. The statement respecting\\nthe assertion of the British claim to Astoria, verbally made by Mr.\\nBagot to Mr. Adams, is incomplete for, as Mr. Gallatin justly ob-\\nserved in answer, it is not stated how the communication was re-\\nceived, nor whether the American government consented to accept\\nthe restitution with the reservation, as expressed in the despatch to\\nthe envoy and it is, moreover, by no means consonant with the\\nusages of diplomatic intercourse at the present day, to treat verbally\\non questions so important as those of territorial sovereignty, or to\\nMr. Gallatin s Counter-Statement, accompanying the president s message to Con-\\ngress of December 12th, 1827. Upon the subject of this verbal communication, the\\nfollowing may be found in Mr. Adams s despatch to Mr. Rush, of July 22d, 1823,\\naccompanying the same message\\nPrevious to the restoration of the settlement at the mouth of the Columbia River,\\nin 1818, and again, upon the first introduction in Congress of the plan for constituting\\na territorial government there, some disposition was manifested, by Sir Charles Bagot\\nand Mr. [Stratford] Canning, to dispute the right of the United States to that estab-\\nlishment, and some vague intimation was given of the British claims on the north-\\nwest coast. The restoration of the place, and the convention of 1818, were consid-\\nered as a final disposal of Mr. Bagot s objections, and Mr. Canning declined\\ncommitting to naper those which he had intimated in conversation.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0342.jp2"}, "343": {"fulltext": "1818.] BRITISH VIEWS OF NATIONAL FAITH. 313\\nconsider as sufficient, protests and exceptions made in that manner,\\nand brought forward long after, without acknowledgment of any\\nkind on the part of those to whom they are said to have been ad-\\ndressed. The only communication received by the American gov-\\nernment, on the occasion of the restitution of Astoria, is explicit:\\nWe, the undersigned, do, in conformity to the first article of the\\ntreaty of Ghent, restore to the government of the United States the\\nsettlement of Fort George, on the Columbia River and this direct\\nand unqualified recognition of the right of the United States cannot\\nbe affected by subsequent communications to or from any persons.\\nIt may also be remarked, that although the British government,\\nin 1826, pronounced as sufficient a reservation contained in a secret\\ndespatch from one of its own ministers to one of its own agents, and\\nwithheld from the other party interested in the matter, yet, in 1834,\\nthe same government pronounced the reservation contained in the\\nDeclaration publicly presented by the Spanish ambassador at Lon-\\ndon, in 1771, on the conclusion of the dispute respecting the Falk-\\nland Islands, not to possess any substantial weight, inasmuch as\\nit had not been noticed in the Acceptance presented by the British\\ngovernment in return. The circumstances connected with the last-\\nmentioned transaction have been already so fully exposed, that it\\nis unnecessary to repeat them here.\\nImmediately after the conclusion of the surrender of Astoria,\\nMr. Keith presented to Mr. Prevost a note containing inquiries\\nwhether or not the government of the United States would insist\\nupon the abandonment of the post by the North- West Company,!\\nbefore the final decision of the question as to the right of sove-\\nreignty over the country and whether, in the event of such a\\nLetter from Viscount Palmerston to Senor Moreno, envoy of Buenos Ayres\\nat London, dated January 8th, 1834. See the note in p. Ill, containing a sketch of\\nthe circumstances of the dispute respecting the Falkland Islands.\\nt The buildings, and, indeed, the whole establishment at Astoria, had been consid-\\nerably increased, since it came into the hands of the North- West Company. Accord\\ning to the plan and description of the place sent by INIr. Prevost to Washington, the\\nfactory consisted, in 1818, of a stockade made of pine logs, twelve feet in length\\nabove the ground, enclosing a parallelogram of one hundred and fifty by two hundred\\nand fifty feet, extending in its greatest length from north-west to south-east, and\\ndefended by bastions or towers at two opposite angles. Within this enclosure were\\nall the buildings of the establishment, such as dwelling-houses, magazines, store-\\nhouses, mechanics shops, c. The artillery were two heavy eighteen-pounders,\\nsix six-pounders, four four-pound carronades, two six-pound cohorns, and seven\\nswivels, all mounted. The number of persons attached to the place, besides a few\\nwomen and children, was sixty-five, of whom twenty-three were whites, twenty-six\\nSandwich Islanders, (or Kanakis, as they are generally called in the Pacific,) and\\nthe remainder persons of mixed blood, from Canada.\\n40", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0343.jp2"}, "344": {"fulltext": "314 NEGOTIATION AT LONDON. [1818.\\ndecision being in favor of the United States, their government\\nvv ould be disposed to indemnify the North- West Company for any\\nimprovements which they might, in the mean time, have made there.\\nOn these points, Mr. Prevost, having no instructions, could only\\nreply, as he did, to the effect that his government would, doubtless,\\nif it should determine to keep up the settlement, satisfy any claims of\\nthe North- West Company which might be conformable with justice\\nand the usages of civilized nations. After a few days more spent\\non the Columbia, the Blossom quitted the river with Mr. Prevost,\\nwhom she carried to Peru, the post remaining in the hands of the\\nBritish traders, who have ever since continued to occupy it.\\nWhilst these measures for the restitution of Astoria were in\\nprogress, a negotiation was carried on, at London, between the\\nplenipotentiaries of the American and British governments, for the\\ndefinitive arrangement of many questions which were left unsettled\\nby the treaty of Ghent, including those relating to the boundaries\\nof the territories of the two nations west of the Lake of the Woods.*\\nMessrs. Rush and Gallatin, the plenipotentiaries of the United\\nStates, proposed that the dividing line between those territories\\nshould be drawn from the north-western extremity of that lake,\\nnorth or south, as the case might require, to the 49th parallel\\nof latitude, and thence along that parallel west to the Pacific\\nOcean. The British commissioners, Messrs. Goulburn and Robin-\\nson, after a discussion in which they endeavored to secure to British\\nsubjects the right of access to the Mississippi, and of navigating\\nthat river, agreed to admit the line proposed as far west as the\\nRocky Mountains and an article to that effect was accordingly\\ninserted in the projet of a convention.\\nThe claims of the respective nations to territories west of the\\nRocky Mountains were then considered. Messrs. Rush and Galla-\\ntin did not assert that the United States had a perfect right to that\\ncountry, but insisted that their claim was at least good against Great\\nBritain and they cited, in support of that claim, the facts of the\\ndiscovery of the Columbia River, of the first exploration from its\\nsources to its mouth, and of the formation of the first establishments\\nin the country through which it flows, by American citizens.\\nMessrs. Goulburn and Robinson, on the other hand, affirmed that\\nformer voyages, and principally that of Captain Cook, gave to\\nGreat Britain the rights derived from discovery and they alluded to\\nPresident Monroe s message to Congress, with the accompanying documents,\\nBent December 29th, 1818.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0344.jp2"}, "345": {"fulltext": "1818.] CONVENTION OF UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN. 315\\npurchases from the natives south of the Columbia, which they\\nalleged to have been made prior to the American revolution.\\nThey did not make any formal proposition for a boundary, but\\nintimated that the river itself was the most convenient which could\\nbe adopted and that they would not agree to any which did not\\ngive them the harbor at the mouth of that river, in common with\\nthe United States.\\nIt is needless here to repeat the proofs that Cook saw no part of\\nthe west coast of America south of Mount San Jacinto, near the\\n57th degree of latitude, which had not been already explored by\\nthe Spaniards with regard to the purchases from the natives\\nsouth of the Columbia, alleged to have been made by British\\nsubjects prior to the revolution, history is entirely silent. The de-\\ntermination expressed on the part of the British government not to\\nassent to any arrangement which did not give to Great Britain the\\nmouth of the Columbia, was at least unequivocal, and was sufficient\\nto show that all arguments on the American side would be unavailing.\\nIt was, accordingly, at length agreed that all territories and their\\nwaters, claimed by either power, west of the Rocky Mountains,\\nshould be free and open to the vessels, citizens, and subjects, of\\nboth for the space of ten years provided, however, that no claim\\nof either, or of any other nation, to any part of those territories,\\nshould be prejudiced by the arrangement.\\nThis convention having been completed, it was signed by the\\nplenipotentiaries on the 20th of October, 1818, and was soon after\\nratified by the governments of both nations.* The compromise\\ncontained in its third article, with regard to the territories west of\\nthe Rocky Mountains, was, perhaps, the most wise, as well as the\\nmost equitable, measure which could have been adopted at that\\ntime considering that neither party pretended to possess a perfect\\ntitle to the sovereignty of any of those territories, and that there\\nwas no prospect of the speedy conclusion of any arrangement with\\nregard to them, between either party and the other claimants,\\nSpain and Russia. The agreement could not certainly, at the\\ntime, have been considered unfavorable to the United States for,\\nalthough the North- West Company held the whole trade of the\\nColumbia country, yet the important post at the mouth of that\\nriver was restored to the Americans without reservation, and there\\nwas every reason for supposing that it would be immediately re-\\nSee tlie third article of the convention of October, 1818, among the Proofs and\\nIllustrations, in the latter part of this History, under the letter K, No. 2.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0345.jp2"}, "346": {"fulltext": "316 FLORIDA TREATY BETWEEN U. STATES AND SPAIN. [1818.\\noccupied by its founders and it seemed, moreover, evident that\\nthe citizens of the United States would enjoy many and great\\nadvantages over all other people in the country in question, in con-\\nsequence of their superior facilities of access to it, especially since\\nthe introduction of steam vessels on the Mississippi and its branches.\\nIn the same year, a negotiation was carried on at Washington,\\nbetween the governments of the United States and Spain, in which\\nthe question of boundaries on the north-west side of America was\\nlikewise discussed. The Spanish minister, Don Luis de Onis,\\nbegan by declaring that the right and dominion of the crown of\\nSpain to the north-west coast of America as high as the Californias,\\nis certain and indisputable the Spaniards having explored it as far\\nas the 47th degree, in the expedition under Juan de Fuca, in 1592,\\nand in that under Admiral Fonte, to the 55th degree, in 1640. The\\ndominion of Spain in these vast regions being thus established, and\\nher rights of discovery, conquest, and possession, being never dis-\\nputed, she could scarcely possess a property founded on more re-\\nspectable principles, whether of the law of nations, of public law, or\\nof any others which serve as a basis to such acquisitions as compose\\nall the independent kingdoms and states of the earth. Upon these\\npositive assertions, the American plenipotentiary, Mr. J. Q. Adams,\\nsecretary of state, did not consider himself required to offer any\\ncomment and the origin, extent, and value, of the claims of Spain\\nto the north-western portion of America remained unquestioned\\nduring the discussion. The negotiation was broken off in the early\\npart of the year, soon after its commencement it was, however,\\nrenewed, and was terminated on the 22d of February, 1819, by a\\ntreaty commonly called the Florida treaty, in which the southern\\nboundaries of the United States were definitively fixed. Spain\\nceded Florida to the American republic, which relinquished all\\nclaims to territories west of the River Sabine, and south of the\\nupper parts of the Red and the Arkansas Rivers and it was\\nagreed that a line drawn on the meridian from the source of the\\nArkansas northward to the 42d parallel of latitude, and thence\\nalong that parallel westward to the Pacific, should form the\\nnorthern boundary of the Spanish possessions, and the southern\\nboundary of those of the United States, in that quarter, His\\nCatholic majesty ceding to the United States all his rights, claims,\\nand pretensions, to any territories north of the said line.\\nThe provisions of this treaty, particularly those relating to limits,\\nappear to have been as nearly just as any which could have been", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0346.jp2"}, "347": {"fulltext": "1319.] FLORIDA TREATY BETWEEN THE U. S. \\\\ND SPAIN. 317\\nframed under existing circumstances; and as an almost necessary\\nconsequence, they were not received with general satisfaction by\\neither nation. The Americans insisted that the Rio del Norte should\\nhave been made the boundary of their republic in the south-west,\\nso as to secure to it the possession of the vast and fertile region of\\nTexas, which they claimed as originally forming part of Louisiana\\nwhilst the Spaniards protested that their interests in the new world\\nhad been sacrificed by the surrender of Florida to the power most\\ndangerous to them in that quarter. The Spanish government,\\nwhich was then in the hands of the Cortes, withheld its ratification\\nof the treaty for nearly two years and within a year after that\\nratification had been given, the authority of Spain was extin-\\nguished in every portion of America contiguous to the new line of\\nboundary.*\\nWith regard to the extent of the territory west of the Rocky\\nMountains, and the validity of the title to it thus acquired by the\\nUnited States, it will be convenient here to introduce some ob-\\nservations.\\nSee tlio third article of the treaty of 1819, defining the boundary, as settled, in\\nthe Proofs ajid Illustrations, under the Letter K, No. 6. The correspondence which\\npassed during the negotiation may be found accompanying President Monroe s mes-\\nsage to Congress of February 2 2d, 1819. Great skill and knowledge of the subject are\\ndisplayed by each of the plenipotentiaries in this correspondence the Chevalier de\\nOnis occasionally employing that finesse which was considered as the principal\\nweapon of the diplomatist of the last centuries, while Mr. Adams, in addition to his\\nsuperior acquaintance with history and national law, impresses upon tlie reader his\\nprofound conviction of the justice of his cause.\\nThe Spanish plenipotentiary, on returning to his country, found it necessary to\\nvindicate his conduct in this negotiation, by a Memoir, published at Madrid in 1820,\\nin which he shows that he was by no means convinced of the right of Spain to the\\nterritory west of the Sabine River; and he claims especial commendation from his\\ngovernment for this part of the treaty of 1319, which, he says, is improperly\\nstyled a treaty of cession, whereas it is in reality one of exchange, or permutation, of\\na small province for another of double the extent, more rich and fertile. 1 will\\nagree, he adds, that the third article might, with greater clearness, have been ex-\\npressed thus In exchange, the United States cede to his Catholic majestrj the province\\nof Texas, c. but as I had been for three years maintaining, in the lengthened cor-\\nrespondence herein inserted, that this province belonged to the king, it would have\\nbeen a contradiction to express, in the treaty, that the United States cede it to his\\nmajesty.\\nThe Chevalier de Onis, however, insinuates, in his Memoir, that one object of his\\nlong correspondence on this subject was to gain time. In fact, during the summer\\nof 1818, while the correspondence was partially suspended, (with the same object of\\ngaining time, no doubt,) the Spanish government formally applied to that of Great\\nBritain for aid, or mediation, in the affair; to which Lord Castlereagh immediately\\nreturned a decided negative, at the same time advising the Spanish government to\\ncede Florida to the United States, and to make any other arrangement which might\\nbe deemed proper, without delay.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0347.jp2"}, "348": {"fulltext": "318 DURATION OF THE NOOTKA CONVENTION. [1819.\\nThat the Nootka convention expired on the declaration of war by\\nSpain against Great Britain in 1796, and could not have been after\\nthat period in force, except in virtue of a distinct and formal renewal\\nby the same parties is consonant with the universal practice of civ-\\nilized nations, and especially of Great Britain, as manifested during\\nthe well-known negotiations between her government and that of\\nthe United States, in 1915, respecting the Newfoundland fishery.\\nMr. Adams, the American plenipotentiary, on that occasion, insisted\\nthat his countrymen should continue, not only to fish on the Banks\\nof Newfoundland, but also to land on the British American coasts\\nfor the same purpose, as they had done before the war of 1812, by\\nthe treaty of 1783, although that treaty had not been renewed by\\nthe treaty of Ghent, at the termination of the war upon the ground\\nthat the treaty of 1783, by which Great Britain acknowledged the\\nindependence of the United States, was of a peculiar nature, and\\nbore, in that nature, a character of permanency, not subject, like many\\nof the ordinary contracts between independent nations, to abrogation\\nby a subsequent war between the same parties. To this the British\\nminister. Lord Bathurst, answered, that, if the United States derived\\nfrom the treaty of 1783 privileges from which other independent\\nnations, not admitted by treaty, were excluded, the duration of those\\nprivileges must depend on the duration of the instrument by which\\nthey were granted and if the war abrogated the treaty, it deter-\\nmined the privileges. It has been urged, indeed, continues his\\nlordship, on the part of the United States, that the treaty of 1783\\nwas of a peculiar nature, and that, because it contained a recognition\\nof American independence, it could not be abrogated by a subse-\\nquent war between the parties. To a position of this novel nature\\nGreat Britain cannot accede. She Jcnoivs of no exception to the rule,\\nthat all treaties are put an end to by a subsequent war between the\\nsame parties she cannot, therefore, consent to give to her diplo-\\nmatic relations with one state a different degree of permanency\\nfrom that on which her connection with all other states depends.\\nNor can she consider any one state at liberty to assign to a\\ntreaty, made with her, such a peculiarity of character, as shall\\nmake it, as to duration, an exception to all other treaties, in order\\nto found on a peculiarity thus assumed an irrevocable title to all\\nindulgences which have all the features of temporary concessions.\\nThe British minister, indeed, admitted that recognitions of right\\nin a treaty might be consifJered as perpetual obligations and, refer-\\nring to the terms of the treaty of 1783, he showed that the right of", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0348.jp2"}, "349": {"fulltext": "1819.] THE NOOTKA CONVENTION EXPIRED IN 1796. 319\\nthe Americans to fish on the banks of Newfoundland (tliat is to say,\\nin the open sea) was there distinctly acknowledged, while the liberty\\nto use the British coasts for the same purpose was conceded to them\\nand that, although the right subsisted in virtue of the inclependence\\nof the United States, the liberty expired on the declaration of war\\nin 1812, and could not again be enjoyed, without the express con-\\nsent of Great Britain. It may be added that the position thus\\nassumed by the British government was maintained throughout the\\nnegotiation at the end of which, the liberty to take and cure fish\\non certain parts of the British American coasts, so long as they\\nshould remain unsettled, was secured to the citizens of the United\\nStates, in common with British subjects, forever, by the first article\\nof the convention of October 20th, 1818.*\\nApplying to the Nootka convention the rule thus enforced by\\nGreat Britain in 1815, with all its exceptions in their widest sense,\\nthere can be no question that this compact was entirely abrogated\\nby the war between that power and Spain, begun in October, 1796.\\nOn analyzing the convention, it will be seen that the first, second,\\nand eighth articles relate exclusively to certain acts, which were to\\nbe forthwith performed by one or both of the parties, and which\\nhaving been performed, as they all were, before 1796, those articles\\nbecame dead letters. By the third, article, it is agreed, in order to\\nstrengthen the bonds of friendship, and to preserve, in future, a perfect\\nharmony and good understanding betiveeri the two contracting parties,\\nthat their respective subjects shall not be disturbed or molested in\\nnavigating or fishing in the Pacific or Southern Oceans, or in land-\\ning on the coasts of those seas in places not already occupied, for\\nthe purpose of carrying on their commerce with the natives of the\\ncountry, or of making settlements there; under certain restrictions,\\nnevertheless, to the specification of which the fourth, fifth, and\\nsixth articles are entirely devoted the remaining seventh article\\nmerely indicating the course to be pursued in cases of infraction of\\nthe others. The Nootka convention thus contains nothing which\\ncan be construed as a perpetual obligation, no assertion or recogni-\\ntion of right, which can be deemed irrevocable but is, as a whole,\\nand in each of its separate stipulations, a concession, or series of\\nconcessions. To navigate and fish in the open sea, and to trade\\nand settle on coasts unoccupied by any civilized nation, are indeed\\nrights claimed by all civilized nations: Spain, however, did not\\nCorrespondence annexed to President Monroe s message to Congress of Decem-\\nber 29th, 1818.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0349.jp2"}, "350": {"fulltext": "320 THE NOOTKA CONVENTION EXPIRED IN 1796. [1819.\\nacknowledge these rights as existing in any other power with\\nregard to the Pacific and Southern Oceans and their American\\ncoasts and, by the Nootka convention, she merely engaged to\\ndesist from the exercise of privileges claimed by her in those seas\\nand coasts, so far as British subjects might be affected by them,\\non condition that Great Britain should desist from the exercise of\\nprivileges claimed by her, in the same quarters of the world. After\\nthe abrogation of the convention by war, each nation might again\\nassert and exercise the privileges claimed by it before the conclusion\\nof the compact and neither could be regarded as bound by any\\nof the restrictions defined in that instrument, until they had been\\nformally renewed by express consent of both the original parties.\\nThe war begun by Spain against Great Britain, in 1796, con-\\ntinued, with the intermission of the two years of uncertainty suc-\\nceeding the peace of Amiens, until 1809, when those nations were\\nagain allied, in opposition to France. Since that period, they have\\nremained constantly at peace with each other. The only engage-\\nment made between them for the renewal of treaties subsisting\\nbefore 1796, is contained in the first of the three additional articles\\nto the treaty of Madrid, signed on the 24th of August, 1814, wherein\\n/if is agreed that, pending the negotiation of a new treaty of com-\\nmerce, Great Britain shall he admitted to trade ivith Spain, upon the\\nsame conditions as those which existed previously to 1796 all the\\ntreaties of commerce, which at that period subsisted hetiveen the tivo\\nnations, being hereby ratified and confirmed. Thus the Nootka\\nconvention could not have been in force at any time between Octo-\\nber, 1796, and August, 1814; nor since that period, unless it were\\nrenewed by the additional article above quoted. That the first part\\nof this article related only to trade between the European dominions\\nof Great Britain and Spain, is certain, because no trade had ever\\nbeen allowed, by treaty or otherwise, between either kingdom, or its\\ncolonies, and the colonies of the other, except in the single case of\\nthe ^siewifo, concluded in 1713, and abrogated in 1740, agreeably\\nto which the British South Sea Company supplied the Spanish\\ncolonies with negro slaves during that period and because, more-\\nover, by an article in the treaty of Madrid, to which the above-\\nquoted article is additional, 7n the event of the commerce of the\\nSpanish American colonies being opened to foreign nations, his\\nCatholic majesty promises thai Great Britain shall be admitted to\\ntrade with those possessio7is, as the most favored nation. The second\\npart of the additional article is evidently intended merely in confir-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0350.jp2"}, "351": {"fulltext": "1819.] THE NOOTKA CONVENTION EXPIRED IN 1796. 321\\nmation and completion of the first, which would otherwise have want-\\ned the requisite degree of precision and it certainly could not have\\nembraced the convention of 1790, except so far as related to the\\ncommerce of each of the parties on the unoccupied coasts of Amer-\\nica, and the settlements made by each for that special purpose.\\nHad the convention of 1790 been expressly renewed and con-\\nfirmed in 1814, it would still have been inoperative, except with\\nregard to subjects and establishments of the contracting parties.\\nThe governments of Great Britain and Spain might have again\\nagreed that their subjects should reciprocally enjoy liberty of access\\nand trade, in all establishments which either might form on the\\nnorth-west coasts of America but neither power could have claimed\\nsuch rights in places on those coasts then occupied by a third nation.\\nIt has been already shown that, after the abandonment of Nootka\\nSound by the Spaniards, in March, 1795, no settlement was made,\\nor attempted, by them in any of the countries on the western side\\nof America north of the Bay of San Francisco and that, during\\nthe period between that year and 1814, many establishments were\\nformed in those countries by Russians, British, and citizens of the\\nUnited States. The Russians extended their posts from Aliaska\\neastward to Sitka, and even fixed themselves within a few miles of\\nthe Bay of San Francisco. The British founded their first establish-\\nment west of the Rocky Mountains, in 1806, on the upper waters\\nof Fraser s River, near the 54th degree of latitude. The Columbia\\nwas surveyed by order of the government of the United States, with\\na view to its occupation, in 1805 and their citizens made estab-\\nlishments on that river successively in 1808, 1810, and 1811, of\\nwhich the principal were, in 1813, taken by the British, and in\\n1818, restored to the Americans, agreeably to the treaty of Ghent.\\nUnder such circumstances, the title of Spain to the countries north\\nof the Bay of San Francisco, however strong it may have been in\\n1790 or 1796, in virtue of discoveries and settlements, must be\\nallowed to have become considerably weaker in 1819, from disuse,\\nand from submission to the acts of occupation by other powers.\\nThus, whilst it may be doubted that either of those powers could\\nin justice claim the sovereignty of the country occupied by its sub-\\njects without the consent of Spain, the latter could not have claimed\\nthe exclusive possession of such country, or have entered into com-\\npacts with a third power, respecting trade, navigation, or settlement,\\nin it, agreeably to any recognized principle of national law. Still\\nless could Great Britain have claimed the right to exclude other\\n41", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0351.jp2"}, "352": {"fulltext": "322 long s expedition to the rocky mountains. [1819.\\nnations from the sovereignty of the regions traversed by the Co-\\nlumbia, in which her subjects had made no discoveries, and which\\nhad been first occupied by the United States, unless upon the\\nground of conquest during war and this ground became untenable\\nafter the treaty of Ghent, as distinctly acknowledged by the British\\ngovernment in the fact of the restoration of Astoria.\\nThus, whilst the title to the countries north of the 42d parallel\\nof latitude, derived by the United States from Spain, through the\\nFlorida treaty, was undoubtedly imperfect, though not from any\\npossible effect of the Nootka convention, as insisted by the British\\ngovernment in 1826, yet that title, in addition to those previously\\npossessed by the Americans, in virtue of their discoveries and set-\\ntlements in the Columbia countries, appears to constitute a right in\\ntheir favor, stronger than could be alleged by any other nation, if\\nnot amounting to an absolute right of sovereignty.\\nImmediately after the signature of the Florida treaty, an expedi-\\ntion for tlie purpose of examining the country drained by the Mis-\\nsouri and its branches was organized by Mr. Calhoun, then secre-\\ntary of war of the United States, who had been, for some time pre-\\nvious, assiduously endeavoring to regulate the intercourse with the\\nIndians,* and to extend the military posts of the United States\\nthrough those regions. The party, comprising a large number of\\nofficers and men of science, passed the summer of 1819 in exam-\\nining the Lower Missouri, and the following winter in cantonment\\nat Council Bluffs, on the west side of that river, eiglit hundred and\\nfifty miles above its junction with the Mississippi. In June of the\\nfollowing year they proceeded up the valley of the Platte, to the\\nconfluence of its north and south branches or forks, and then\\ncontinued along the south fork, to its sources in the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, near the 40th degree of latitude. Here Dr. James, the bota-\\nnist of the expedition, ascended a mountain, named after him James s\\nPeak, the height of which was estimated, though on data by no\\nSee Mr. Calhoun s report on this subject to the House of Representatives, dated\\nDecember 5th, 1818, in which he reviews the system of intercourse with the Indians\\nthen pursued, and recommends, as tlie only means of protecting them against the cu-\\npidity of the traders, and of securing the United States against the deleterious influ-\\nence exercised over those people by the British trading companies, that the whole\\ntrade in the regions beyond the organized states and territories of the Union should\\nbe vested, for twent} years, in a company, subject to such regulations as might be\\nprescribed by law. This document merits attention, from the accuracy of the details\\nand the force of the reasoning and we may now regret that the plan proposed by\\nMr. Calhoun was not carried into effect.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0352.jp2"}, "353": {"fulltext": "1820.] STERILITY OF THE CENTRAL REGIONS OF AMERICA. 323\\nmeans sufficient, at not less than eight thousand five hundred feet\\nabove the ocean level and then, striking the head-waters of the\\nArkansas, which also flows from the same mountain, they de-\\nscended the valley of that river to its junction with the Mississippi.\\nMuch information was obtained, through tiiis expedition, respect-\\ning the geography, natural history, and aboriginal inhabitants, of\\nthe countries traversed, all of which was communicated to the\\nworld in an exact and perspicuous narrative, published by Dr.\\nJames in 1823. One most important fact, in a political point of\\nview, was completely established by the observations of the party\\nnamely, that the whole division of North America, drained by the\\nMissouri and the Arkansas, and their tributaries, between the\\nmeridian of the mouth of the Platte and the Rocky Mountains, is\\narlmost entirely unfit for cultivation, and therefore uninhabitable by\\na people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence. The\\nportion of this territory within five hundred miles of the Rocky\\nMountains, on the east, extending from the 39th to the 49th paral-\\nlels of latitude, was indeed found to be a desert of sand and\\nstones and subsequent observations have shown the adjoining\\nregions, to a great distance west of those mountains, to be still\\nmore arid and sterile. These circumstances, as they became known\\nthrough the United States, rendered the people and their repre-\\nsentatives in the federal legislature more and more indiflferent with\\nregard to the territories on the north-western side of the continent.\\nIt became always difficult, and generally impossible, to engage the\\nattention of Congress to any matters connected with those countries\\nemigrants from the populous states of the Union would not banish\\nthemselves to the distant shores of the Pacific, whilst they could\\nobtain the best lands on the Mississippi and its branches at mod-\\nerate prices and capitalists would not vest their funds in establish-\\nments for the administration and continued possession of which\\nthey could have no guarantee. From 1813 until 1823, few, if\\nany, American citizens were employed in the countries west of the\\nRocky Mountains and ten years more elapsed before any settle-\\nment was formed, or even attempted, by them in that part of the\\nworld.\\nChanges were, about the same time, made in the system of the\\nBritish trade in the northern parts of America, which led to the\\nmost important political and commercial results.\\nFrequent allusions have been already made to the enmity subsist-\\ning between the Hudson s Bay and the North-West Companies.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0353.jp2"}, "354": {"fulltext": "324 DISPUTES OF BRITISH FUR COMPANIES. [1816\\nThis feeling was displayed only in words, or in the commission of\\npetty acts of injury or annoyance by each against the other, until\\n1814, when a regular war broke out between the parties, which\\nwas, for some time after, openly carried on. The scene of the\\nhostilities was the territory traversed by the Red River of Hudson s\\nBay and its branches, in which Lord Selkirk, a Scotch nobleman^\\nhad, in 1811, obtained from the Hudson s Bay Company a grant\\nof not less than a hundred thousand square miles, for the establish-\\nment of agricultural colonies. The validity of this grant was\\ndenied by the North-West Company, to which the proposed occu-\\npation of the territory in question would have been absolutely\\nruinous, as the routes from Canada to the north-western trading\\nposts ran through it, and from it were obtained nearly all the pro-\\nvisions consumed at those posts. The British government, however,\\nappeared to favor and protect Lord Selkirk s project, and a large\\nnumber of Scotch Highlanders were, without opposition, established\\non Red River, the country about which received, in 1812, the\\nname of Ossinobia. For two years after the formation of the set-\\ntlement, peace was maintained; at length, in January, 1814, Miles\\nMacdonnel, the governor of the new province, issued a proclama-\\ntion, in which he set forth the limits of the region claimed by his\\npatron, and prohibited all persons, under pain of seizure and\\nprosecution, from carrying out of it any provisions, either of flesh,\\ndried meat, grain, or vegetables, during that year. The attempts\\nto enforce this prohibition were resisted by the North-West traders,\\nwho appeared so resolute in their determination not to yield, that\\nthe colonists became alarmed, and quitted the country, some of\\nthem returning to Canada, and others emigrating to the United\\nStates. In the following year, Lord Selkirk again sent settlers of\\nvarious nations to the Red River, between whom and the North-\\nWest people hostilities were immediately begun. Posts were taken\\nand destroyed on both sides; and, on the 19th of June, 1816, a\\nbattle was fought, in which the Ossinobians were routed, and\\nseventeen of their number, including their governor, Mr. Semple,\\nwere killed. The country was then again abandoned by the\\nsettlers.*\\nThese affairs were brought before the British Parliament in June,\\nT/ rd SfJkirk s Sketch of the British Fur Trade in North America, published in\\n181G, and the review of it in the London Quarterly Review for October, 1816\\nJVarrative of the Occurrences in the Indian Countries of America, published by the\\nNorth-West Company in 1817, containing all the documents on the subject.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0354.jp2"}, "355": {"fulltext": "1821.] JURISDICTION OF THE CANADA COURTS EXTENDED. 325\\n1819 and a debate ensued, in the course of which the proceedings\\nof the two rival associations were minutely investigated. The\\nministry then interposed its mediation, and a compromise was thus\\nat length effected, by which the North-West Company became\\nunited with, or rather merged in, the Hudson s Bay Company. At\\nthe same time, and in connection with this arrangement, an act\\nfor regulating the fur trade and establishivg a criminal and civil\\njurisdiction in certain parts of North America was passed in\\nParliament, containing every provision required to give stability to\\nthe Hudson s Bay Company, and efficiency to its operations.\\nBy this act, passed on the 2d of July, 1821, the king was\\nauthorized to make grants or give licenses to any body corporate,\\ncompany, or person, for the exclusive privilege of trading with the\\nIndians, in all such parts of North America as may be specified\\nin the grants, not being parts of the territories previously granted\\nto the Hudson s Bay Company, or of any of his majesty s provinces\\nin Nortli America, or any territories belonging to the United States\\nof America provided, however, that no such grant or license shall\\nbe given for a longer period than twenty-one years that no grant\\nor license for exclusive trade, in the part of America west of the\\nRocky Mountains, which, by the convention of 1318 with the United\\nStates, remained free and open to the subjects or citizens of both\\nnations, shall be used to the prejudice or exclusion of citizens of\\nthe United States engaged in such trade and that no British sub-\\nject shall trade in those territories west of the Rocky Mountains\\nwithout such license or grant. By the same act, also, the courts of\\njudicature of Upper Canada are empowered to take cognizance of\\nall causes, civil or criminal, arising in any of the above-mentioned\\nterritories, including those previously granted to the Hudson s Bay\\nCompany, and other parts of America, not within the limits of\\neither of the provinces of Upper or Lower Canada, or of any civil\\ngovernment of the United States and justices of the peace are to\\nbe commissioned in those territories, to execute and enforce the\\nlaws and the decisions of the courts, to take evidence, and commit\\noffenders and send them for trial to Canada, and even, under cer-\\ntain circumstances, to hold courts themselves, for the trial of crimi-\\nnal offences and misdemeanors not punishable by death, and of\\ncivil causes, in which the amount at issue should not exceed two\\nhundred pounds.*\\nSee the act and the grant here mentioned in the Proofs and Illustrations, at the\\nend of this volume, under the letter I, No. 2.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0355.jp2"}, "356": {"fulltext": "326 SEARCH FOR A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE RESUMED. [1821.\\nUpon the passage of this act, the union of the two companies\\nwas effected, and a grant was made, by the king, to the governor\\nand company of adventurers trading to Hudson s Bay, and to\\nWilliam MacgilUvray, Simon MacgilUvray, and Edward EHice, the\\npersons so named, representing the former proprietors of the North-\\nWest Company,* of the exclusive trade, for twenty-one years, in all\\nthe countries in which such privileges could be granted agreeably\\nto the act. Persons in the service of the company were, at the\\nsame time, commissioned as justices of the peace for those coun-\\ntries and the jurisdiction of the courts of Upper Canada was\\nrendered effective as far as the shores of the Pacific, no exception\\nbeing made, in that respect, by the act, with regard to any of the\\nterritories embraced in the grant, \u00e2\u0096\u00a0not within the limits of any civil\\ngovernment of the United States.^\\nAbout this period, also, the search for a north-west passage, or\\nnavigable communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific,\\nnorth of America, which had been so long suspended, was resumed\\nby British officers, under the auspices of their government and\\nexpeditions for that object were made through Baffin s Bay, as well\\nas by land, through the northernmost parts of the American conti-\\nnent. The geographical results of these expeditions were highly\\ninteresting, while, at the same time, the skill, courage, and perse-\\nverance, of the British were honorably illustrated by the labors of\\nRoss, Parry, Franklin, and their companions. The west coasts of\\nBaffin s Bay were carefully Si,urveyed, and many passages leading\\nfrom it towards the west and south-west, were traced to considera-\\nble distances. The progress of the ships through these passages\\nwas, however, in each case, arrested by ice and, although many\\nextensive portions of the northern coast of the continent were\\nexplored, and the Arctic Sea, in their vicinity, was lound free from\\nice during the short summer, the question respecting the existence\\nof a northern channel of communication between the oceans was\\nleft unsolved. These voyages, independently of the value of their\\nscientific results, also proved most advantageous to the commerce\\nof the British throughout the whole of their territories in America,\\nas new routes were opened, and new regions, abounding in furs,\\nwere rendered accessible.\\nThe Russians were, in the mean time, constantly increasing their\\nIn 1824, the North-West Company surrendered its rights and interests to the\\nHudson s Bay Company, in the name of which alone all the operations were thence-\\nforward conducted.\\n1\\n1", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0356.jp2"}, "357": {"fulltext": "1815.] RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA. 327\\ntrade in the Pacific, and, in addition to their estabhshments on the\\nnorthernmost coasts of that ocean, they had taken possession of the\\ncountry adjoining Port San Francisco, which they seemed deter-\\nmined, as well as able, to retain. With tiiis object, Baranof, the\\nchief agent of the Russian American Company, in 1812, obtained\\nfrom the Spanish governor of California permission to erect some\\nhouses, and to leave a few men on the shore of Bodega Bay, a\\nlittle north of Port San Francisco, where they were employed in\\nhunting the wild cattle, and drying meat for the supply of Sitka\\nand the other settlements. In the course of two or three years\\nafter this permission was granted, the number of persons thus\\nemployed became so great, and their dwelling assumed so much\\nthe appearance of a fort, that the governor thought proper to\\nremonstrate on the subject and, his representations being disre-\\ngarded, he formally commanded the Russians to quit the territories\\nof his Catholic majesty. The command was treated with as little\\nrespect as the remonstrance and, upon its repetition, the Russian\\nagent, Kuskof, coolly denied the right of the Spaniards over the\\nterritory, which he asserted to be free and open for occupation by\\nthe people of any civilized power. The governor of California\\nwas unable to enforce his commands and, as no assistance could\\nbe afforded to him from Mexico, in which the rebellion was then\\nat its height, the intruders were left in possession of the ground,\\nwhere they remained until 1840, in defiance alike of Spaniards\\nand of Mexicans.\\nOn the restoration of peace in Europe, in 1814, the Russian\\nAmerican Company resolved to make another effort to establish a\\ndirect commercial intercourse, by sea, between its possessions on\\nthe North Pacific and the European ports of the empire. With this\\nobject, the American ship Hannibal was purchased, and, her name\\nhaving been changed to Suwarrow, she was despatched from Cron-\\nstadt, under Lieutenant Lazaref, laden with merchandise, for Sitka,\\nwhence she returned in the summer of 1815, with a cargo of furs\\nvalued at a million of dollars. The adventure proving successful,\\nothers of the same kind were made, until the communications be-\\ncame regular, as they now are.\\nAfter the departure of this vessel from Sitka, Baranof sent about\\na hundred Russians and Aleutians, under the direction of Dr.\\nSchaeffer, a German, who had been the surgeon of the Suwarrow,\\nwith the intention, apparently, of taking possession of one of the\\nSandwich Islands. These men landed first at Owyhee, whence", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0357.jp2"}, "358": {"fulltext": "328 RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA. [1819.\\nthey passed successively to Woahoo and Atooi and in the latter\\nisland they remained a year, committing many irregularities, with-\\nout, however, effecting, in any way, the supposed objects of their\\nexpedition, until they were at length forced to submit to the author-\\nities of .Tamahamaha, and to quit the islands.*\\nExpeditions were also made by the Russians to Bering s Strait,\\nand the seas beyond it, for the purpose of determining the question\\nas to the separation of Asia and America, which, though long before\\nsupposed to have been ascertained, was again rendered doubtful by\\nsome circumstances of recent occurrence. With this object. Cap-\\ntain Otto von Kotzebue sailed from Cronstadt in the ship Ruric,\\nwhich had been fitted out at the expense of the ex-chancellor\\nRomanzof, and, in the summer of 1816, penetrated through the\\nstrait into the Arctic Sea; but, although he surveyed the coasts of\\nboth continents on that sea more minutely than any navigator who\\nhad preceded him, he was unable to advance so far in any direction\\nas Cook had gone in 1778. In 1820, two other vessels were sent\\nto that part of the ocean, with the same objects but no detailed\\naccount of their voyage has been made public. In the mean time,\\nhowever, the doubts as to the separation of the two continents were\\ncompletely removed, by Captains Wrangel and Anjou, who sur-\\nveyed the eastern parts of the Siberian coast with great care, in\\ndefiance of the most dreadful difficulties and dangers.f\\nNor did the Russians neglect to improve the administration of\\ntheir affairs on the North Pacific coasts. In 1817, Captain Golow-\\nnin was despatched from Europe, in the sloop of war Kamtchatka,\\nwith a commission from the emperor to inquire into the state of the\\nRussian dominions in America and, upon the report brought back\\nby him, it was resolved that a radical change should be made in the\\nmanagement of those possessions. Accordingly, upon the renewal\\nof the charter of the company on the 8th of July, 1819, regulations\\nwere put in execution, by which the governor and other chief\\nofficers of Russian America became directly responsible for their\\nFor further particulars on this subject, the reader if he should consider the\\nmatter worth investigating may consult Kotzebue s narrative of his voyage to the\\nPacific, in 1815-16, and Jarves s History of the Sandwich Islands.\\nt See the agreeable and instructive narrative, by Kotzebue, of his voyage in search\\nof a north-east passage. Wrangel s account of his expedition, which has been re-\\ncently published, is a most interesting work, not only from the multitude of new facts\\nin geography, and in many of the physical sciences, which it communicates, but also\\nfrom the admiration which it inspires for the courage, good temper, and good feeling,\\nof the adventurous narrator. Wrangel has since been, for many years, the governor-\\ngeneral of Russian America, and is now an admiral in the service of his country.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0358.jp2"}, "359": {"fulltext": "1819.] OCCURRENCES AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 329\\nconduct, and the condition of all classes of the population of those\\ncountries was materially benefited. The death of Baranof ren-\\ndered the introduction of these reforms less difficult and the\\nsuperintendence of the colonies has ever since been committed to\\nhonorable and enlightened men, generally officers in the Russian\\nnavy, under whose direction the abuses formerly prevailing to so\\nfrightful an extent, have been gradually removed or abated.*\\nAbout the same time, an event occurred, of great importance in\\nthe history of a country which is, no doubt, destined materially to\\ninfluence the political condition of the north-western coasts and\\nregions of America. Tamahamaha, king of all the Sandwich\\nIslands, died in May, 1819, at the age of sixty-three, and was\\nsucceeded in power by his son, or reputed son, Riho Riho, or\\nTamahamaha Il.f Of the merits and demerits of Tamahamaha,\\nit would be out of place here to speak at length. He was a chief\\nof note at the time of the discovery of the islands by Cook, when\\nhis character had been already formed, and the seeds of much that\\nwas evil had been sown, and had taken firm root in his mind. No\\nsooner, however, was he brought into contact with civilized men,\\nthan he began to learn, and, what was more difficult, to unlearn.\\nHis first objects were of a nature purely selfish. He sought power\\nto gratify his ambition and his thirst for pleasure, but he used it,\\nwhen obtained, for nobler ends and of all the sovereigns of the\\nearth, his contemporaries, no one certainly attempted or eflfected as\\nmuch, in proportion to his means, for the advancement of his\\npeople, as this barbarian chief of a little ocean island.\\nUpon the death of Tamahamaha, great changes were effected in\\nthe affairs of the Sandwich Islands. The old king had resolutely\\nmaintained the religion of his forefathers, though he suppressed\\nmany of its horrible ceremonies and observances. Riho Riho, how-\\never, soon after his accession, abolished that religion, and embraced\\nthe faith of the white men who came to his islands in great ships\\nfrom distant countries. His principal chiefs, Boki and Krymakoo,\\n(or Kalaimaku,) had been previously, in August, 1819, baptized\\nand received into the bosom of the Roman Catholic church by the\\nStatische und ethnographische Nachrichten, obcr die Russischen Besitzungen an\\nder NordwestkQste von Amerika Statistical and ethnographical Notices concerning\\nthe Russian Possessions on the North-West Coasts of America by Admiral von\\nWrangel, late governor-general of those countries, published at St. Petersburg,\\nin 1839.\\nt These names are now generally written Liho Liho and Kamehamaha.\\n42", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0359.jp2"}, "360": {"fulltext": "3^0 CHRISTIANITY IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. [1819.\\nchaplain of the French corvette L Uranie, during her voyage\\naround the world under Captain Freycinet; and, early in 1820, a\\nvessel reached the islands from Boston, bringing a number of\\nmissionaries of the Presbyterian or Congregationalist sects, who\\nhave been established there ever since, and have exercised, as will\\nbe hereafter shown, a powerful and generally beneficial influence\\nover the people and their rulers.*\\nThe American missionaries, immediately on entering the Sandwich Islands,\\nbegan the study of the language through which their instructions were to be con-\\nveyed. This language they found to be the same throughout the group but, as\\nconsiderable differences existed in its pronunciation in different islands, they selected\\nthe most pure, or the most generally used, of the dialects, in which they formed a\\nvocabulary, employing English letters to represent the sounds, but wisely confining\\neach letter to the expression of a fixed sound. The History of the American Board\\nof Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which may be considered as official authority\\non all matters connected with the missions in the Sandwich Islands, contains, at\\np. 112, the following clear and concise view of the system of orthography thus\\nadopted\\nThe Hawaian [Owyheean] alphabet contains twelve letters only. It has five\\nvowels a, sounded as a m father e, as a in hate; i, as ee in feet; o, as o in pole\\nand u, as oo in boot and seven consonants h, k, I, m, n, p., and lo, sounded as in\\nEnglish. The long English sound of i is represented by oi, as in Lahaina, where\\nthe second syllable is accented, and pronounced like the English word high. The\\nsecond syllable, wai, of Hawaii, the name of the largest of the islands, is pronounced\\nlike the first syllable of the English name IVijman and, giving the letters the usual\\nEnglish sounds, it might be spelled Ha-wij-ee. The first syllable should be pro-\\nnounced very slightly, and a strong accent placed on the second. The sound of oio\\n(in cow) is represented by au as, Maui, pronounced Moio-ee. The natives do not\\ndistinguish the sounds o? k and t from each other, but call the same island sometimes\\nKaui and Taui, without perceiving the difference. In the same way, d, I, and r, are\\nconfounded, and the same place is called indifferently Hido, Hilo, or Hiro. The\\nsame occurs in respect to w and v. In fact, these interchangeable consonants are\\nvery slightly and indistinctly uttered, so that a foreigner is at a loss to know which\\nthe speaker intends to use.\\nAgreeably to this system, the missionaries have published a translation of the\\nBible, and many other books, in the language of the Sandwich Islands. It is, how-\\never, much to be regretted that they and their friends, from whom nearly all the in-\\nformation is now received respecting that part of the world, should think proper\\nto apply their orthography exclusively, not only to the names of places and per-\\nsons which have recently gained notoriety, but likewise to those with which every\\none has become familiar through the journals of Cook and Vancouver. Names are,\\nindeed, not written uniformly in the journals here mentioned but the differences are\\nin general slight, far less than between any one of the old names and that assigned\\nto the same object in the new system and the best informed men, who have not\\nstudied that system thoroughly, will scarcely be able to discover that the Ilavaii of\\nthe missionaries is Owyhee; that Keilakakua is the Karakakooa rendered sacred as\\nthe scene of Cook s death and that Kaumalii and Kamehamcha are no others than\\ntheir old acquaintances, Tamoree and Tamahamaha, under new titles. What would\\nbe thought of an English history of Germany, in which places and persons appeared\\nonly under their German names in which Vienna should be written IVien; Moravia,\\nMaehren; Bohemia, Boehmen Francis, Franz; Charles, Karl; c.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0360.jp2"}, "361": {"fulltext": "331\\nCHAPTER XVI.\\n1820 TO 1828.\\nBill reported by a Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States,\\nfor the Occupation of tlie Columbia River Ukase of the Emperor of Russia, with\\nRegard to the North Pacific Coasts Negotiations between the Governments of Great\\nBritain, Russia, and the United States Conventions between the United States\\nand Russia, and between Great Britain and Russia Further Negotiations between\\nthe United States and Great Britain relative to the North-West Coasts Indefinite\\nExtension of the Arrangement for the joint Occupancy of the Territories west of\\nthe Rocky Mountains, by the British and the Americans.\\nBefore 1820, little, if any thing, relative to the countries west of\\nthe Rocky Mountains had been said in the Congress rf the United\\nStates and those countries had excited very little interest among\\nthe citizens of the federal republic in general.\\nIn December of that year, however, immediately after the ratifica-\\ntion of the Florida treaty by Spain, a resolution was passed by the\\nHouse of Representatives in Congress, on the motion of Mr. Floyd,\\nof Virginia that an inquiry should be made, as to the situation\\nof the settlements on the Pacific Ocean, and as to the expediency\\nof occupying the Columbia River. The committee to which this\\nresolution was referred, presented, in January following, a long\\nreport, containing a sketch of the history of colonization in Amer-\\nica, with an account of the fur trade in the northern and north-\\nwestern sections of the continent, and a description of the country\\nclaimed by the United States from all which are drawn the con-\\nclusions, that the whole territory of America bordering upon the\\nPacific, from the 41st degree of latitude to the 53d, if not to the\\n60th, belongs of right to the United States, in virtue of the purchase\\nof Louisiana from France, in 1803, of the acquisition of the titles of\\nSpain by the Florida treaty, and of the discoveries and settlements\\nof American citizens that the trade of this territory in furs and\\nother articles, and the fisheries on its coasts, might be rendered\\nhighly productive and that these advantages might be secured\\nto citizens of the United States exclusively, by establishing small\\ntrading guards on the most north-eastern point of the Missouri,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0361.jp2"}, "362": {"fulltext": "339 RUSSIAN UKASE. [1822.\\nand at the mouth of the Columbia, and by favoring emigration to\\nthe country west of the R,ocky Mountains, not only from the\\nUnited States, but also from China. To this report the com-\\nmittee appended a bill for the occupation of the Columbia, and\\nthe regulation of the trade with the Indians in the territories of\\nthe United States. Without making any remarks upon the char-\\nacter of this report, it may be observed, that the terms of the bill\\nare directly at variance with the provisions of the third article of the\\nconvention of October, 1818, between the United States and Great\\nBritain as the Columbia could not possibly be free and open to the\\nvessels, citizens, and subjects, of both nations, if it were occupied by\\neither. The bill was suffered to lie on the table of the House during\\nthe remainder of the session in the ensuing year, it was again\\nbrought before Congress, and an estimate was obtained, from the\\nnavy commissioners, of the expense of transporting cannon, ammu-\\nnition, and stores, by sea, to the mouth of the Columbia but no\\nfurther notice was taken of the subject until the winter of 1823.\\nMeasures had, in the mean time, been adopted by the Russian\\ngovernment, with regard to the north-west coasts of America, which\\nstrongly excited the attention of both the other powers claiming\\ndominion in that quarter.\\nSoon after the renewal of the charter of the Russian American\\nCompany, a ukase, or imperial decree, was issued at St. Petersburg,\\nby which the whole west coast of America, north of the 51st par-\\nallel, and the whole east coast of Asia, north of the latitude of 45\\ndegrees 50 minutes, with all the adjacent and intervening islands,\\nwere declared to belong exclusively to Russia and foreigners were\\nprohibited, under heavy penalties, from approaching within a\\nhundred miles of any of those coasts, except in cases of extreme\\nnecessity.*\\nThis decree was officially communicated to the government of\\nthe United States in February, 1822, by the Chevalier de Poletica,\\nRussian minister at Washington, between whom and Mr. J. Q,\\nAdams, the American secretary of state, a correspondence imme-\\ndiately took place on the subject. Mr. Adams, in his first note,\\nsimply made known the surprise of the president at the assertion\\nof a claim, on the part of Russia, to so large a portion of the west\\nThe ukase, dated September 4th, 1821, and the correspondence betweep the\\nRussian and American governments with regard to it, may be found at length among\\nthe documents accompanying President Monroe s message to Congress, of April\\n17th, 1822.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0362.jp2"}, "363": {"fulltext": "1822.] DISCUSSION OF THE RUSSIAN CLAIMS. 333\\ncoasts of America, and at the promulgation, by that power, of rules\\nof restriction so deeply affecting the rights of the United States\\nand their citizens and he desired to know whether the minister\\nwas authorized to give explanations of the grounds of the right\\nclaimed, upon principles generally recognized by the laws and\\nusages of nations.\\nTo this M. Poletica replied by a long letter, containing a sketch\\ngenerally erroneous of the discoveries of his countrymen on the\\nnorth-west coasts of America, which extended, according to his\\nidea, southward as far as the 49th parallel of latitude. He de-\\nfended the assumption of the 51st parallel as the southern limit of\\nthe possessions of his sovereign, upon the ground that this line was\\nmidway between the mouth of the Columbia, where the citizens of\\nthe United States had made an establishment, and the Russian\\nsettlement of Sitka and he finally maintained that his government\\nwould be justifiable in exercising the rights of sovereignty over the\\nivhole of the Pacific north of the said parallel, inasmuch as that sec-\\ntion of the sea was bounded on both sides by Russian territories, and\\nwas thus, in fact, a close sea. The secretary of state, in return,\\nasserted that, from the period of the existence of the United\\nStates as an independent nation, their vessels had freely navigated\\nthose seas and the right to navigate them was a part of that inde-\\npendence, as also the right of their citizens to trade, even in arms\\nand munitions of war, with the aboriginal natives of the north-\\nwest coast of America, who were not under the territorial jurisdic-\\ntion of other nations. He denied in toto the claim of the Russians\\nto any part of America south of the 55th degree of latitude, on\\nthe ground that this parallel was declared, in the charter* of the\\nRussian American Company, to be the southern limit of the dis-\\nThe first article of the charter or privilege granted by the emperor Paul to the\\nRussian American Company, on the 8th of July, 1799, is as follows\\nIn virtue of the discovery, by Russian navigators, of a part of the coast of\\nAmerica in the north-east, beginning from the 55th degree of latitude, and of\\nchains of islands extending from Kamtchatka, northward towards America, and\\nsouthward towards Japan, Russia has acquired the right of possessing those lands;\\nand ihe said company is authorized to enjoy all the advantages of industry, and all\\nthe establishments, upon the said coast of America, in the north-east, from the 55th\\ndegree of latitude to Bering s Strait, and beyond it, as also upon the Aleutian and\\nKurile Islands, and the others, situated in the eastern Arctic Ocean.\\nBy the second article,\\nThe company may make new discoveries, not only north, but also south, of the\\nsaid 55th parallel of latitude, and may occupy and bring under the dominion of Rus-\\nsia all territories thus discovered, observing the rule, that such territories should not\\nhave been previously occupied and placed under subjection by another nation.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0363.jp2"}, "364": {"fulltext": "334 EXTRAVAGANT PRETENSIONS OF RUSSIA. [1822.\\ncoveries of the Russians in 1799 since which period they had made\\nno discoveries or estabhshments south of the said Hne, on the\\ncoast now claimed by them. With regard to the suggestion that\\nthe Russian government might justly exercise sovereignty over the\\nPacific Ocean as a close sea, because it claims territories both on\\nthe Asiatic and the American shores, Mr. Adams merely observed,\\nthat the distance between those shores, on the parallel of 51 degrees\\nnorth, is four thousand miles and he concluded by expressing the\\npersuasion of the president that the citizens of the United States\\nwould remain unmolested in the prosecution of their lawful com-\\nmerce, and that no effect would be given to a prohibition manifestly\\nincompatible with their rights.\\nThe Russian minister plenipotentiary, a few days after the receipt\\nof Mr. Adams s last communication, sent another note, supporting\\nthe rights of his sovereign, in which he advanced the authentic\\nfact, that, in 1789, the Spanish packet St. Charles, commanded by\\nCaptain Haro, found, in the latitude of forty-eight and forty-nine\\ndegrees, Russian establishments, to the number of eight, consisting,\\nin the whole, of twenty families, and four hundred and sixty-two\\nindividuals, who were the descendants of the companions of Cap-\\ntain Tchirikof, supposed until then to have perished. Respecting\\nthis authentic fact, it has been shown, in the account* already\\ngiven of the Spanish voyage to which the ChevaUer Poletica refers,\\nthat Martinez and Haro did find eight Russian establishments on\\nthe North Pacific coast of America in 1788, but that they were all\\nsituated in the latitudes oi fifty-eight and fifty-nine degrees, and that\\nthe persons inhabiting them had all been, a short time previous,\\ntransported thither, from Kamtchatka and the Aleutian Islands, by\\nSchelikof, the founder of the Russian American Company. The\\nminister doubtless derived his information from the introduction to\\nthe journal of Marchand s voyage but he neglected to read the note\\nappended to that account, in which the error is explained.\\nThe prohibitory regulation of the Russian emperor, and the\\ncorrespondence relating to it, were immediately submitted to the\\nCongress of the United States and, in the ensuing year, a nego-\\ntiation was commenced at St. Petersburg, the object of which was\\nto settle amicably and definitively the limits of the territories on\\nthe north-west side of America, claimed by the two nations re-\\nspectively, and the terms upon which their navigation and trade in\\nthe North Pacific were in future to be conducted. A negotiation,\\nSee p. 186.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0364.jp2"}, "365": {"fulltext": "1823.] DECLARATION OF PRESIDENT MONROE. 335\\nfor similar purposes, was, at the same time, in progress at St. Peters-\\nburg, between the governments of Russia and Great Britain the\\nlatter power having formally protested against the claims and princi-\\nples advanced in the ukase of 1821, immediately on its appearance,\\nand subsequently, during the session of the congress of European\\nsovereigns at Verona.* Under these circumstances, a desire was\\nfelt, on the part of the government of the United States, that a joint\\nconvention should be concluded between tlie three nations having\\nclaims to territories on the north-west side of America; and the\\nenvoys of the republic at London and St. Petersburg were severally\\ninstructed to propose a stipulation to the effect that no settlement\\nshould, during the next ten years, be made, in those territories, by\\nRussians south of the latitude of 55 degrees, by citizens of the\\nUnited States north of the latitude of 51 degrees, or by British\\nsubjects south of the 51st or north of the 55th parallels.\\nThis proposition for a joint convention was not accepted by\\neither of the governments to which it was addressed the principal\\nground of the refusal by each being the declaration made by Presi-\\ndent Monroe in his message to Congress, at the commencement of\\nthe session of 1823, that in the discussions and arrangements then\\ngoing on with respect to the north-west coasts the occasion had\\nbeen judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights\\nand interests of the United States are involved, that the American\\ncontinents, by the free and independent condition ivhich they have\\nassumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects\\nfor colonization by any European power f Against this declaration,\\nDebate in Parliament on the inquiry made by Sir James Mackintosh on this\\nsubject, May 21, 1823.\\nt The message of December 2d, 1823, containing this declaration, also announced\\nthe resolution of the United States to view as the manifestation of an unfriendly\\ndisposition towards themselves any attempt, on the part of a European power, to\\noppress or control the destiny of any of the independent states of America. This\\nnoble resolution was taken upon the assurance that the United States would, if ne-\\ncessary, be sustained in enforcing it by Great Britain, without whose cooperation it\\nwould have been ineffective, certainly as to the prevention of the attempts. The\\ncircumstances which induced the American government thus, at the same time,\\nopenly to offer a blow at the only nation on whose assistance it could depend, in case\\nthe anticipated attempts should be made by the despotic powers of Europe, have not\\nbeen disclosed. That it is the true policy of the United States, by all lawful means,\\nto resist the extension of European dominion in America, and to confine its limits,\\nand abridge its duration, wherever it may actually exist, is a proposition which no\\narguments are required to demonstrate, either to American citizens or to European\\nsovereigns; but this proclamation, by the government of the United States, of its\\nintention to pursue those ends, could have no other effect than to delay the attainment\\nof them, as it has evidently done.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0365.jp2"}, "366": {"fulltext": "336 RECOMMENDATIONS OF GENERAL JESUP. [1823.\\nwhich however just and politic might have been the principle\\nannounced was unquestionably imprudent, or at least premature,\\nthe British and the Russian governments severally protested and\\nas there were many other points on which it was not probable that\\nthe three powers could agree, it was determined that the negotia-\\ntions should be continued, as they had been commenced, separately\\nat London and at St. Petersburg.\\nAnother publication, equally impolitic on the part of the Ameri-\\ncan government, soon after contributed to render more difficult the\\nsettlement of the question of boundaries on the Pacific between the\\nUnited States and Great Britain.\\nA select committee, appointed by the House of Representatives\\nof the United States, in December, 1823, with instructions to inquire\\ninto the expediency of occupying the mouth of the Columbia,\\nrequested General Thomas S. Jesup, the quartermaster-general of the\\narmy, to communicate his opinions respecting the propriety of the\\nmeasure proposed, as well as its practicability and the best method\\nof executing it; in answer to which that officer sent, on the 16th\\nof February, 1824, a letter containing an exposition of his views of\\nthe true policy of the United States with regard to the north-west\\ncoasts and territories of America, and of the means by which they\\nmight be carried into effect. Leaving aside the question as to the\\nrights of the United States, he considered the possession and military\\ncommand of the Columbia and of the Upper Missouri necessary for\\nthe protection, not only of the fur trade, but also of the whole\\nwestern frontier of the republic, which is every where in contact\\nwith numerous, powerful, and warlike tribes of savages and, for\\nthis purpose, he recommended the immediate despatch of two\\nhundred men across the continent to the mouth of the Columbia,\\nwhile two merchant vessels should transport thither the cannon,\\nammunition, materials, and stores, requisite for the first establish-\\nment after which, four or five intermediate posts should be formed\\nat points between Council Bluffs, on the Missouri, (the most western\\nspot then occupied by American troops,) and the Pacific. By such\\nmeans, says the letter, present protection would be afforded to\\nour traders, and, on the expiration of the privilege granted to\\nBritish subjects to trade on the waters of the Columbia, we should\\nbe enabled to remove them from our territory, and to secure the\\nwhole trade to our own citizens.\\nThe report of tiie committee, with the letter from General Jesup\\nannexed, was ordered to lie on the table of the House, and nothing", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0366.jp2"}, "367": {"fulltext": "1824.] NEGOTIATION AT LONDON. 337\\nmore was done on the subject during that session the papers,\\nhowever, were both published, and they immediately attracted the\\nattention of the British ministry. In a conference held at London,\\nin July following, between the American envoy, Mr. Rush, and the\\nBritish commissioners, Messrs. Huskisson and Stratford Canning,\\nthe latter gentlemen commented upon the observations of General\\nJesup, particularly upon those respecting the removal of British\\ntraders from the territories of the Columbia, which, they said, were\\ncalculated to put Great Britain especially upon her guard, appear-\\ning, as they did, at a moment when a friendly negotiation was\\npending between the two powers for the adjustment of their relative\\nand conflicting claims to that entire district of country.\\nIt is moreover certain, from the accounts of Mr. Rush, as well as\\nfrom those given subsequently by Mr. Gallatin, that the publication\\nof General Jesup s letter, and the declaration in President Monroe s\\nmessage against the establishment of European colonies in America,\\nrendered the British government much less disposed to any con-\\ncession, with regard to the north-west territories, than it would\\notherwise have been and there is reason to believe, from many\\ncircumstances, that they tended materially to produce a union of\\nviews, approaching to a league, between that power and Russia,\\nwhich has proved very disadvantageous to the interests of the\\nUnited States on the North Pacific coasts.\\nThe negotiation respecting the north-west coasts of America,\\ncommenced at London in April, 1824, was not long continued\\nthe parties being so entirely at variance with regard to facts as well\\nas principles, that the impossibility of eflecting any new arrange-\\nment soon became evident. Mr. Rush,* the American plenipoten-\\ntiary, began by claiming for the United States the exclusive pos-\\nsession and sovereignty of the whole country west of the Rocky\\nMountains, from the 42d degree of latitude, at least as far north\\nas the 51st, between which parallels all the waters of the Columbia\\nwere then supposed to be included. In support of this claim, he\\ncited, as in 1818, the facts of the first discovery of the Columbia\\nby Gray of the first exploration of that river from its sources to the\\nsea by Lewis and Clarke of the first settlement on its banks by\\nthe Pacific Fur Company, a settlement which was reduced by\\nthe arms of the British during the late war, but was formally sur-\\nLetter from Mr. Rush to the secretary of state, of August 12th, 1824, among the\\ndocuments accompanjing President Adams s message to Congress of January 31st,\\n1826.\\n43", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0367.jp2"}, "368": {"fulltext": "338 CLAIMS OF THE U. STATES AND OF GREAT BRITAIN. [1824.\\nrendered up to the United States at the return of peace, and of\\nthe transfer by Spain to the United States of all her titles to those\\nterritories, founded upon the well-known discoveries of her navi-\\ngators and he insisted, agreeably to express instructions from his\\ngovernment, that no part of the American continent was thence-\\nforth to be open to colonization from Europe. In explanation and\\ndefence of this declaration, Mr. Rush referred to the principles\\nsettled by the Nootka Sound convention of 1790, and remarked,\\nthat Spain had now lost all her exclusive colonial rights, recognized\\nunder that convention first, by the fact of the independence of the\\nSouth American states and of Mexico and next, by her express\\nrenunciation of all her rights, of whatever kind, above the 42d\\ndegree of north latitude, to the United States. Those new states\\nwould themselves now possess the rights incident to their condition\\nof political independence and the claims of the United States\\nabove the 42d parallel as high up as 60 degrees claims as well\\nin their own right as by succession to the title of Spain would\\nhenceforth necessarily preclude other nations from forming colonial\\nestablishments upon any part of the American continents.\\nMessrs. Huskisson and Canning, in reply, denied that the\\ncircumstance of a merchant vessel of the United States having\\npenetrated the north-west coast of America at the Columbia River,\\ncould give to the United States a claim along that coast, both\\nnorth and south of the river, over territories which, they insisted,\\nhad been previously discovered by Great Britain herself, in expe-\\nditions fitted out under the authority and with the resources of the\\nnation. They declared that British subjects had formed settle-\\nments upon the Columbia, or upon rivers flowing into it west of\\nthe Rocky Mountains, coe al with, if not prior to, the settlement\\nmade by American citizens at its mouth and that the surrender of\\nthat settlement after the late war was in fulfilment of the treaty of\\nGhent, and did not affect the question of right in any way. They\\ntreated as false or doubtful the accounts of many of xhe Spanish\\nvoyages in the Pacific alleging, as more authentic, the narrative\\nof Drake s expedition, from which it appeared that he had, in\\n1579, explored the west coast of America to the 4Sth parallel of\\nlatitude, five or six degrees farther north than the Spaniards them-\\nselves pretended to have advanced before that period and they\\nrefused to admit that any title could be derived from the mere fact\\nof Spanish navigators having first seen the coast at particular spots,\\neven when this was capable of being fully substantiated. Finally,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0368.jp2"}, "369": {"fulltext": "1824.] PROPOSITIONS FOR PARTITION. 339\\nthey assured Mr. Rush that their government would never assent to\\nthe claim set forth hy him respecting the territory watered by the\\nColumbia River and its tributaries, which, besides being essentially\\nobjectionable in its general bearings, had also the elTect of inter-\\nfering directly with the actual rights of Great Britain, derived from\\nuse, occupancy, and settlement asserting, at the same time, that\\nthey considered the unoccupied parts of America just as much\\nopen as heretofore to colonization by Great Britain, as well as by\\nother European powers, agreeably to the convention of 1790,\\nbetween the British and Spanish governments, and that the United\\nStates would have no right to take umbrage at the establishment\\nof new colonies from Europe, in any such parts of the American\\ncontinent.\\nAfter much discussion on these points, Mr. Rush presented a\\nproposal from his government, that any country west of the Rocky\\nMountains, which might be claimed by the United States, or by\\nGreat Britain, should be free and open to the citizens or subjects\\nof both nations for ten years from the date of the agreement\\nProvided, that, during this period, no settlements were to be made\\nby British subjects north of the 55th or south of the 51st degrees\\nof latitude, nor by American citizens north of the latter parallel.\\nTo this proposal, which Mr. Rush afterwards varied by substituting\\nthe 49th parallel of latitude for the 51st, Messrs. Huskisson and\\nCanning replied by a counter proposal, to the effect, that the\\nboundary between the territories of the two nations, beyond the\\nRocky Mountains, should pass from those mountains westward\\nalong the 49th parallel of latitude, to the north-easternmost branch\\nof the Columbia River, called Macgillivray s River on the maps,\\nand thence down the middle of the stream, to the Pacific the\\nBritish possessing the country north and west of such line, and the\\nUnited States that which lay south and east of it Provided, that\\nthe subjects or citizens of both nations should be equally at liberty,\\nduring the .space of ten years from the date of the agreement, to\\npass by land or by water through all the territories on both sides of\\ntlic boundary, and to retain and use their establishments already\\nformed in any part of them. The British plenipotentiaries at the\\nsame time declared that this their proposal was one from which\\nProtocol of the twelfth conference between the plenipotentiaries, held June 26th,\\n1824, among the documents annexed to President Adams s message to Congress of\\nJanuary 31st, 1826.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0369.jp2"}, "370": {"fulltext": "340 PROPOSITIONS FOR PARTITION. [1824.\\nGreat Britain would certainly not depart and, as all prospect of\\ncompromise was thus destroyed, the negotiation ended.\\nIn this discussion between the United States and Great Britain,\\nupon the subject of their respective claims to the sovereignty of\\nthe countries west of the Rocky Mountains, the grounds of those\\nclaims were first made to assume a form somewhat definite and\\nthis may be considered as principally due to the labor and pene-\\ntration of Mr. Rush, who seems to have been the first to inquire\\ncarefully into the facts of the case. The introduction by him of the\\nNootka convention, as an element in the controversy, was according\\nto express instructions from his government.* It appears to have\\nbeen wholly unnecessary, and was certainly impolitic. No allusion\\nhad been made to that arrangement in any of the previous discus-\\nsions with regard to the north-west coasts, and it was doubtless\\nconsidered extinct but when it was thus brought forward by the\\nAmerican government in connection with the declaration against\\nEuropean colonization, as a settlement of general principles with\\nregard to those coasts, an argument was afforded in favor of the\\nsubsistence of the convention, of which the British government did\\nnot fail to take advantage, as will be hereafter shown.\\nThe principles settled by the Nootka Sound convention of 28th October, 1790,\\nwere\\n1st. That the rights of fishing in tlie South Seas; of trading with the natives of\\nthe north-west coast of America; and of making settlements on the coast itself, for\\nthe purposes of that trade, north of the actual settlements of Spain, were common to\\nall the European nations, and, of course, to the United States.\\n2d. That, so far as the actual settlements of Spain had extended, she possessed\\nthe exclusive rights territorial, and of navigation and fishery extending to the dis-\\ntance of ten miles from the coast so actually occupied.\\n3d. That, on the coasts of South Jlmerica, and the adjacent islands south of the\\nparts already occupied by Spain, no settlement should thereafter be made either by\\nBritish or Spanish subjects; but, on both sides, should be retained the liberty of land-\\ning and of erecting temporary buildings for the purposes of the fishery. These rights\\nwere, also, of course, enjoyed by the people of the United States.\\nThe exclusive rights of Spain to any part of the American continents have\\nceased. That portion of the convention, therefore, which recognizes the exclusive\\ncolonial rights of Spain on these continents, though confirmed, as between Great\\nBritain and Spain, by the first additional article to the treaty of the 5th of July, 1814,\\nhas been extinguished by the fact of the independence of the South American nations\\nand of Mexico. Those independent nations will possess the rights incident to that\\ncondition, and their territories will, of course, be subject to no exclusive right of nav-\\nigation in their vicinity, or of access to them, by any foreign nation.\\nA necessary consequence of this state of things will be, that the American con-\\ntinents, henceforth, will no longer be subject to colonization. Occupied by civilized,\\nindependent nations, they will be accessible to Europeans, and each other, on that", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0370.jp2"}, "371": {"fulltext": "1824.] CONVENTION BETWEEN THE U. STATES AND RUSSIA. 341\\nIn the mean time, the negotiation between the United States and\\nRussia was terminated by a convention, signed at St. Petersburg,\\non the 5th of April, 1824, containing five articles: by the first of\\nwhich, it is agreed that the respective citizens or subjects of the\\ntwo nations shall not be disturbed or restrained in navigating or in\\nfishing in any part of the Pacific Ocean, or in the power of resort-\\ning to the coasts upon points which may not already have been\\noccupied, for the purpose of trading with the natives; saving,\\nalways, the restrictions and conditions determined by the following\\narticles, to wit: by the second article, the citizens of the United\\nStates shall not resort to any point on the nortli-west coasts of\\nAmerica, where there is a Russian establishment, without the\\npermission of the governor or commandant of the place, and vice\\nversa by the third article, neither tiie United States nor their\\ncitizens shall, in future, form any establishment on those coasts, or\\nthe adjacent islands, north of the latitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes,\\nand the Russians shall make none south of that latitude. It is,\\nnevertheless, understood, says the fourth article, that during a\\nterm of ten years, counting from the signature of the present con-\\nvention, the ships of both powers, or which belong to their citizens\\nor subjects respectively, may reciprocally frequent, without any\\nhinderance whatever, the interior seas, gulfs, harbors, and creeks,\\nupon the coast mentioned in the preceding article, for the purpose\\nfooting alone and the Pacific Ocean, in every part of it, will remain open to the\\nnavigation of all nations, in like manner with the Atlantic. Instructions of the\\nHon. J. Q. Adams, secretary of state of the United States, to Rlr. Rush, dated July\\n22d, 1823, among the documents accompanying President Adams s messao-e to Con-\\ngress of January 31st, 1826.\\nWith regard to the portion of these instructions here extracted, the reader is re-\\nferred to the convention of 17L(0 itself, and to the remarks on it in pp. 213, 258, and\\n318, of this History, from which it will be seen that the convention, in all its stipula-\\ntions, was simply an international agreement between Spain and Great Britain, bind-\\ning them and their subjects only until its expiration, which took place, in consequence\\nof the war, in 1796, and applying in no respect, either as to advantages or restrictions,\\nto any other nation whatsoever; and that, consequently, other nations had the same\\nright to occupy the vacant coasts of America, and to navigate and fish in the adjacent\\nseas, within ten leagues, (the distance defined by the convention,) and even within\\nten miles, of the parts occupied by Spain, after, as before, the signature of that ao-ree-\\nment; and Spain had as much right, after, as before, that event, to prohibit them\\nfrom so doing. If the Nootka convention were, as asserted by the secretary of state,\\na definitive settlement of general principles of national law respecting navigation\\nand fishery in the seas, and trade and settlement on the coasts, here mentioned, it\\nwould be difficult to resist the pretensions of the British plenipotentiaries with regard\\nto the territories west of the Rocky Mountains, as set forth in the statement (Proofs\\nand Illustrations, letter H) presented by them to Mr. Gallatin in 1826.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0371.jp2"}, "372": {"fulltext": "342 TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND GREAT BRITAIN. [1825.\\nof fishing and trading with the natives of the country it being,\\nhowever, stipulated by the remaining fifth article, that spirituous\\nhquors, fire-arms, other arms, powder, and munitions of war, are\\nalways excepted from this same commerce permitted by the fourth\\narticle, and that, in case of contravention of this part of the agree-\\nment, the nation whose citizens or subjects may have committed\\nthe delinquency, shall alone have the right to punish them.*\\nThis convention does not appear to offer any grounds for dispute\\nas to the construction of its stipulations, but is, on the contrary, clear\\nand equally favorable to both nations. The rights of both parties to\\nnavigate every part of the Pacific, and to trade with the natives of\\nany places on the coasts of that sea, not already occupied, are first\\ndistinctly acknowledged after which it is agreed, in order to pre-\\nvent future difficulties, that each should submit to certain limitations\\nas to navigation, trade, and settlement, on the north-west coasts of\\nAmerica, either perpetually or during a fixed period. Neither party\\nclaimed, directly or by inference, the immediate sovereignty of any\\nspot on the American coasts not occupied by its citizens or sub-\\njects, or acknowledged the right of the other to the possession of\\nany spot not so occupied the definitive regulation of limits being\\ndeferred until the establishments and other interests of the two\\nnations in that quarter of the world should have acquired such a\\ndevelopment as to render more precise stipulations necessary.\\nThe Russian government, however, construed this convention as\\ngiving to itself the absolute sovereignty of all the west coasts of\\nAmerica north of the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, while deny-\\ning any such right on the part of the United States to the coasts\\nextending southward from that line. In February, 1825, a treaty\\nwas concluded between Russia and Great Britain, relative to North-\\nWest America, containing provisions similar to those of the con-\\nvention between R,ussia and the United States, expressed in nearly\\nthe same words, but also containing many other provisions, some\\nof which are directly at variance with the evident sense of the last-\\nmentioned agreement. Tiius it is established, by the treaty, that\\nthe line of dcmarkation betiveen the jjossessions of the high contract-\\ning parties upon the coast of the continent, and the islands of\\nAmerica to the yiorth-ivcst,^ shall be drawn from the southernmost\\npoint of Prince of Wales s Island, in latitude of 54 degrees 40\\nThis convention will be found at length among the Proofs and Illustrationa,\\nin the concluding part of this volume, under the letter K, No. 4.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0372.jp2"}, "373": {"fulltext": "1825.] TREATY BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND RUSSIA. 343\\nminutes eastward, to the great inlet in the continent, called Port-\\nland Channel, and along the middle of that inlet, to tiie 56tli /T\\ndegree of latitude, whence it shall follow the summit of the moun-\\ntains bordering the coast, within ten leagues, north-westward, to\\nMount St. Elias, and thence north, in the course of the 141st\\nmeridian west from Greenwich, to the Frozen Ocean which *5\\nline, says the treaty, shall form the limit between the Russian je ^t\\nand the British possessions in the continent of America to the north- -v\\nwest it being also agreed that the British should forever have\\nthe right to navigate any streams flowing into the Pacific from the\\ninterior, across the line of demarkation..*\\nThat this treaty virtually annulled the convention, of the pre-\\nceding year, between Russia and the United States, is evident for\\nthe convention rested entirely upon the assumption that the United\\nStates possessed the same right to the part of the American coast\\nsouth of the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, which Russia pos-\\nsessed to the part north of that parallel and the treaty distinctly ac-\\nknowledged the former or southern division of the coast to be the\\nproperty of Great Britain. It does not, however, appear that any\\nrepresentation on the subject was addressed by the American gov-\\nernment 10 that of Russia and the vessels of the United States\\ncontinued to frequent all the unoccupied parts of the north-west\\ncoast, and to trade with the natives uninterruptedly, until 1834,\\nwhen, as will be hereafter shown, they were formally prohibited,\\nby the Russian authorities, from visiting any place on that coast\\nnorth of the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, on the ground that\\ntheir right to do so had expired, agreeably to the convention of\\n1824.\\nIn December, 1824, President Monroe, in his last annual mes-\\nsage to Congress, recommended the estabhshment of a military post\\nat the mouth of the Columbia, or at some other point within the\\nacknowledged limits of the United States, in order to afford pro-\\ntection to their commerce and fisiieries in the Pacific, to conciliate\\nthe Indians of the north-west, and to promote the intercourse be-\\nSee Proofs and Illustrations, at the end of this volume, under tlie letter K, No. 5.\\nSome curious particulars relative to the negotiation which led to this treaty may be\\nfound in the Political Life of the Hon. George Canning, by A. G. Stapleton, chap,\\nxiv. Mr. Canning, it seems, was anxious for the conclusion of a joint convention\\nbetween Great Britain, the United States, and Russia, as regards the freedom of\\nnavigation of the Pacific, until the appearance of the declaration in the message of\\nPresident Monroe above mentioned, after which he determined only to treat with\\neach of the other parties separately.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0373.jp2"}, "374": {"fulltext": "344 MOVEMENTS IN CONGRESS. [1824.\\ntween those territories and the settled portions of the republic\\nto effect which object, he advised that appropriations should be\\nmade for the despatch of a frigate, with engineers, to explore the\\nmouth of the Columbia and the adjacent shores. The same\\nmeasures were, in the following year, also recommended by Presi-\\ndent Adams, among the various plans for the advantage of the\\nUnited States and of the world in general, to which he requested\\nthe attention of Congress, in his message, at the commencement\\nof the session. In compliance with this recommendation, a com-\\nmittee was appointed by the House of Representatives, the chairman\\nof which, Mr. Baylies, of Massachusetts, presented two reports,*\\ncontaining numerous details with respect to the history of discove-\\nry and trade in North- West America, the geography, soil, climate,\\nproductions, and inhabitants, of the portion claimed by the United\\nStates, the number and value of the furs procured there, the\\nexpenses of surveying the coasts and of forming military establish-\\nments for its occupation, and many other matters relating to that\\npart of the world; in consideration whereof, the committee intro-\\nduced a bill for the immediate execution of the measures proposed\\nby the president. This bill was laid on the table of the House, and\\nthe subject was not again agitated in Congress until 1828.\\nMeanwhile, the period of ten years, during which the countries\\nclaimed by the United States or by Great Britain, west of the Rocky\\nMountains, were, agreeably to the convention of 1818, to remain\\nfree and open to the citizens or subjects of both nations, was draw-\\ning to a close and a strong desire was manifested, on the part of\\nthe American government, that some definitive arrangement with\\nregard to those countries should be concluded between the two\\npowers, before the expiration of the term. The British secretary\\nfor foreign affairs also signified that his government was prepared\\nto enter into a new discussion of the question at issue and a nego-\\ntiation with these objects was accordingly commenced between\\nMr. Gallatin, the minister plenipotentiary of the United States at\\nLondon, and Messrs. Addington and Huskisson, commissioners on\\nthe part of Great Britain.\\nBefore relating the particulars of this negotiation, it should be\\nobserved that the relative positions of the two parties, as to the\\noccupancy and actual possession of the countries in question, had\\nbeen materially changed since the conclusion of the former conven-\\nDated severally January 16th, and May 15th, 1826.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0374.jp2"}, "375": {"fulltext": "1826.] BRITISH IN qUIET POSSESSION OF THE COLU\u00c2\u00bbIBIA. (yqrD\\ntion between them. The union of the rival British companies, and\\nthe extension of the jurisdiction of the courts of Upper Canada over\\nthe territories west of the Rocky Mountains, had already proved\\nmost advantageous to the Hudson s Bay Company, which had at the\\nsame time received the privilege of trading in that territory, to the\\nexclusion of all other British subjects. Great efforts were made,\\nand vast expenses were incurred, by this company, in its efforts to\\nfound settlements on the Columbia River, and to acquire influence\\nover the natives of the surrounding country and so successful had\\nbeen those efforts, that the citizens of the United States were\\nobliged, not only to renounce all ideas of renewing their estab-\\nlishments in that part of America, but even to withdraw their\\nvessels from its coasts. Indeed, for more than ten years after the\\ncapture of Astoria by the British, scarcely a single American citizen\\nwas to be seen in those countries. Trading expeditions were sub-\\nsequently made from Missouri to the head-waters of the Platte\\nand the Colorado, within the limits of California, and one or two\\nhundred hunters and trappers, from the United States, were gen-\\nerally roving through that region but the Americans had no\\nsettlements of any kind, and their government exercised no juris-\\ndiction whatsoever west of the Rocky Mountains,\\nUnder such favorable circumstances, the Hudson s Bay Company\\ncould not fail to prosper. Its resources were no longer wasted in\\ndisputes with rivals its operations were conducted with despatch\\nand certainty its posts were extended, and its means of communi-\\ncation increased, under the assurance that the honor of the British\\ngovernment and nation was thereby more strongly interested in its\\nbehalf. The agents of the company were seen in every part of the\\ncontinent, north and north-west of the United States and Canada,\\nfrom the Atlantic to the Pacific, hunting, trapping, and trading\\nwith the aborigines its boats were met on every stream and lake,\\nconveying British goods into the interior, or furs to the great deposi-\\ntories on each ocean, for shipment to England in British vessels\\nand the utmost order and regularity were maintained throughout by\\nthe supremacy of British laws. Of the trading posts, many were\\nfortified, and could be defended by their inmates men inured to\\nhardships and dangers against all attacks which might be appre-\\nhended and the whole vast expanse of territory above described,\\nincluding the regions drained by the Columbia, was, in fact, occu-\\npied by British forces, and governed by British laws, though there\\n44", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0375.jp2"}, "376": {"fulltext": "346 NEGOTIATION AT LONDON. [1826.\\nwas not a single British soldier technically speaking within\\nits limits.\\nConsidering this state of things, and also the characters of the\\ntwo nations engaged in the controversy and of their governments,\\nit may readily be supposed that many and great obstacles would\\nexist in the way of a definitive and amicable arrangement of the\\nquestions at issue, between the Americans ever solicitous with\\nrespect to territory which they have any reason to regard as their\\nown, and the British with whom the acquisition and security of\\ncommercial advantages always form a paramount object of policy.\\nTo the difficulties occasioned by the conflict of such material\\ninterests, in this particular case, were added those arising from the\\npride of the parties, and their mutual jealousy, which seems ever to\\nrender them adverse to any settlement of a disputed point, even\\nthough it should be manifestly advantageous to them both.\\nIn the first conference,* the British commissioners declared that\\ntheir government was still ready to abide by the proposition made\\nto Mr. Rush, in 1824, for a line of separation between the territories\\nof the two nations, drawn from the Rocky Mountains, along the\\n49th parallel of latitude to the north-easternmost branch of the\\nColumbia, and thence down that river to the sea giving to Great\\nBritain all the territories north, and to the United States all south,\\nof that line. Mr. Gallatin, in reply, agreeably to instructions from\\nhis government, repeated the offer made by himself and Mr. Rush,\\nin 1818, for the adoption of the 49th parallel as the line of separa-\\ntion from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, with the additional\\nprovisions, that, if the said line should cross any of the branches\\nof the Columbia at points from which they are navigable by boats\\nto the main stream, the navigation of such branches, and of the\\nmain stream, should be perpetually free and common to the people\\nof both nations that the citizens or subjects of neither party\\nshould thenceforward make any settlements in the territories of the\\nother but that all settlements already formed by the people of\\neither nation within the limits of the other, might be occupied and\\nused by them for ten years, and no longer, during which all the\\nremaining provisions of the existing convention should continue in\\nforce. The British refused to accede to this or any other plan of\\npartition which should deprive them of the northern bank of the\\nPresident Adams s message to Congress of December 28th, 1827, and the ac-\\ncompanying documents.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0376.jp2"}, "377": {"fulltext": "1826.] NEGOTIATION SUSPENDED. 347\\nColumbia, and the right of navigating that river to and from the\\nsea though they expressed their willingness to yield to the United\\nStates, in addition to what they first offered, a detached territory,\\nextending, on the Pacific and the Strait of Fuca, from Bulfinch s\\nHarbor to Hood s Canal, and to stipulate that no works should at\\nany time be erected at the mouth or on the banks of the Columbia,\\ncalculated to impede the free navigation of that river, by either\\nparty. The Americans, however, being equally determined not to\\ngive up their title to any part of the country south of the 49th par-\\nallel, all expectation of effecting a definitive disposition of the claims\\nwas abandoned.\\nThe plenipotentiaries then directed their attention to the sub-\\nject of a renewal of the arrangement for the use and occupancy\\nof the territories in question by the people of both nations. With\\nthis view, the British proposed that the existing arrangement\\nshould be renewed according to the terms of the third article\\nof the convention of October 20th, 1818, for fifteen years from\\nthe date of the expiration of that convention with the addi-\\ntional provisions, however, that, during those fifteen years, neither\\npower should assume or exercise any right of exclusive sovereignty\\nor dominion over any part of the territory and that no settlement\\nthen made, or which might thereafter be made, by either nation\\nin those countries, should ever be adduced in support of any\\nclaim to such sovereignty or dominion. This proposition was re-\\nceived by Mr. Gallatin for reference to his government, although\\nhe sav/ at once that the additional provisions were inadmissible and\\nthe negotiation was, in consequence, suspended for some months.\\nDuring this first period of the negotiation, the claims and pre-\\ntensions of the two nations respecting the countries in question, were\\ndeveloped and discussed more fully than on any previous occasion,\\nnot only in the conferences between the plenipotentiaries, but also\\nin written statements,* formally presented on each side. As nearly\\nThe statement of the British commissioners is presented entire in the Proofs and\\nIllustrations, under the letter H, in order that no doubt may subsist as to the nature\\nof the claims of Great Britain, and of the evidence and arguments by which they\\nare supported. As a state paper, it will, perhaps, be found unworthy of the nation on\\nwhose part it was produced, and of at least one of the persons from whom it pro-\\nceeded many will regret to see appended to it the name of William Huskisson, and\\nto learn that it received the approval of George Canning.\\nThe counter-statement of Mr. Gallatin, a most able document, is omitted only be-\\ncause its insertion would have too much increased the bulk of the volume.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0377.jp2"}, "378": {"fulltext": "348 CLAIMS OF THE UNITED STATES. [1826.\\nevery point touched by either of the parties has been already ex-\\namined minutely in the foregoing pages, it only remains now to\\nrecapitulate them, and to add some remarks, which could not\\nhave been conveniently introduced at an earlier period.\\nMr. Gallatin claimed for the United States the possession of the\\nterritory west of the Rocky Mountains, between the 42d and the\\n49th parallels of latitude, on the grounds of\\nThe acquisition by the United States of the titles of France\\nthrough the Louisiana treaty, and the tides of Spain through the\\nFlorida treaty\\nThe discovery of the mouth of the Columbia, the first explora-\\ntion of the countries through which that river flows, and the estab-\\nlishment of the first posts and settlements in those countries by\\nAmerican citizens\\nThe virtual recognition of the title of the United States, by the\\nBritish government, in the restitution, agreeably to the first article\\nof the treaty of Ghent, of the post near the mouth of the Columbia,\\nwhich had been taken during the war\\nAnd, lastly, upon the ground of contiguity, which should give the\\nUnited States a stronger right to those territories than could be\\nadvanced by any other power a doctrine always maintained by\\nGreat Britain, from the period of her earliest attempts at coloniza-\\ntion in America, as clearly proved by her charters, in which the\\nwhole breadth of the continent, between certain parallels of lati-\\ntude, was granted to colonies established only at points on the\\nborders of the Atlantic*\\nMessrs. Huskisson and Addington, on the other hand, declared\\nthat Great Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any portion\\nof the territory on the Pacific between the 42d and the 49th paral-\\nlels of latitude her present claim, not in respect to any part, but\\nto the whole, being limited to a right of joint occupancy, in com-\\nmon with other states, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in\\nabeyance. They then proceeded to examine the grounds of the\\nclaims of the United States, none of which they admitted to be\\nIf, says Mr. Gallatin, some trading factories on the shores of Hudson s Bay-\\nhave been considered by Great Britain as giving an exclusive right of occupancy as\\nfar as the Rocky Mountains if the infant settlements on the more southern Atlantic\\nshores justified a claim thence to the South Seas, and which was actually enforced to\\nthe Mississippi, that of the millions already within reach of those seas cannot con-\\nsistently be rejected. This argument, it may be added, has been since constantly\\nincreasing in force.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0378.jp2"}, "379": {"fulltext": "1826.] CLAIMS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 349\\nvalid, except that acquired from Spain, through the Florida treaty,\\nin 1819 and the right thus acquired they pronounced to be nothing\\nmore than the right secured to Spain, in common with Great Brit-\\nain, by the Nootka convention, in 1790, to trade and settle in any\\npart of those countries, and to navigate their waters. Dismissing\\nthe claims of Spain, on the grounds of discovery, prior to 1790,\\nas futile and visionary, and inferior to those of Great Britain on the\\nsame grounds, they maintained that all arguments and pretensions\\nof either of those powers, whether resting on discovery or on any\\nother consideration, were definitively set at rest by the Nootka\\nconvention, after the signature of which, the title was no longer to\\nbe traced in vague discoveries, several of them admitted to be\\napocryphal, but in the text and stipulations of that convention\\nitself and that, as the Nootka convention applied to all parts of the\\nnorth-west coast of America not occupied, in 1790, by either of\\nthe parties, it of course included any portion of Louisiana which\\nmight then have extended, on the Pacific, north of the northern-\\nmost Spanish settlement, and which could not, therefore, be claimed\\nby the United States, in virtue of the treaty for the cession of Lou-\\nisiana to that republic, in 1803.\\nHaving assumed this ground, it was scarcely necessary for the\\nBritish plenipotentiaries to go further into the examination of the\\ntitles of the United States and they probably acted on this suppo-\\nsition, as it is otherwise impossible to account for the gross mis-\\nstatements with regard to the discoveries of the Americans, the\\nextravagant and unfounded assumptions, and the illogical deduc-\\ntions, in the document presented by them to Mr. Gallatin, on the\\npart of their government. Thus, with regard to the discovery of\\nthe mouth of the Columbia, they insisted that Mr. Mcares, a lieu-\\ntenant in the royal navy, who had been sent by the East India\\nCompany on a trading expedition to the north-west coasts of\\nAmerica, really effected that discovery four years before Gray is\\neven pretended to have entered the river though they indeed\\nadmitted that Mr. Gray, finding himself in the bay formed by the\\ndischarge of the waters of the Columbia into the Pacific, was the\\nfirst to ascertain that this hay formed the outlet of a great river, a\\ndiscovery which had escaped Lieutenant Meares when he entered\\nthe same bay but that, even supposing the priority of Gray s dis-\\ncovery to be proved, it was of no consequence in the case, as the\\nSee p. 177.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0379.jp2"}, "380": {"fulltext": "350 CLAIMS OF GREAT BPaTAIN. [1826.\\ncountry in which it was made falls within the provisions of the\\nconvention of 1790. They refused to allow that the claims of the\\nUnited States are strengthened by the exploration of the country\\nthrough which the Columbia flows, as performed in 1805-6 by\\nLewis and Clarke, because, if not before, at least in the same and\\nsubsequent years, the agents of the North- West Company had\\nestablished posts on the northern branch of the river, and were\\nextending them down to its mouth, when they heard of the forma-\\ntion of the American post at that place in 1811.* That the restora-\\ntion of Astoria, in 1818, conveyed a virtual acknowledgment by\\nGreat Britain of the title of the United States to the country in\\nwhich that post is situated, was also denied, on the ground that\\nletters protesting against such title were, at the time of the restora-\\ntion, addressed; by members of the British ministry, to British agents\\nin the United States and on the Columbia.f It is needless to add\\nany thing to what has been already said on these points, in order\\nto prove the entire groundlessness of the assertions contained in the\\nBritish statement with regard to them.\\nThe charters granted by the sovereigns of Great Britain and\\nFrance, conveying to individuals or companies large tracts of terri-\\ntory in America, were represented, by the British plenipotentiaries,\\nas being nothing more, in fact, than a cession to the grantee or\\ngrantees of whatever rights the grantor might suppose himself to\\npossess, to the exclusion of other subjects of the same nation,\\nbinding and restraining those only who were within the jurisdic-\\ntion of the grantor, and of no force or validity against the subjects\\nof other states, until recognized by treaty, and thereby becoming a\\npart of international law. The erroneousness of these views\\nis obvious, and was easily demonstrated by Mr. Gallatin, who\\nshowed, by reference to the history of British colonization and\\ndominion in America, that the royal grantors of territories in that\\ncontinent did consider their charters as binding on all, whether their\\nown subjects or not, and with regard to countries first discovered\\nand settled by people of other nations, whenever they were found\\nto be within the limits thus indicated. These facts were cited, not\\nin vindication of the justice of those grants, but merely to prove\\nin what light they had been regarded by Great Britain and, if the\\nprinciple thus assumed by that power, and maintained from 1580\\nto 1782, as relating to Atlantic colonies, were correct, she could not\\nSee p. 297. t See p. 310.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0380.jp2"}, "381": {"fulltext": "1826.] DETERMINATIONS OF GREAT BRITAIN. 351\\ndeny its application to the United States, now the owners of Lou-\\nisiana.*\\nThe British plenipotentiaries were, however, clear and explicit as\\nto the intentions of their government, which were declared, at the\\nconclusion of their statement, in terms of moderation and forbear-\\nance truly edifying. Great Britain, they assert, claims, at present,\\nnothing more than the rights of trade, navigation, and settlement,\\nin the part of the world under consideration, agreeably to the pro-\\nvisions of the Nootka convention, the basis of the law of nations\\nwith regard to those territories and waters, under the protection of\\nwhich many important British interests have grown up and she\\nadmits that the United States have tlie same rights, but none other,\\nalthough they have been exercised only in one instance, and not\\nat all since 1813. In the territory between the 42d and the 49th\\nparallels of latitude, are many British posts and settlements, for the\\ntrade and supply of which, the free navigation of the Columbia,\\nto and from the sea, is indispensable the United States possess\\nnot a single post or settlement of any kind in that whole region.\\nGreat Britain, nevertheless, for the sake of peace and good under-\\nstanding, agrees to submit to a definitive partition of that territory,\\ngiving to the United States the whole division south of the Co-\\nlumbia, and a large tract containing an excellent harbor, north of\\nthat river and, the United States having declined to accede to this\\nproposition, it only remains for Great Britain to maintain and up-\\nThis construction does not appear either to have been that intended at the time\\nby the grantors, or to have governed the subsequent conduct of Great Britain. By\\nexcepting from the grants, as was generally the case, such lands as were already oc-\\ncupied by the subjects of other civilized nations, it was clearly implied that no other\\nexception was contemplated, and that the grants were intended to include all unoccu-\\npied lands within their respective boundaries, to the exclusion of all other persons or\\nnations whatsoever. In point of fact, the whole country drained by the several rivers\\nemptying into the Atlantic Ocean, the mouths of which were witliin those charters,\\nhas, from Hudson s Bay to Florida, and, it is believed, without exception, been occu-\\npied and held by virtue of those charters. Not only has this principle been fully\\nconfirmed, but it has been notoriously enforced much beyond the sources of the rivers\\non which the settlements were formed. The priority of the French settlements on\\nthe rivers flowing westwardly from the Alleghany Mountains into the Mississippi was\\naltogether disregarded and the rights of the Atlantic colonies to extend beyond those\\nmountains, as growing out of the contiguity of territory, and as asserted in the earliest\\ncharters, was effectually and successfully enforced.\\nThe American minister might also have cited the charters granted to the Virginia\\nCompany by King James I., in 1609 and 1611, in virtue of which, the Dutch settle-\\nments on the Hudson River, in a country first discovered, explored, and occupied,\\nunder the flag of the United Provinces, were, in 1664, forty years after the disso-\\nlution of the company, during peace between the two nations, seized by British\\nforces, as being included in the territories conceded to that company.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0381.jp2"}, "382": {"fulltext": "352 BRITISH PROPOSITIONS REJECTED. [1827.\\nhold the quahfied rights which she now possesses over the whole of\\nthe territory in question. To the interests which British industry\\nand enterprise have created Great Britain owes protection. That\\nprotection will be given, both as regards settlement and freedom\\nof trade and navigation, with every attention not to infringe the\\ncoordinate rights of the United States it being the earnest desire\\nof the British government, so long as the joint occupancy con-\\ntinues, to regulate its own obligations by the same rule which\\ngoverns the obligations of any other occupying party. Thus, in\\n1826, the British government based its claims, with regard to the\\nterritories west of the Rocky Mountains, entirely on the Nootka\\nconvention of 1790, and the acts of occupation by its subjects\\nunder that agreement the abrogation of which, by the war between\\nthe parties, in 1796, ten years before a single spot in those territo-\\nries had been occupied by a British subject, has been already so\\nfully demonstrated,* that any further observations would be super-\\nfluous.\\nThe proposition of the British plenipotentiaries, with regard to the\\nrenewal of the existing arrangement for ten years, was rejected by\\nthe president of the United States,! on the grounds that, so far as\\nit would tend to prevent the Americans from exercising exclusive\\nsovereignty at the mouth of the Columbia River, it would be con-\\ntrary to their rights, as acknowledged by the treaty of Ghent, and\\nby the restitution of the place agreeably to that treaty that the\\nproposed additional provisions do not define, but leave open to\\ndisputation, the acts which might be deemed an exercise of exclu-\\nsive sovereignty and that, from the nature of the institutions of\\nthe United States, their rights in the territory in question must be\\nprotected, and their citizens must be secured in their lawful pursuits,\\nby some species of government, different from that which it has\\nbeen, or may be, the pleasure of Great Britain to establish there.\\nMr. Gallatin, on the 24th of May, 1827, communicated to the\\nBritish commissioners the fact of the rejection of their proposition,\\nand the reasons for it, declaring, at the same time, formally, in\\nobedience to special instructions, that his government did not hold\\nitself bound hereafter in consequence of any proposal which it had\\nmade for a line of separation between the territories of the two\\nnations beyond the .Rocky Mountains but woidd consider itself at\\nliberty to contend for the full extent of the claims of the United States.\\nSee the examinations of this question, at pp. 213, 257, and 318.\\nt Letter of February 24th, 1827, from the Hon. Henry Clay to Mr. Gallatin.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0382.jp2"}, "383": {"fulltext": "1827.] NEGOTIATION AT LONDON RESUMED. 353\\nThe British plenipotentiaries, having entered on the protocol of\\nthe conferences a declaration with regard to the previous claims\\nand propositions of their government, similar to that made on the\\npart of the United States by Mr. Gallatin, then intimated their\\nreadiness to agree to a simple renewal of the terms of the existing\\narrangement, for ten years from the date of the expiration of the\\nconvention of 1818; provided, however, that, in so doing, they\\nshould append to the new convention, in some way, a declara-\\ntion of what they considered to be its true intent, namely, that\\nhoth parties loerc restricted, during its continuance in force, from\\nexercising, or assuming to themselves the right to exercise, any exclu-\\nsive sovereignty or jurisdiction over the territories mentioned in the\\nagreement. The objections to this arrangement were nearly as\\nstrong as to that which had already been proposed and refused\\nMr. Gallatin, however, desired to know what species of acts the\\nBritish would consider as an exercise of exclusive sovereignty or\\njurisdiction. In reply, he was informed tiiat Great Britain would\\nnot complain of the extension, over tiie regions west of the Rocky\\n]\\\\Iountains, of the jurisdiction of any territory, having for its eastern\\nboundary a line within the acknowledged boundaries of the United\\nStates provided that no custom-house should be erected, nor\\nany duties or charges on tonnage, merchandise, or commerce, be\\nraised, by either party, in the country west of the Rocky Mountains\\nthat the citizens or subjects of the two powers residing in or\\nresorting to those countries, should be amenable only to the juris-\\ndiction of their own nation respectively and that no military\\npost should be established by either party in those countries or,\\nat least, no such post as would command the navigation of the\\nColumbia or any of its branches.\\nTo the first of these conditions, Mr. Gallatin saw no strong reason\\nto object. With regard to the second, he considered it indispensable\\nthat the respective jurisdiction of the courts of justice should be\\ndetermined by positive compact, as it would scarcely be possible\\notherwise to prevent collisions and upon the third condition, he\\nbelieved it would be very difficult to arrive at a correct under-\\nstanding, as the British government wouki not admit the posts of\\nthe Hu tson s Bay Company to be military establishments. On all\\nthese points, the two governments might afterwards negotiate\\nbut the American minister refused to assent to any declaration or\\nexplanation whatsoever respecting the terms under which the terri-\\ntories in question were to remain open to the people of the two\\n45", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0383.jp2"}, "384": {"fulltext": "354 RENEWAL OF THE CONVENTION OF 1818. [1827.\\ncountries and the British were equally resolved not to agree to a\\nrenewal of the engagement for a fixed period of time, without such\\na declaration.\\nFinally, on the 6th of August, 1827, a convention was signed by\\nthe plenipotentiaries, to the effect, that the provisions of the third\\narticle of the convention of October 20th, 1818, rendering all\\nthe territories claimed by Great Britain or hy the United States,\\nwest of the Rocky Mountains, free and open to the citizens or\\nsubjects of both nations for ten years, should be further extended\\nfor an indefinite period either party being, however, at liberty to\\nannul and abrogate the agreement, on giving a year s notice of its\\nintention to the other.* This convention was submitted to the\\nSenate of the United States in the following winter, and, having\\nbeen approved by that body, it was immediately ratified.\\nIn relating the circumstances connected with the adoption of the\\nconvention of October, 1818, the opinion was expressed, that it was\\nperhaps the most wise, as well as most just, arrangement which\\ncould then have been made and this renewal of the arrangement\\nfor an indefinite period, leaving each of the parties at liberty to\\nabrogate it, after a reasonable notice to the other, appears to merit\\nthe same commendation. No unworthy concession was made,\\nno loss of dignity or right was sustained, on either side and to\\nbreak the amicable and mutually profitable relations, then subsisting\\nbetween the two countries, on a question oL mere title to the pos-\\nsession of territories from which neither could derive any immediate\\nbenefit of consequence, would have been impolitic and unrighteous.\\nThe advantages of the convention were, in 1827, as in 1818, nearly\\nequal to both nations but the difference was, on the whole, in\\nfavor of the United States. The British might, indeed, derive more\\nprofit from the fur trade as carried on by their organized Hudson s\\nBay Company, than the Americans could expect to obtain by the\\nindividual efforts of their citizens but the value of that trade is\\nmuch less than is generally supposed no settlements could be\\nformed in the territory beyond the Rocky Mountains, by which it\\ncould acquire a population, while the arrangement subsisted and\\nthe facilities for occupying the territory at a future period, when its\\noccupation by the United States should become expedient, would\\nundoubtedly have increased in a far greater ratio on their part than\\non that of Great Britain. For the difficulties which must arise\\nProofs and Illustrations, letter I, No. 6.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0384.jp2"}, "385": {"fulltext": "1829.] PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS. 355\\nwhenever the convention is abrogated, even agreeably to the man-\\nner therein stipulated, it became, of course, the duty of each\\ngovernment to provide in time.\\nIn the session of Congress following that in which the new con-\\nvention with Great Britain had been approved, the subject of the\\noccupation of the mouth of the Columbia River was again discussed\\nand, after a long series of debates, in which the most eminent mem-\\nbers of the House of Representatives took part, a bill was reported,\\nwhereby the president was authorized to cause the territory west\\nof the Rocky Mountains to be explored, and forts and garrisons to\\nbe established in any proper places, between the parallels of 42\\ndegrees and 54 degrees 40 minutes and also to extend the juris-\\ndiction of the United States over those countries, as regards citizens\\nof the Union. The adoption of these measures was urged, on the\\nground that it was the duty of the government to make good, by\\noccupation, the right of the United States, which was pronounced\\nunquestionable, lest, by neglect, the country should fall irrevocably\\ninto the possession of another power, which had unjustly contested\\nthat right and, as inducements to pursue this course, pictures most\\nflattering were presented of the soil, climate, and productions, of\\nthe regions watered by the Columbia, and of the various advantages\\nwhich would be secured to the citizens of the Union engaged in the\\ntrade of the Pacific Ocean, by the settlement of those coasts. The\\nbill was opposed, as infringing the convention recently concluded\\nwith Great Britain in addition to which, it was contended, that,\\nwere all opposition on the part of that or other ])owers removed,\\nand the right of the United States established and universally\\nrecognized, the occupation of the countries in question in the\\nmanner proposed, would be useless, from their extreme barrenness,\\nfrom the dangers to navigation presented by their coasts, and from\\nthe difficulty of communicating with them either by sea or by land\\nand such occupation mii^ht be injurious, as citizens of the United\\nStates would be thus induced to settle in those countries, and their\\ngovernment would find itself bound to protect and maintain them,\\nat great expense, without a commensurate advancement of the pub-\\nlic good. In the course of the debates, several amendments were\\nproposed to the bill, but it was finally rejected on the 9th of\\nJanuary, 1829; and, for many years afterwards, very little atten-\\ntion was bestowed, by any branch of the government of the\\nUnited States, to matters connected with the territories west of\\nthe Rocky Mountains.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0385.jp2"}, "386": {"fulltext": "356\\nCHAPTER XVII.\\n1823 TO 1844\\nFew Citizens of the United States in the Countries west of the Rocky Mountains\\nbetween 1813 and 1823 Trading Expeditions of Ashley, Sublette, Smith, Pilcher,\\nPattie, Bonneville, and Wyeth Missionaries from the United States form Estab-\\nlishments on the Columbia First Printing Press set up in Oregon Opposi-\\ntion of the Hudson s Bay Company to the Americans; how exerted Contro-\\nversy between the United States and Russia Dispute between the Hudson s\\nBay and the Russian American Companies; how terminated California; Cap-\\nture of Monterey by Commodore Jones The Sandwich Islands; Proceedings of\\nthe Missionaries; Expulsion of the Catholic Priests, and their Reinstatement by a\\nFrench Force The Sandwich Islands temporarily occupied by the British.\\nIt has already been said, that, during the ten years immediately\\nfollowing the dissolution of the Pacific Fur Company, and the\\nseizure of its establishments on the Columbia by the British, few,\\nif any, citizens of the United States entered the countries west\\nof the Rocky Mountains although, within that period, the facilities\\nfor communication between those countries and the settled portions\\nof the American Union had been increased by the introduction of\\nsteam vessels on the Mississippi and its tributary rivers. Nearly\\nall the trade of the regions of the Upper Mississippi and the\\nMissouri was then carried on by the old North American Fur\\nCompany, at the head of which Mr. Astor still remained and by\\nanother association, called the Columbia Fur Company, formed in\\n1822, composed principally of persons who had been in the service\\nof the North-West Company, and were dissatisfied with their new\\nmasters. The Columbia Company established several posts on the\\nupper waters of the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Yellowstone,\\nwhich were, however, transferred to the North American Company,\\non the junction of the two bodies in 1826. The Americans had also\\nbegun to trade with the northernmost provinces of Mexico, before\\nthe overthrow of the Spanish authority in that country after which\\nevent, large caravans passed regularly, in each summer, between\\nSt. Louis and Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, on the head-\\nwaters of the River Bravo del Norte.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0386.jp2"}, "387": {"fulltext": "1826.] TRADING EXPEDITIONS OF ASHLEY. 357\\nThe first attempt to reestablish commercial communications\\nbetween the United States and the territories west of the Rocky\\nMountains, was made by W. H. Ashley, of St. Louis, who had been,\\nfor some time previous, engaged in the fur trade of the Missouri and\\nYellowstone countries. He quitted the state of Missouri in the\\nspring of 1823, at the head of a large party of men, with horses\\ncarrying merchandise and baggage, and proceeded up the Platte\\nRiver, to the sources of its northern branch, called the Sweet Water,\\nwhich had not been previously explored. These sources were found\\nto be situated in a remarkable valley, or cleft, in the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, in the latitude of 42 degrees 20 minutes and immediately\\nbeyond them were discovered those of another stream, flowing\\nsouth-westward, called by the Indians SidsJcadee, and by the\\nAmericans Green River, which proved to be one of the head-\\nwaters of the Colorado of California. In the country about these\\nstreams, which had not then been frequented by the British traders,\\nMr. Ashley passed the summer, with his men, employed in trap-\\nping, and in bartering goods for skins with the natives and, before\\nthe end of the year, he brought back to St. Louis a large and valu-\\nable stock of furs.\\nIn 1824, Mr. Ashley made another expedition up the Platte,\\nand through the cleft in the mountains, which has since been gen-\\nerally called the Southern Pass and then, advancing farther west,\\nhe reached a great collection of salt water called the Utah Lake,\\n(probably the Lake Timpanogos, or Lake Tegayo, of the old Spanish\\nmaps,) which lies imbosomed among lofty mountains, between the\\n40th and the 42d parallels of latitude. Near this lake, on the\\nsouth-east, he found another and smaller one, to which he gave his\\nown name and there he built a fort, or trading post, in which he left\\nabout a hundred men, when he returned to Missouri in the autumn.\\nTwo years afterwards, a six-pound cannon was drawn from Mis-\\nsouri to this fort, a distance of more than twelve hundred miles\\nand, in 1828, many wagons, heavily laden, performed the same\\njourney.\\nDuring the three years between 1824 and 1827, the men left by\\nMr. Ashley in the country beyond the Rocky Mountains collected\\nand sent to St. Louis furs to the value of more than one hundred\\nand eighty thousand dollars this enterprising man then retired from\\nthe trade, and sold all his interests and establishments to the Rocky\\nMountain Company, at the head of which were Messrs. Smith,\\nJackson, and Sublette, persons not less energetic and determined.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0387.jp2"}, "388": {"fulltext": "358 TRADING EXPEDITION OF PILCHER. [1828.\\nThese traders carried on for*many years an extensive and profit-\\nable business, in the course of which they traversed every part\\nof the country about the southern branch of the Columbia, and\\nnearly the whole of continental California. Unfortunately, how-\\never, they made no astronomical observations, and, being unac-\\nquainted with any branch of physical science, very little information\\nhas been derived through their means. Smith, after twice crossing\\nthe continent to the Pacific, was murdered, in the summer of 1829,\\nby the Indians north-west of the Utah Lake.\\nThese active proceedings of the Missouri fur traders roused\\nthe spirit of the North American Company, which also extended its\\noperations beyond the Rocky Mountains, though no establishments\\nwere formed by its agents in those countries and many expeditions\\nwere made, in the same direction, by independent parties, of whose\\nadventures, narratives, more or less exact and interesting, have been\\npublished. In 1827, Mr. Pilcher went from Council Bluffs, on the\\nMissouri, with forty-five men, and more than a hundred horses and,\\nhaving crossed the great dividing chain of mountains by the South-\\nern Pass, he spent the winter on the Colorado. In the following\\nyear, he proceeded to tiie Lewis River, and thence, northwardly,\\nalong the foot of the Rocky Mountains, on their western side, to\\nthe Flathead Lake, near the 47th degree of latitude, which he\\ndescribes as a beautiful sheet of water, formed by the expansion of\\nthe Clarke River, in a rich and extensive valley, surrounded by high\\nmountains. There he remained until the spring of 1829, when\\nhe descended the Clarke to Fort Colville, an estabhshment then\\nrecently formed by the Hudson s Bay Company, on the northern\\nbranch of the Columbia, at its falls and thence he returned to the\\nUnited States, through the long and circuitous route of the Upper\\nColumbia, the Athabasca, the Assinaboin, Red River, and the Upper\\nMissouri. The countries thus traversed by Mr. Pilcher have all\\nbecome comparatively well known from the accounts of subsequent\\ntravellers but very little information had been given to the world\\nrespecting them before the publication of his concise narrative.*\\nThe account of the rambles of J. O. Pattie, a Missouri fur trader,\\nthrough New Mexico, Chihuahua, Sonora, and California, published\\nin 1832, throws some light on the geography of parts of those\\ncountries of which little can as yet be learned from any other\\nsource. During his peregrinations, Pattie several times crossed the\\ngreat dividing chain of mountains between New Mexico on the\\nPublished with President Jackson s message to Congress, January 23d, 1829.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0388.jp2"}, "389": {"fulltext": "1834.] PLANS OF WYETH FOR THE OREGON TRADE. 359\\neast, and Sonora and California on ^le west, and descended and\\nascended the Colorado, and its principal tributaries, which he de-\\nscribes as being navigable by boats for considerable distances. He\\nalso made trips across Sonora to the Californian Gulf, and across\\nCalifornia to the Pacific, as well as through the ISIexican provinces\\non the coasts of that ocean, where he suffered imprisonment and\\nmany other hardships from the tyranny of the authorities.\\nIn 1832, Captain Bonneville, of the army of the United States,\\nwhile on furlough, led a band of more than a hundred men, with\\ntwenty wagons, and many horses and mules, carrying merchandise\\nfrom Missouri to the countries of the Colorado and the Columbia,\\nin which he passed more than two years, engaged in hunting, trap-\\nping, and trading.*\\nAbout the same time. Captain Wyeth, of Massachusetts, en-\\ndeavored to establish a regular system of commercial intercourse\\nbetween the states of the Union and the countries of the Columbia,\\nto which latter the general name of OREGON tlien began to be\\nuniversally applied in the United States. His plan, like that devised\\nby Mr. Astor in 1810, was to send manufactured goods to the\\nPacific countries, and from thence to transport to the United States,\\nand even to China, not only furs, but also the salmon which abound\\nin the rivers of North- Western America. With these objects, he\\nmade two expeditions over land to the Columbia, in the latter of\\nwhich he founded a trading post, called Fort Hall, on the south\\nside of the Snake or Lewis branch of that river, at the entrance of\\nthe Portneuf, about a hundred miles north of the Utah Lake and\\nhe then established another post, principally for fishing purposes, on\\nWappatoo Island, near the conlluence of the Willamet River witii\\nthe Columbia, a hundred miles above the mouth of the latter.\\nThis scheme, however, failed entirely. The Hudson s Bay Com-\\npany s agents immediately took the alarm, and founded a counter\\nestablishment, called Fort Boise, at the entrance of the Boise or\\nRead s River into the Lewis, some distance below Fort Hall, where\\nthey offered goods to the Indians at prices much lower than those\\nwhich the Americans could afford to take and Wyeth, being thus\\ndriven out of the market, was forced to compromise with his op-\\nponents, by selling his fort to them, and engaging to desist from the\\nTlio narrative of this expedition, written from the notes of Captain Bonneville,\\nby Washington Irving, in the vein, half serious, lialf jocose, of Fray Agapida s\\nChronicle, contains some curious, though generally overcharged, pictures of lite\\namong the hunters, trappers, traders, Indians, and grisly bears, of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains but it adds very little to our knowledge of the geography of those -;nns.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0389.jp2"}, "390": {"fulltext": "360 AMERICAN TRADERS IN CALIFORNIA. [1834.\\nfur trade. Meanwhile, a b^j^, which he had despatched from\\nBoston, with a cargo of goods, arrived at Wappatoo Island, where\\nshe, after some further arrangements with the Hudson s Bay Com-\\npany, took in a cargo of salted salmon, for the United States.\\nShe reached Boston in safety but the results of her voyage were\\nnot such as to encourage perseverance in the enterprise, which was\\nthereupon abandoned.*\\nThe American traders, being excluded by these and other means\\nfrom the Columbia countries, confined themselves almost entirely to\\nthe regions about the head-waters of the Colorado and the Utah\\nLake, where they formed one or two small establishments though\\nthey sometimes extended their rambles westward to the Sacramento,\\nthe Bay of San Francisco, and Monterey, where they were viewed\\nwith dislike and mistrust by the Mexican authorities. The number\\nof citizens of the United States thus employed in the country west\\nof the Rocky Mountains seldom, if ever, exceeded two hundred\\nduring the greater part of the year, they roved through the wilds,\\nin search of furs, which they carried, in the summer, to certain\\nplaces of rendezvous on the Colorado, or on the Lewis, and there\\ndisposed of them to the traders from Missouri the whole business\\nbeing conducted by barter, and without the use of money, though\\neach article bore a nominal value, expressed in dollars and cents,\\nvery different from that assigned to it in the states of the Union.f\\nAbout the time of Wyeth s expeditions also took place the ear-\\nliest emigrations from the United States to the territories of the\\nColumbia, for the purpose of settlement, and without any special\\ncommercial objects.\\nThe first of these colonies was founded, in 1834, in the valley of\\nCaptain Wyeth s expeditions, though unprofitable to himself, have been rendered\\nadvantageous to the world at large; for his short memoir on the regions which he\\nvisited, printed with the report of the committee of the House of Representatives on\\nthe Oregon territory, in February, 1839, affords more exact and useful information, as\\nto their general geography, climate, soil, and agricultural and commercial. capabilities,\\nthan any other work yet published. Wyeth s movements are also related incidentally\\nin the account of Bonneville s adventures, and in the interesting Narrative of a Jour-\\nney across the Rocky Mountains, c., by J. K. Townsend, a naturalist of Philadelphia,\\npublished in 1839.\\nt Thus, among the prices current at the rendezvous on Green River, in the\\nsummer of 1838, we find whisky at three dollars per pint, gunpowder at six dollars\\nper pint, tobacco at five dollars per poimd, dogs (for food) at fifteen dollars each, c.\\nTwenty dollars were frequently expended in rum and sugar, for a night s carouse, by\\ntwo or three traders, after the conclusion of a bargain. Under such circumstances,\\nit may bo supposed that the price of beaver and muskrat skins was proportionally\\nraised and that a package, purchased for a hundred dollars on Green River, may have\\nbeen afterwards sold with profit at St. Louis for twenty.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0390.jp2"}, "391": {"fulltext": "1836.] AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS IN OREGON. 361\\nthe Willamet River, in which a few. retired servants of the Hud-\\nson s Bay Company had already estabhshed themselves, by per-\\nmission of that body, and were employed principally in herding\\ncattle. The Americans, who settled there, were mostly Methodists,\\nunder the direction of ministers of their sect and colonies of\\nPresbyterians or Congregational ists were afterwards planted in the\\nWalla- Walla and Spokan countries. In all these places, schools\\nfor the education of the natives were opened, and, in 1839, a\\nprinting press was set up at Walla- Walla, on which were struck\\noff the first sheets ever printed on the Pacific side of America\\nnorth of Mexico. The Jesuits of St. Louis then engaged in the\\nlabor of converting the Indians, in which they appear, from their\\nown accounts, to have met with extraordinary success but,\\naccording to the customs of that order, they did not attempt to\\nform any settlements.*\\nThe attention of the government of the United States had\\nbeen, in the mean time, directed to the north-west coasts, es-\\npecially by the recent refusal of the Russians to allow Amer-\\nican vessels to trade on the unoccupied parts north of the lat-\\nitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes. This refusal was based on\\nThe first body of American emigrants went by sea, under the direction of\\nMessrs. Lee and Shepherd, Methodist ministers, who had already visited those\\ncountries and several other parties of persons of the same sect have since estab-\\nlisiied themselves in the Willamet valley, and near the falls of the great river.\\nThe pioneer of the other Protestant sects was Mr. Samuel Parker, whose journal\\nof his tour beyond the Rocky Mountains, though highly interesting and instructive,\\nwould have been much more so, had he confined himself to the results of his own\\nexperience, and not wandered into the regions of history, diplomacy, and cosmog-\\nony, in all of which he is evidently a stranger. Upon the recommendations of Mr.\\nParker, Messrs. Spaulding, Gray, and Whitman, were sent out by tlie Board of Mis-\\nsions, in 1836 and they were followed, in 1838, by Messrs. Walker, Eels, and Smith,\\nall of whom, with their wives, liave been since assiduously engaged in their benevo-\\nlent pursuits among the Indians, chiefly those of the middle regions of Oregon. See\\nthe History of the American Board of Commissioners, published at Boston.\\nSome accounts of the stale of these settlements in 1837 may be found in the report\\nof Mr. W. Slacuni, who was commissioned by the American government to visit the\\nColumbia countries in lliat year this paper, however, which was published by order\\nof the Senate of the United States in 1838, is so vague and inexact in its details, that\\nit is, in most cases, calculated ratlier to confuse and mislead than to direct.\\nThe Jesuits De Smct, Mengarini, Point, and others, have, since 1840, made several\\nmissionary tours through the Columbia countries, in the course of which they\\nbaptized some thousands of Indians they also erected a church at a place near\\nthe KuUerspelm Lake, on Clarke s River, where the Blessed Virgin appeared in\\nperson to a little Indian boy, whose youth, piety, and sincerity, say the good\\nfathers, joined to the nature of the fact which he related, forbade us to doubt\\nthe truth of his statement. De SmeVs Letters, published at Philadelphia, in 1843,\\np. 192.\\n46", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0391.jp2"}, "392": {"fulltext": "362 PROCEEDINGS OF THE RUSSIANS. [1838.\\nthe fact that the period of ten years, fixed by the fourth article of\\nthe convention of 1824 between the two nations, during which the\\nvessels of both parties might frequent the bays, creeks, harbors, and\\nother interior waters on the north-west coast, had expired and\\nthe Russian government had chosen to consider that article as the\\nonly limitation of its right to exclude American vessels from all\\nparts of the division of the coast on which the United States, by\\nthe convention, engaged to form no establishments disregarding\\nentirely the first article of the same agreement, by which all unoc-\\ncupied places on the north-west coast were declared free and open\\nto the citizens or subjects of both nations. The government of the\\nUnited States immediately protested against this exclusion and\\ntheir plenipotentiaries at St. Petersburg have been instructed to\\ndemand its revocation.* To the reasons offered in support of\\nSee President Van Buren s message to Congress of December 3d, 1838, and the\\naccompanying documents. The letters of Messrs. Wilkins and Dallas, successively\\nplenipotentiaries of the United States at St. Petersburg, relating the particulars of\\ntheir negotiations with the Russian minister, will be found very interesting, from the\\nluminous views of national rights presented in them. The instructions of Mr. For-\\nsyth, the American secretary of state, to Mr. Dallas, dated November 3d, 1837, are\\nalso especially worthy of attention. After repeating the cardinal rule as to the con-\\nstruction of instruments, that they should be so construed, if possible, as that every\\npart may stand, he proceeds to show that the fourth article of the convention of\\nApril, 1824, was to be understood as giving permission to enter interior bays, c.,\\nat the mouth of which there might be establishments, or the shores of wliich might\\nbe in part, but not wholly, occupied by such establishments thus providing for a\\ncase which would otherwise admit of doubt, as it would be questionable whether the\\nbays, c., described in it, belonged to the^rs^ or the second article. In no sense,\\ncontinues Mr. Forsyth, can it be understood as implying an acknowledgment, on\\nthe part of the United States, of the right of Russia to the possession of the coast\\nabove the latitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes north but it should be taken in con-\\nnection with the other articles, which have, in fact, no reference whatever to the\\nquestion of the right of possession of the unoccupied parts of the coast. In a spirit\\nof compromise, and to prevent future collisions or difficulties, it was agreed that\\nno new establishments should be formed by the respective parties north or south of\\na certain parallel of latitude, after the conclusion of the agreement; but the question\\nof the right of possession beyond the existing establishments, as it subsisted previous\\nto, or at the time of, the conclusion of the convention, was left untouched. The\\nUnited States, in agreeing not to form new establishments north of the latitude of\\n54 degrees and 40 minutes, made no acknowledgment of the right of Russia to the\\npossession of the territory above that line. If such admission had been made, Russia,\\nby the same construction of the article referred to, must have acknowledged the\\nright of the United Slates to the territory south of the line. But that Russia did not\\nso understand the article, is conclusively proved by her having entered into a similar\\nagreement in a subsequent treaty (1625) with Great Britain, and having, in fact,\\nacknowledged in that instrument the right of possession of the same territory by\\nGreat Britain. The United States can only be considered as acknowledging the\\nright of Russia to acquire, by actual occupation, a just claim to unoccupied lands\\nabove the latitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes north and even this is a mere matter", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0392.jp2"}, "393": {"fulltext": "1833.] PROCEEDINns OF THE RUSSIANS. 363\\nthis demand, the Russian minister of foreign affairs, Count Nessel-\\nrode, did not attempt to ofter any reply, contenting himself simply\\nwith declaring that his sovereign was not inclined to renew the\\nfourth article, as it afforded the Americans the opportunity of fur-\\nnishing the natives on the coasts with spirituous liquors and fire-arms\\nthough no case was adduced in support of that assertion. Thus\\nthe matter rests the American traders being excluded from visiting\\nany of the coasts of the Pacilic north of the parallel of 54 degrees\\n40 minutes, on the ground that those coasts are acknowledged by\\nthe United States to belong to Russia, whilst the latter power, by\\nits treaty with Great Britain in 1825, directly denies any rights,\\non the part of the United States, to the coasts south of that parallel.\\nThe Russian government also refused the same privilege to British\\nvessels after 1835, and moreover opposed by force the exercise of\\nanother privilege claimed by the British under the treaty of 1825,\\nnamely, that of navigating the rivers flowing from the interior of\\nthe continent to the Pacific across the line of boundary therein\\nestablished. In 1834, the Hudson s Bay Company fitted out an\\nexpedition for the purpose of establishing a trading post on the large\\nriver Stikine, which enters the channel named by Vancouver Prince\\nFrederick^ Sound, between the main land and one of the islands\\nof the north-west archipelago claimed by Russia, in the latitude of\\n5G degrees 50 minutes. Baron Wrangel, the Russian governor-\\ngeneral, having, however, been informed of the project, erected a\\nblock-house and stationed a sloop of war at the mouth of the\\nStikine and, on the appearance of the vessel bringing the men\\nand materials for the contemplated establishment, the British were\\nwarned not to attempt to pass into the river, and were forced to\\nreturn to the south. AH appeals to the treaty were ineffectual, and\\nthe Hudson s Bay Company was obliged to desist from the prose-\\ncution of the plan, after having, as asserted on its part, spent more\\nthan twenty thousand pounds in fitting out the expedition.\\nof inference, as the convention of 1824 contains nothing more than a negation of the\\nright of the United States to occupy new points within that limit. Admitting that\\nthis inference was in contemplation of the parties to the convention, it cannot follow\\ntliat the United States ever intended to abandon the just right, acknowledged by the\\nfirst article to belong to them, under the law of nations that is, to frequent any part of\\nthe unoccupied coast of North America, for the purpose of fishing or trading with the\\nnatives. All that the convention admits is, an inference of the right of Russia to\\nacquire possession by settlement north of 54 degrees and 40 minutes north and,\\nuntil that possession is taken, the first article of the convention acknowledges the\\nright of the United States to fish and trade, as prior to its negotiation.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0393.jp2"}, "394": {"fulltext": "364 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BRITISH AND RUSSIANS. [1840.\\nThe British government immediately demanded satisfaction, from\\nthat of Russia, for this infraction of the treaty and, after some\\ntime spent in negotiation between the two powers, and between\\nthe two companies, it was agreed that the part of the continental\\ncoast extending from the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, north-\\nward, to Cape Spenser, near the 58th degree, which was assigned\\nto Russia by the treaty of 1825, should be leased, by the Russian\\nAmerican Company, to the Hudson s Bay Company, for ten years\\nfrom the 1st of June, 1840, at an annual rent, to be paid in furs.\\nThe difficulty was thus ended, to the advantage of all parties the\\nBritish gaining access to a long line of coast, without which the\\nadjoining territories of the interior would have been useless, while\\nthe Russians derive a much greater amount from the rent than they\\ncould have otherwise drawn from the coast.\\nThe charter of the Russian American Company was renewed, in\\n1839, for twenty years, without any modifications worthy of note.\\nThe company was then in a prosperous condition its operations\\nwere daily extending, and the value of its stock was constantly\\nincreasing.\\nThe license, granted to the Hudson s Bay Company, in 1821, to\\ntrade, in exclusion of all other British subjects, in the countries\\nowned or claimed by Great Britain, north and west of Canada and\\nthe United States, expired in 1840; but another license, containing\\nsome new and important provisions, had been accorded by the\\ngovernment, on the 30th of May, 1838.* Thus the company was\\nbound, under heavy penalties, to enforce the due execution of crim-\\ninal processes, by the officers and other persons legally empowered,\\nin all its territories, and to make and submit to the government\\nsuch rules and regulations, for the trade with the Indians, as should\\nbe effectual to promote their moral and religious improvement, and\\nespecially to prevent the sale and distribution of spirituous liquors\\namong them. It is moreover declared, in the grant, that nothing\\ntherein contained should authorize the company to claim the right\\nof trade in any part of America, to the prejudice or exclusion of\\nthe people of any foreign states who may be entitled to trade\\nthere, in virtue of conventions between such states and Great\\nBritain and the government reserves to itself the right to establish\\nany colony or province within the territories included in the grant,\\nor to annex any portion of those territories to any existing colony\\nor province, and to apply to such colony any form of civil govern-\\nSee both the licenses in the Proofs and llhistrations, letter I.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0394.jp2"}, "395": {"fulltext": "1822.] CALIFORNIA SUBJECT TO MEXICO. 365\\nment, independent of the Hudson s Bay Company, which might be\\ndeemed proper. Whether this last provision was introduced with\\nsome special and immediate object, or with a view to future contin-\\ngencies, no means have as yet been afforded for determining. The\\nBritish government, however, insisted strongly on retaining the\\nabove-mentioned privileges and it is most probable that the\\nColumbia countries were in view at the time, as the remainder\\nof the territory included in the grant, and not possessed by the\\ncompany in virtue of the charter of 1669, is of little value in\\nany way.\\nIn California, few events worthy of note occurred during the\\nwhole period of fifty years, from the first establishment of Spanish\\ncolonies and garrisons on the west coasts of that country, to the\\ntermination of the revolutionary struggle between Spain and Mex-\\nico. Before the commencement of the disturbances, the missions\\nwere, to a certain extent, fostered by the Spanish government, and\\nsupplies of money and goods were sent to them, with regularity,\\nfrom Acapulco and San Bias but, after the revolution broke out,\\nthese remittances were reduced, the missionaries lost their influence\\nover the natives, and the establishments fell into decay. Upon the\\noverthrow of the Spanish power, in 1822, California was divided\\npolitically into two territories, of which the peninsula formed one,\\ncalled Lower CaJifornia the other, or Upper California, embracing\\nthe whole of the continental portion. By the constitution of 1824,\\neach of these territories became entitled to send one member to the\\nNational Congress and, by subsequent decrees, all the adult Indians,\\nwho could be considered as civilized or capable of reasoning, (gejite\\nde razon,) were freed from submission to their former pastors, had\\nlands assigned to them, and were declared citizens of the republic.\\nThese seeming boons were, however, accompanied by the with-\\ndrawal of nearly all the allowances previously made for the estab-\\nlishments, and by the imposition of taxes and duties on all imports,\\nincluding those from Mexico. The authority of the missionaries\\nthus dwindled away, and those who had been long in the country\\neither returned to Mexico or Spain, or escaped to other lands the\\ncultivation of the mission farms was abandoned, and the Indians,\\nfreed from restraint, relapsed into barbarism, or sunk into the lowest\\nstate of indolence and vice.\\nWhilst the number of civilized Indians in California was by these\\nmeasures diminished, the white population was at the same time\\nsomewhat increased. Immediately after, and indeed before, the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0395.jp2"}, "396": {"fulltext": "366 CALIFORNIA SUBJECT TO MEXICO. [1828.\\noverthrow of the Spanish authority in that country, its ports became\\nthe resort of foreigners, especially of the whalers and traders of\\nthe United States, who offered coarse manufactured articles and\\ngroceries in exchange for provisions, and for the hides and tallow\\nof the wild cattle abounding in the country. This trade was at\\nfirst carried on in the same irregular manner as the fur trade with\\nthe Indians on the coasts farther north as it increased, however,\\nit became more systematized, and mercantile houses were estab-\\nlished in the principal ports. The majority of the merchants were\\nforeigners, English, French, or Americans in their train came shop\\nand tavern-keepers, and artisans, from various countries and to\\nthese were added deserting seamen and stragglers from the Missouri\\nand the Columbia.\\nThis state of things was by no means satisfactory to the Mexican\\ngovernment and orders were given to the commandant-general of\\nUpper California to enforce the laws prohibiting foreigners from\\nentering or residing in the Mexican territories without special per-\\nmission from the authorities. Agreeably to these orders, a number\\nof American citizens were, in 1828, seized at San Diego, and kept\\nin confinement until 1830, when an insurrection broke out, headed\\nby a General Solis, wiiich they were instrumental in subduing; and,\\nin consideration of their services, they were allowed to quit the\\ncountry. The trading expeditions of Ashley and Smith, of which\\naccounts have been already presented, at the same time gave great\\nuneasiness to the Mexican government, and were made the subjects\\nof formal complaints to that of the United States.\\nThese circumstances, with others of the same nature then occur-\\nring in Texas, served to delay the conclusion of treaties of limits,\\nand of amity, commerce, and navigation, between the United States\\nand Mexico which were, however, at length signed and ratified,\\nso as to become effective in 1832. By the treaty of limits, the line\\nof boundary from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, which was\\nsettled between the United States and Spain in 1819, was adopted\\nas separating the territories of the United States on the north from\\nthose of Mexico on the south and the latter power accordingly\\nclaims as its own the whole territory west of the great dividing\\nchain of mountains, as far north as the 42d parallel of latitude.\\nThe Mexican government likewise endeavored to prevent the\\nevils anticipated from the presence of so many foreigners in Cali-\\nfornia, by founding new colonies of its own citizens in that country.\\nCriminals were to be transported thither but although many were", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0396.jp2"}, "397": {"fulltext": "1837.] REVOLUTION TN CALIFORNIA. 367\\nthus sentenced, few, if any, ever reached the place of their desti-\\nnation. A number of persons, of various trades and professions,\\nwere also sent out from Mexico in 1834, to be located on the lands\\nof the missions in CaUfornia but, ere they reached those places,\\nthe administration by which the scheme was devised, had been\\noverthrown, and the new authorities, entertaining different views,\\nordered the settlers to he driven back to their native land.\\nThese new authorities that is to say. General Santa Anna and\\nhis partisans determined to remodel the constitution, under which\\nMexico had been governed, as a federal republic, since 1824. What\\nother form was to have been introduced in its stead, is not known\\nfor, in the spring of 1836, at the moment when the change was\\nabout to be made, Santa Anna was defeated and taken prisoner by\\nthe Texans at San Jacinto, Those who succeeded to the helm\\nbeing, however, no less averse to the federal system, it was abolished\\nin the latter part of the same year, and a constitution was adopted,\\nby which the powers of government were placed almost entirely in\\nthe hands of the general congress and executive, all state rights\\nbeing destroyed. This central system was opposed in many parts\\nof the republic, and nowhere more strenuously than in California,\\nwhere the people rose in a body, expelled the Mexican officers, and\\ndeclared that their country should remain independent until the\\nfederal constitution were restored. The general government, on\\nreceiving the news of these proceedings, issued strong proclamations\\nagainst the insurgents, and ordered an expedition to be prepared\\nfor the purpose of reestablishing its authority in the revolted\\nterritory but General Urrea, to whom the execution of this\\norder was committed, soon after declared in favor of the fed-\\neralists, and the Californians were allowed to govern themselves as\\nthey chose for some months, at the end of which, in July, 1837,\\ntheir patriotic enthusiasm subsided, and they voluntarily swore alle-\\ngiance to the new constitution.\\nSince that time, the quiet course of things in California has, so\\nfar as known, been disturbed by only one occurrence worthy of\\nbeing mentioned namely, the capture and temporary occupation of\\nMonterey by the naval forces of the United States, under Commo-\\ndore T. A. C. Jones, of which the following brief account will suffice.\\nThis officer, while cruising on the South American coast of the Pa-\\ncific, received information which led him to believe that Mexico had,\\nagreeably to a menace shortly before uttered by her government^\\ndeclared war against the United States and, being determined", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0397.jp2"}, "398": {"fulltext": "368 CAPTURE OF MONTEREY BY THE AMERICANS. [184 2.\\nto strike a blow at the supposed enemy, he sailed, with his frigate,\\nthe United States, and the sloop of war Cyane, to Monterey, where\\nhe arrived on the 19th of October, 1842. Having disposed his\\nvessels in front of the little town, he sent an officer ashore, to\\ndemand the surrender of the castle, posts, and military places,\\nwith all troops, arms, and munitions of war of every class, in\\ndefault of which, the sacrifice of human life and the horrors of\\nwar would be the immediate consequence. The commandant\\nof the place, astounded by such a demand, made in a time of\\nprofound peace, summoned his officers to a council, in which it\\nwas decided that no defence could be made he therefore sub-\\nmitted without delay, and the flag of the United States replaced that\\nof Mexico over all the public edifices the fortifications were garri-\\nsoned by American soldiers, and the commodore issued a proclama-\\ntion to the Californians, inviting them to submit to the government\\nof the federal republic, which would protect and insure to them the\\nundisturbed exercise of their religion, and all other privileges of\\nfreemen. Scarcely, however, was this proclamation sent forth, ere\\nthe commodore received advices which convinced him that he had\\nbeen in error, and that the peace between his country and Mexico\\nremained unbroken he had, therefore, only to restore the place to\\nits former possessors, and to retire with all his forces to his siiips,\\nwhich was done on the 2 1st of the month, twenty-four hours after\\nthe surrender. Thus ended an affair, the eflfects of which have been\\nunfortunately to increase the irritation already existing in Mexico\\nagainst the United States, and to render less easy the adjustment of\\nthe diflferences between the two nations. The armed force in Cali-\\nfornia has since been considerably augmented but it is evident that\\nall the efforts of Mexico would be unavailing to retain those distant\\npossessions, in the event of a war with a powerful maritime state.\\nIn the Sandwich Islands, a complete change has taken place\\nsince the death of Tamahamaha. His son and successor, Riho\\nRiho, died, in 1824, in London, whither he had gone, with his\\nqueen, to visit his brother sovereign of Great Britain and he was\\nhimself succeeded by Kauikeaouli, another reputed son of the great\\nTamahamaha, who now fills the throne, under the name of Kame-\\nhamalia III. These changes were all advantageous to the mission-\\naries from the United States, many of whom were domiciliated in\\nthe islands particularly after the conversion of Krymakoo, or Billy\\nPitt, the old prime minister, and of Kaahumanu, the widow of the\\ngreat Tamahamaha, who, after passing half a century in the con-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0398.jp2"}, "399": {"fulltext": "1834.] MISSIONARIES IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 369\\nstant practice of the most beastly sensuality, embraced Christianity\\nin her old age, and became a zealous and efficient protector of its\\nprofessors.* Boki, the brother of Krymakoo, a powerful chief,\\nwho had accompanied Riho Riho to England, and, on his return,\\nendeavored to obtain the sovereignty of the islands, proved very\\nrefractory and annoying to the missionaries, alternately cooperating\\nwith them, or setting them at defiance, according to the dic-\\ntates of his ambition .f\\nAfter the death of Rilio Rilio, Kaahumanu, first, and then Kinau\\none of the widows of the late king, conducted the government\\nas regents, until 1834, when tiie young sovereign threw oft all\\nrestraints, and, taking the reins into his own hands, determined to\\nenjoy life like other legitimate princes. Feasting and dancing in\\nthe old style were again seen in the palace drinking shops were\\nopened, distilleries were set up, and other ancient immoralities\\nreappeared, under the immediate patronage of the court. But the\\nchurch had become a part of the state. The chiefs were all nomi-\\nnally Christians the missionaries exerted themselves to stem the\\ntorrent, and they succeeded. The king was obliged to yield the\\nshops and distilleries were successively closed, and order and\\ndecency resumed their reign.\\nThe ill success of this attempt, on the part of the king, to free\\nhimself from the trammels imposed by the missionaries, of course\\nincreased their power which they exerted with energy, and gen-\\nKrymakoo died in 1825, and Kaaliumanu in 1832; the exemplary manner in\\nwhich they took leave of the pomps and vanities of life is minutely described in the\\nHistory of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, pp. 175\\nand 230.\\nt Boki, having been disappointed in his hopes of attaining the sovereignty of his\\ncountry, sailed, in 1829, with a number of followers, in two vessels, in search of\\nsome new islands covered with sandal-wood, which were said to have been dis-\\ncovered in the south-west. One of the vessels returned to Woahoo of the other, in\\nwhich Boki commanded in person, nothing has been since heard, except some\\nrumors that she was blown up.\\nThe London Quarterly Review for March, 1827, contains a letter purporting to\\nhave been written by Boki, at Woahoo, to a friend in London, expressing consider-\\nable dissatisfaction with the conduct of the American missionaries, which has given\\nthose worthy persons much uneasiness, and has caused them to expend much more\\nof virtuous indignation and serious argument, in refuting the charges, than it\\ndeserved. The letter is an exquisite morceau of orthography and stylo, and should\\nfind a place in the Comic Almanac. See the History of the American Board of\\nCommissioners for Foreign Missions, p. 176, and Mr. C. S. Stewart s narrative\\nof his residence in the Sandwich Islands, p. 342. The latter work will amply\\nrepay the reader for the time which he may devote to it not only from the informa-\\ntion afforded respecting the islands, but also as exhibiting, in the most interesting\\nmanner, the workings of a pure and enthusiastic mind.\\n47", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0399.jp2"}, "400": {"fulltext": "37*6 CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. [1838.\\nerally with discretion, for the benefit of the community. They\\nemployed every means to keep the chiefs in what tliey considered\\nthe right path, and to concihate the young. Schools were opened\\nwherever scholars could be found and the Bible, in the language\\nof the islands, was placed in the hands of all who could read it.\\nLaws restraining drunkenness and other vices were proposed to the\\ngovernment and adopted: in 1838, the importation of spirituous\\nliquors was prohibited and, in 1840, a written constitution, also\\nthe work of the missionaries, exhibiting much wisdom and knowl-\\nedge of the world on their part, was subscribed by the king and\\nhis principal nobles.\\nIn these endeavors to raise a barbarous people to civilization,\\nand to place their country among Christian states, the American\\nmissionaries were constantly opposed and thwarted by their own\\nfellow-citizens and the subjects of other nations, who resorted to\\nthe islands for the purposes of trade, or of refreshment, after long\\nand dangerous voyages. The precepts of a religion enjoining self-\\ndenial in all things could not find favor among such persons to\\nwhom its apostles became objects of hatred, as the destroyers of\\nall their pleasures. Bickerings took place between the two par-\\nties the missionaries were assaulted with sticks, and stones, and\\nknives, all which they fearlessly confronted, rather than yield a\\nfoot of the ground already occupied and the young king was\\ndaily subjected to complaints from sea captains and consuls on\\nthe one side, and to remonstrances from his spiritual advisers on\\nthe other. That the latter carried their restrictions too far, con-\\nsidering the circumstances, there is reason to believe for, though\\nno defence can be made for the practices which they reprobated,\\nyet many of them can never be prevented by means compatible\\nwith the enjoyment of civil liberty and it may be neither prudent\\nnor just to set a mark on all who are guilty of them.\\nThe American missionaries had to encounter greater difficulties\\nfrom a different source. Other laborers entered the vineyard. In\\n1827, two Roman Catholic priests, Messrs, Short, an Irishman, and\\nBachelot, a Frenchman, arrived in the islands, and engaged in the\\nconversion of the natives to their form of Christianity. They\\nwere, of course, regarded with unfriendly eyes by the Protestants,\\nand particularly by the pious regent Kaahumanu, to whose faction\\nthey were opposed and, through her influence, they were at\\nlength, in 1831, expelled from the islands, on the grounds that\\nthey were idolaters, and worshipped the bones of dead men. A", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0400.jp2"}, "401": {"fulltext": "1839.] REINSTATEMENT OF CATHOLIC PRIESTS. 371\\nchapel and school were, nevertheless, soon after opened at Hono-\\nlulu, by another Catholic priest, named Walsh; and, in 1838, Kaa-\\nhumanu being dead, Messrs. Bachelot and Short ventured to return\\nto the islands, from California, where they had passed the greater\\npart of the time, since their expulsion. They were again ordered\\nby the government to take their departure and, on their refusal,\\nwere forcibly put on board the vessel which brought them, and\\nthus sent away, notwithstanding the protests made by the consuls\\nof the United States and Great Britain, on the part of the owners\\nof the vessel, and by the conmianders of a British and a French\\nship of war, which arrived at the time in the islands. That the\\nProtestant missionaries were the instigators of this proceeding, has\\nbeen asserted, though it is denied by their friends that they\\nmight, if they chose, have prevented it, there can, however,\\nbe as little doubt, as that they should have done so, if it were in\\ntheir power.\\nFor this act, which, besides being entirely at variance with the\\nconstant principle of Protestantism, and the spirit of toleration now\\nso happily pervading the world, indicated extreme ignorance, and\\nculpable disregard of consequences, on the part of those who\\ndirected it, a severe retribution was soon after exacted. On the\\n9th of July, 1839, the French frigate Artemise arrived at Hono-\\nlulu, and her captain, Laplace, immediately demanded reparation\\nfor the insult offered to his country and its national religion with\\nwhich object, he required that the Roman Catholic worship\\nshould be declared free throughout the islands, and its professors\\nshould enjoy all the privileges heretofore granted to Protestants\\nthat the government should give a piece of ground for the\\nerection of a Catholic church that all Catholics imprisoned\\non account of their religion should be liberated and, finally,\\nthat, as a security for the performance of these engagements,\\ntwenty thousand dollars should be placed, and should remain, in\\nhis hands. With these demands the king immediately complied\\nand, had the French commander contented himself with what he\\nhad thus effected, his conduct would have been blameless in the eyes\\nof all unprejudiced men. But he also required and obtained, that\\nthe brandy and wines of his country, the introduction of which,\\nas of all other spirituous liquors, was most properly prohibited by\\nlaw, should be admitted into the islands on paying a duty of not\\nmore than five per cent, on their value an act, considering the\\nrelative degrees of civilization of the two parties, far more repre-\\nhensible than that for which he had just before obtained atonement", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0401.jp2"}, "402": {"fulltext": "372 MISSION OF HAALILEO AND RICHARDS. [184 2.\\nCaptain Laplace also thought proper to declare in a circular, that,\\nin case he should attack Honolulu, the American missionaries\\nwould not enjoy the protection promised by him to the people of\\ncivilized nations fortunately, however, he had no occasion to\\ncarry this threat into execution, as it might have produced\\na most serious breach of good understanding between his govern-\\nment and that of the United States.\\nDifficulties about the same time arose between the government\\nof the Sandwich Islands and the British consul in consequence\\nof which, the king determined to despatch an agent to the United\\nStates, Great Britain, and France, in order to obtain, if possible,\\na distinct recognition of the independence of his dominions by\\nthose nations, and to make some definite arrangement for the\\nprevention of difficulties in future. With these objects, Timoteo\\nHaalileo, a young native who had been educated in the school of\\nthe missionaries, and had filled several important offices, was\\nselected as the agent and he was to be accompanied by Mr. W.\\nRichards, one of the American missionaries, who, having distin-\\nguished himself, during a long residence in the islands, by his\\nzeal in behalf of the people and their government, had, with the\\nassent of his brethren, entered regularly into the king s service.\\nThey arrived in Washington in the winter of 1842, and, upon\\ntheir application. President Tyler addressed a message to Con-\\ngress,* in which, after briefly recapitulating the advantages derived\\nby the United States from the Sandwich Islands, as a place of\\ntrade and refreshment for vessels in the Pacific, and alluding to the\\ndesire manifested by their government to improve the moral and\\nsocial condition of the people, he declared that any attempt by\\nanother power to take possession of the islands, colonize them,\\nand subvert the native government, could not but create dissatis-\\nfaction on the part of the United States and, should such attempt\\nbe made, the American government would be justified in remon-\\nstrating decidedly against it. An American commissioner was\\naccordingly despatched to the Sandwich Islands, charged to inquire\\nand report as to the propriety of establishing diplomatic relations\\nwith their government and Messrs. Haalileo and Richards, after\\nsome time spent in the United States, proceeded to Great Brit-\\nain and France, where their presence proved ultimately useful in\\nbringing about the peaceful solution of the difficulties which had\\noccasioned their mission.\\nMessage of December 21st, 1842.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0402.jp2"}, "403": {"fulltext": "1843.] SANDWICH ISLANDS OCCUPIED BY THE BRITISH. 373\\nIn the mean time, Lord George Paulet, a captain in the British\\nnavy, arrived at Woahoo, in February, 1843, in the ship Carysfort,\\nand demanded from the king explanations with regard to the\\nconduct of his government towards the consul and subjects of her\\nBritannic majesty. Not receiving a satisfactory answer within the\\nperiod prescribed, this officer threatened, in the event of longer\\ndelay, to make an attack upon Honolulu whereupon the king, find-\\ning himself unable to comply witii the demands, or to resist them,\\nsurrendered all the islands under his dominion to Great Britain,\\nuntil the matter could be arranged between the government of that\\ncountry and the agents whom he had already sent thither. The\\nBritisli commander accordingly took possession, appointed commis-\\nsioners to conduct the administration, and issued various regulations\\nfor the government of the islands, until further orders could be\\nreceived from England.\\nThe news of these events created much excitement in the\\nUnited States and a protest against the occupation of the Sand-\\nwich Islands by Great Britain was immediately addressed by the\\nAmerican government to the court of London. On the 25th of\\nJune, however, the British minister at Washington declared\\nofficially, that the acts of Lord George Paulet were entirely un-\\nauthorized by her majesty; conformably with which, King Kamcha-*\\nmaha was, on the 31st of July, reinstated in all his powers and dig-\\nnities by Admiral Thomas, the commander-in-chief of the British\\nnaval forces in the Pacific. Finally, on the 28th of November, a\\ndeclaration was signed at London, on the parts of the queen of\\nEngland and the king of the French, whereby their majesties en-\\ngaged reciprocally to consider the Sandwich Islands as an inde-\\npendent state, and never to take possession, either directly, or un-\\nder the title of protectorate, or under any other form, of any part\\nof the territory of which they are composed.\\nThese acts of the British and the French, with regard to the\\nSandwich Islands, arose, doubtless, rather from political jealousy, on\\nthe parts of those nations, than from the simple desire to protect\\ntheir subjects in trade or religion. The French have shown their\\nanxiety to obtain a permanent footing on the Pacific, by their at-\\ntempts to form a colony in New Zealand, by their military occupa-\\ntion of the Washington or North Marquesas Islands and their forci-\\nble seizure of Otaheite, and by various other circumstances whilst\\nthe British have evinced tlieir determination to counteract those\\nefforts by others equally unequivocal. To either of these nations the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0403.jp2"}, "404": {"fulltext": "374 BRITISH OCCUPY THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. [1834.\\nSandwich Islands would prove a most valuable acquisition, as it\\nwould afford the means of controlling the trade and fishery of the\\nNorth Pacific, and of exercising a powerful influence over the\\ndestinies of the north-west coasts of America and California. The\\nUnited States, claiming the north-west coasts, and conducting\\nnearly the whole of the fishery and trade of the North Pacific, are\\ndeeply interested in all that may affect the independence of these\\nislands and, having neither the power nor the will to establish\\ntheir own authority over them at present, it is the policy and duty\\nof their government to oppose, at almost any hazard, the attempts\\nof other nations to acquire dominion or influence in this important\\narchipelago.\\nIt will be proper here also to notice, as connected with the history\\nand probable destinies of North-West America, the fact of the oc-\\ncupation of the Falkland Islands by Great Britain, in 1833. After\\nthe overthrow of the Spanish supremacy in America, these islands\\nwere claimed by the government of Buenos Ayres, as having\\nformed part of the territory under the direction of the viceroy\\nof La Plata and attempts were made by that government to\\nexercise dominion over them, which produced, in 1831, a collision\\nbetween its authorities and the naval forces of the United States.\\nIn the month of January, 1833, the British took possession of the\\nwhole group, which they have ever since occupied and, a repre-\\nsentation on the subject having been addressed to that government,\\nby the diplomatic agent of Buenos Ayres at London, Lord Pal-\\nmerston, the British secretary for foreign affairs, in reply, main-\\ntained* the exclusive right of his nation to the islands, on the\\nground of first discovery and occupation thus entirely disre-\\ngarding the sixth article of the Nootka convention of 1790,\\naccording to which, no settlement could be made, either by Great\\nBritain or by Spain, on any part of the coasts of South America\\nor the islands adjacent, situated to the south of those parts of\\nthe same coasts, and of the islands adjacent, which are already\\noccupied by Spain, although his government had, in 1827\\nsupported the subsistence of that convention with respect to the\\nnorth-west coasts of North America.\\nIn 1841, the Sandwich Islands, and the coasts of Oregon and\\nCalifornia, were visited by the exploring ships of the United\\nStates, under the command of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, who\\nLetter from Lord Palinerston to Seiior Moreno, dated January 8th, 1834. See\\nMemoir, historical, political, and descriptive, on the Falkland Islands, by Robert\\nGreenhow, published in the New York Merchants Magazine for February, 1842.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0404.jp2"}, "405": {"fulltext": "1842.] EXPLORING VOYAGE OF WILKES. 375\\nhad been specially directed to survey and examine those countries,\\nas carefully as circumstances would permit. Lieutenant Wilkes, in\\nthe sloop of w^ar Vincennes, arrived off the mouth of the Columbia,\\non the 27th of April but, finding it hazardous to attempt the\\nentrance, he sailed to the Strait of Fuca, and anchored in Puget s\\nSound, near Nasqually, a post belonging to the Hudson s Bay\\nCompany, from which he despatched several surveying parties into\\nthe interior. One of these parties crossed the great westernmost\\nrange of mountains to tiie Columbia and, having visited the British\\ntrading posts of Okinagan, Colville, and Walla- Walla, returned to\\nNasqually. Another party proceeded southward to the Cowelitz,\\nand down that river to the main trunk of the Columbia, which was\\nexamined upwards as far as Walla- Walla, and downwards to the\\nocean. In the mean time, other parties were engaged in surveying\\nthe coasts and harbors on the Pacific, the Strait of Fuca, and\\nAdmiralty Inlet, and particularly in exploring the valleys of the\\nWillamet River, emptying into the Columbia, and of the Sacra-\\nmento, falling into the Bay of San Francisco, which are perhaps the\\nmost valuable portions of Oregon and California. The perform-\\nance of these important duties was accompanied by an unfortunate\\noccurrence. The sloop of war Peacock, one of the exploring\\nvessels, commanded by Lieut. William L. Hudson, struck on the\\nbar at the mouth of the Columbia, while attempting to enter that\\nriver, on the 18th of July, and was lost her crew, however, in\\nconsequence of the perfect discipline maintained on board, were\\nall landed in safety, with her instruments and papers, on Cape Dis-\\nappointment, where they w^ere received, and treated with the\\nutmost hospitality, by the agents of the Hudson s Bay Company,\\nresiding in the vicinity.*\\nThe exploring squadron, consisting of tlie sloops of war Vincennes and Pea-\\ncock, store-ship Relief, brig Porpoise, and schooners Sea-Gull and Flying-Fish,\\nsailed from the Chesapeake on the l!)th of August, 1838, and passed around Cape\\nHorn, where several months were employed in exploring, and, unfortunately, tiie\\nSea-Gull was lost, with all on board. Lieutenant Wilkes then crossed the Pacific to\\nAustralia, south of which, he, in January, 1640, discovered a line of rocky, ice-bound\\ncoast, extending nearly under the Antarctic circle, from the 92d to the 165th degrees\\nof longitude east from London; that is, about 1800 miles. Thence he proceeded\\nnorthward, surveying many groups of islands and intricate channels hitherto im-\\nperfectly known, to the coast of Oregon, where he spent the summer of 1841, as\\nabove stated and, having completed his work, he returned, with his vessels, through\\nthe India seas, and around the Cape of Good Hope, to the United States, where lie\\narrived in June, 1842. The southernmost point attained was in the Pacific, south-\\nsouth-west of Cape Horn, in latitude of 70 degrees 14 minutes, that is, farther south\\nthan any navigator, except Cook and Weddcll had previously penetrated it was\\nreached on the 24th of March, 1839, by Lieut. W. M. Walker, commanding the\\nFlvinff-Fish.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0405.jp2"}, "406": {"fulltext": "376\\nCHAPTER XVIII.\\n1842 TO 1845.\\nExcitement in the United States respecting Oregon Bill in the Senate for the im-\\nmediate Occupation of Oregon That Bill inconsistent with the Convention of\\n1827, between the United States and Great Britain Renewal of Negotiations be-\\ntween the United States and Great Britain Emigration from the United States\\nto Oregon State of the Hudson s Bay Company s Possessions Conclusion.\\nDuring the latter years of the period to which the preceding\\nchapter relates, the government and people of the United States\\nwere becoming seriously interested in the subject of the claims of\\nthe republic to countries west of the Rocky Mountains, which had\\nso long remained undetermined. The population of the Union\\nhad, in fact, been so much increased, that large numbers of per-\\nsons were to be found in every part, whose spirit of enterprise and\\nadventure could not be restrained within the limits of the states\\nand organized territories and, as the adjoining central division\\nof the continent offered no inducements to settlers, those who\\ndid not choose to fix their habitations in Texas, began to direct\\ntheir views towards the valleys of tiie Columbia, where they ex-\\npected to obtain rich lands without cost, and security under the\\nflag of the stars and stripes.\\nThe period had, in fact, arrived, when the countries west of the\\nRocky Mountains were to receive a civilized population from the\\nUnited States.\\nThis feeling began to manifest itself, about the year 1837, by\\nthe formation of societies for emigration to Oregon, in various\\nparts of the Union, and especially in those which had themselves\\nbeen most recently settled, and were most thinly peopled. From\\nthese associations, and from American citizens already established\\nin Oregon, petitions were presented to Congress, as well as resolu-\\ntions from the legislatures of states,* urging the general government\\neither to settle the questions of right as to the country west of the\\nRocky Mountains, by definitive arrangement with the other claimant,\\nNearly all these petitions and resolutions came from Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,\\nand Michigan.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0406.jp2"}, "407": {"fulltext": "1840.] EXCITEMENT IN THE U. STATES RESPECTING OREGON. 377\\nor to take immediate civil and military possession of that country\\nand bills, having for their object the accomplishment of one or both of\\nthese ends, vv^ere annually introduced into the Senate or the House of\\nRepresentatives of the Union. The members of the executive branch\\nof the government, particularly Messrs. Forsyth and Poinsett, the\\nable and energetic secretaries of state and of war, were likewise\\nassiduously engaged in collecting information respecting the nature\\nand grounds of the claims of the United States, and the most\\neffective means of enforcing them, in order that the government\\nmight, when necessary, act with vigor and certainty, and be justi-\\nfied before the world. The information thus obtained was, from\\ntime to time, published, by order of Congress, for the instruction\\nof the people on points so important but no bill relating to Ore-\\ngon was passed by either house before 1843, nor was any decisive\\nmeasure on the subject adopted by the American government.\\nThe British government was, meanwhile, not unmindful of its\\ninterests in the territories west of the Rocky Mountains. Its views\\nand intentions were not proclaimed to the world annually, in par-\\nliamentary speeches or executive reports but the Admiralty caused\\nthe lower part of the Columbia River, the Bay of San Francisco,\\nand the adjacent coasts of the Pacific, to be carefully surveyed, in\\n1839, by Captain Belcher ;f and the Colonial Office, and Board of\\nTrade, were in constant communication with the governor and di-\\nAmong these documents, the principal are the following, viz. Report to the\\nSenate, with Maps, and a Bill for the Occupation of Oregon presented by Mr. Linn,\\nJune 6th, 1838 Reports of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, of the House of\\nRepresentatives, respecting the Territory of Oregon, with a Map, presented Jan. 4th\\nand Feb. 16th, 1839, by Mr. Gushing, accompanied by a bill to provide for the pro-\\ntection of the citizens of the United States residing in that territory, or trading on\\nthe Columbia River, and various documents in proof Memoir, Historical and Polit-\\nical, on the North- West Coast of North America, and the adjacent Countries, with a\\nMap and a Geographical View of those Countries, by Robert Greenhow, Translator\\nand Librarian to the Department of State presented Feb. 10th, 1840, by Mr. Linn\\n(see Preface to this History) Report of tiie Hon. J. R. Poinsett, Secretary of War,\\nin relation to the establishment of a line of Military Posts from the Missouri River to\\nthe Columbia, 1840 Report of the Military Committee of the House of Representa-\\ntives, on the Subject of the Occupation and Defence of the Colmnbia Countries\\npresented by Mr. Pendleton, May 25tli, 184 2.\\nt Narrative of a Voyage round the World, performed in her Majesty s Ship Sul-\\nphur, during the Years 1836\u00e2\u0080\u00941842, by Captain Sir Edward Belcher, R. N. This\\nlarge and expensive work, though ver} amusing to the general reader, abounds in\\nmisstatements and inconsistencies, and contains scarcely a single fact or observation\\nof importance with regard to the different places visited. The results of the scientific\\ninvestigations, especially the geographical positions of many important points, which\\nwere determined, doubtless, with the utmost accuracy during the voyage, are omitted.\\n48", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0407.jp2"}, "408": {"fulltext": "378 TREATY BETWEEN THE U. STATES AND G. BRITAIN. [1842.\\nrectors of the Hudson s Bay Company, who possessed more exact\\ninformation, on all subjects connected with North- West America,\\nthan could be obtained from any other source. The British gov-\\nernment and the Hudson s Bay Company have, indeed, always\\nacted in concert and the measures devised by them are carried\\ninto execution immediately, without previous reference to the legis-\\nlature. Beyond the limits of the government offices, and of the\\nHudson s Bay House, no one in England seems to have taken the\\nslightest interest in any thing relating to North- West America.\\nIn the spring of 1842, Lord Ashburton arrived at Washington,\\nas minister extraordinary from Great Britain, with instructions and\\npowers to settle certain questions of difl erence between the two\\nnations and it was, at first, generally supposed, in the United\\nStates, and, indeed, in Great Britain, that the establishment of\\nboundaries on the Pacific side of America would be one of the\\nobjects of his mission. A treaty was, however, concluded, in\\nAugust of that year, between him and Mr. Webster, the secretary\\nof state of the United States, in which all the undetermined parts\\nof the line separating the territories of the two powers, on the\\nAtlantic side of America, were defined and settled but no allu-\\nsion was made to any portion of the continent west of the Rocky\\nMountains. Whether or not Lord Ashburton was empowered by\\nhis government to treat for a settlement of the question at issue\\nrespecting the latter territories, no means have yet been afforded for\\nlearning. No mention of countries west of the Rocky Mountains\\nis to be found in the published correspondence relative to the nego-\\ntiation but the question was discussed by the plenipotentiaries, as\\ndeclared in the following passage of President Tyler s message to\\nCongress, at the opening of the session, on the 7th of December,\\n1842: In advance of the acquisition of individual rights to\\nthese lands, [west of the Rocky Mountains,] sound policy dictates\\nthat every effort should be resorted to, by the two governments, to\\nsettle their respective claims. It became evident, at an early hour\\nof the late negotiations, that any attempt, for the time being, satis-\\nfactorily to determine those rights, would lead to a protracted\\ndiscussion, which might embrace in its failure other more pressing\\nmatters and the executive did not regard it as proper to waive all\\nthe advantages of an honorable adjustment of other difficulties, of\\ngreat magnitude and importance, because this, not so immediately\\npressing, stood in the way. Although the difficulties referred to\\nmay not, for several years to come, involve the peace of the two", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0408.jp2"}, "409": {"fulltext": "1842.] BILL IN THE U. S. SENATE FOR OCCUPYING OREGON. 379\\ncountries, yet I shall not delay to urge on Great Britain the impor-\\ntance of its early settlement. The treaty was ratified and defini-\\ntively confirmed by both governments the exclusion of the Oregon\\nquestion from it, however, increased the excitement respecting that\\ncountry in the United States, and an excitement oh the same subject\\nwas soon after created in Great Britain.\\nThe part of the president s message above quoted was referred\\nto the committees on foreign affairs in both houses of Congress\\nand, a few days afterwards, Mr. Linn, one of the senators from\\nMissouri, who had always displayed the strongest interest with re-\\ngard to the territories west of the Rocky Mountains, and had\\nassiduously endeavored to effect their incorporation into the\\nrepublic, brought a bill into the Senate for the occupation and\\nsettlement of the territory of Oregon, and for extending the laws\\nof the United States over it. This bill proposed that the presi-\\ndent cause to be erected, at suitable places and distances, a line\\nof forts, not exceeding five in number, from points on the Missouri\\nand Arkansas Rivers, to the best pass for entering the valley of the\\nColumbia, and also at or near the mouth of that river that six\\nhundred and forty acres of land be granted to every white male\\ninhabitant of Oregon, of the age of eighteen years and upwards,\\nwho shall cultivate and use them for five years, or to his heirs at\\nlaw, in case of his decease, with an addition of one hundred and\\nsixty acres for his wife, and the same for each of his children under\\nthe age of eighteen years that the jurisdiction of the courts of\\nIowa be extended over the countries stretching from that territory,\\nand from the states of Missouri and Arkansas, to the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, and over all countries west of those mountains, between the\\n42d and the 49th parallels and that justices of the peace be\\nappointed for those countries, as now provided by law for Iowa,\\nwho shall have power to arrest and commit for trial all offenders\\nagainst the laws of the United States provided that any subject\\nof Great Britain, who may have been so arrested for crimes or\\nmisdemeanors committed in the countries west of the Rocky\\nMountains, while they remain free and open to the people of\\nboth nations, shall be delivered up to the nearest or most conve-\\nnient British authorities, to be tried according to British laws.\\nThis bill, it will be seen, contained nearly the same provisions as\\nthat which had been discussed in the House of Representatives in\\nthe session of 1828-29,* with the addition of the promise of grants\\nSee p. 355.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0409.jp2"}, "410": {"fulltext": "380 DEBATE IN THE SENATE OF THE U. S. ON OREGON. [1842.\\nof land to the settlers, after a certain period of occupancy. It was\\ndefended, generally, on the grounds that its adoption would be the\\nexercise, by the United States, of rights which were unquestionable,\\nand had been long unjustly withheld from them by Great Britain\\nand that, taking this for granted, it afforded the best means, in all\\nrespects, of making good those rights, and securing to the republic\\nthe ultimate possession of the territories west of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, which must otherwise fall, or rather remain, irretrievably, in\\nthe hands of another power. The opponents to the bill differed in\\ntheir views of its various provisions many w^ere averse to any\\naction whatsoever on the subject at that time, while others con-\\nsidered the measures recommended as impolitic, expensive, and by\\nno means calculated to attain the end proposed but they were\\nunanimous in opinion that the cession of lands in Oregon to\\nAmerican citizens would be an infraction of the convention of\\n1827 W ith Great Britain, and could not, therefore, be legally made\\nuntil that agreement had been rescinded in the manner therein\\nstipulated. In this, as in the other provisions of the bill, however,\\nits advocates were unwilling to make any material change, regarding\\nthem all as essential to the objects in view.\\nMr. Linn, as the proposer of the bill, explained and defended\\neach of its provisions, on the grounds of their justice, of their com-\\npatibility with the existing diplomatic arrangements, and of their\\nefficiency for the attainment of the end in view, namely, the pos-\\nsession of these extensive and valuable territories by the United\\nStates, to which they belong of right. After recapitulating the\\nvarious grounds of that right, he contended that the United States\\nhad been deprived of the privileges of the joint occupancy, secured\\nto them in the convention of 1827, by the encroachments of the\\nHudson s Bay Company, which, under the direct protection of the\\nBritish government, had taken actual possession of the whole terri-\\ntory beyond the Rocky Mountains. Great Britain, he insisted, was\\nthere employing the same policy and mechanism, of a great trading\\ncompany, by means of which she had made her way to the domin-\\nion of India she already practically occupied all that she ever\\nclaimed south and north of the Columbia; her agents had directly\\navowed that she would not give up the establishments which she\\nhad encouraged her subjects to form there and, as a further proof\\nof her intentions, the Hudson s Bay Company had, within a few\\nyears, founded farming settlements on an extensive scale, from\\nwhich large exports of provisions are made to the Russian posts", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0410.jp2"}, "411": {"fulltext": "1843.] DEBATES IN THE SENATE OF THE U. S. ON OREGON. 381\\nand the Sandwich Islands. The bill proposed does not pretend\\nto define the territory of the United States, or to dispossess Great\\nBritain of what she now holds, but merely to do what she has\\nherself done. Can that power object to proceedings, on the part\\nof the United States, similar to her own She has extended her\\njurisdiction over Oregon, has built forts, and set up farming and\\nother establishments. Why cannot the Americans do the same\\nMr. Morehead supported the same views. Examining the con-\\nvention of 1827, he conceived tiiat it provided only for temporary\\noccupation but that the felling of forests, the construction of\\nregular habitations, the fencing in of fields, the regular improve-\\nment of the soil, the fitting up of mills and workshops, and, added\\nto all these, the erection of forts to protect them, as had been\\ndone by the British, in Oregon, meant something more and were\\nintended to constitute a lasting, and, of course, exclusive occupa-\\ntion of the places thus appropriated. Now, these are not merely\\nthe acts of the Hudson s Bay Company they are done under the\\nsanction of the Britisli government, and they form the system\\nadopted every where, by that government, for territorial encroach-\\nment, especially against nations capable of resisting attack.\\nMr. Woodbury took a view somewhat different of the bearing\\nof the convention of 1827, which he regarded as leaving to each\\nparty the right to settle, provided the trade were left free to both\\nin support of which construction, ho cited the declarations of the\\nBritish ministers, during the negotiations on that subject, and the\\nstipulations proposed by them, that neither party should assume\\nor exercise any right of sovereignty or dominion over any part of\\nthe country, and that no settlement then existing, or which\\nmight in future be made, should ever be adduced, by either party,\\nin support or furtherance of such claims of sovereignty or domin-\\nion. For these reasons, and others which he presented, and sup-\\nported by powerful arguments, he considered that the bill should\\npass, and that the United States should no longer hesitate to exercise\\nrights which Great Britain did not scruple to exercise herself.\\nMr. Phelps concurred with Mr. Woodbury in his construction\\nof the convention of 1827, which, he conceived, would not be\\nviolated by the section of the bill providing for grants of land to\\nsettlers. The gi-ants proposed are but prospective. Citizens of\\nthe United States are invited to settle in Oregon, and, after\\nhaving resided there five years, certain portions of land are to be\\nsecured to them. Within those five years, the questions of right", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0411.jp2"}, "412": {"fulltext": "382 DEBATES IN THE SENATE OF THE U. S. ON OREGON. [1843.\\nto the territory will have been determined, and if those who have\\nacted on the faith of the invitation do not then receive the advan-\\ntages promised, their government will, of course, be bound to\\nindemnify them.\\nMr. McRoberts dwelt particularly on the importance of the con-\\nvention of 1790, between Great Britain and Spain the fifth\\narticle of which, according to his construction, assured to Spain\\nthe sovereignty of all the coasts south of Nootka Sound.\\nMr. Henderson considered the bill of no value, without the\\nclause for the appropriation of lands. He regarded the act of the\\nBritish Parliament, extending the jurisdiction of the courts of\\nCanada over Oregon, as taking possession of the country. The\\nUnited States must do the same on their taking the measure now\\nproposed, a conflict of jurisdictions would ensue, which must at once\\ncompel the adjustment of the question of right.\\nMr. Huntingdon, though firmly convinced of the rights of the\\nUnited States to the territory in question, and of the propriety of\\nmaking them good so soon as possible, could not but consider the\\nbill as an infringement of the existing convention with Great\\nBritain. The present state of things should undoubtedly be\\nended, but in the manner provided namely, by giving immediate\\nnotice to Great Britain of the intention of the United States to\\nabrogate that convention at the expiration of a year.\\nMr. Sevier considered that, the justice of the claims of the\\nUnited States being admitted, there should be no delay in taking\\npossession of the country claimed, for which the only means\\nwere, to provide an adequate amount of population within the\\nshortest time. Not only should the lands be granted to them, and\\nforts be built and garrisoned for their protection, but, if necessary,\\na railroad should be made from the Missouri to the Columbia, over\\nwhich emigrants might be conveyed in two or three days.\\nMr. McDuffic opposed the bill in toio. He insisted that its\\nadoption would be a violation of the convention with Great\\nBritain as its tendency was, and could be, no other than to take\\npossession of the country, and to make ready, by all means and\\nappliances, to maintain tliat possession. It was an invitation to\\nthe citizens of the Union not to carry on the fur trade, nor to\\ndo that which the convention permits but to settle permanently.\\nFor such a measure ho denied that any emergency then called.\\nThe question had slept for many years, whilst the United States\\nwere at the height of their prosperity and it was most imprudent", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0412.jp2"}, "413": {"fulltext": "1843.] DEBATES IN THE SENATE OF THE U. S. ON OREGON. 383\\nto bring it up now, when their condition was far otherwise, and\\nto brandish the sword in the face of a powerful opponent, when\\nthere was every probabihty that tiie matter might be arranged\\npeaceably by negotiation. Great Britain had done nothing which\\nindicated an intention to establish for herself an exclusive oc-\\ncupation her forts were nothing more than stockades, made by\\nher traders for their protection against Indians and her subjects\\nhave interfered with American citizens only by underselling them\\nin the commerce with the natives. lie then proceeded to inquire\\nwhat advantages the United States could derive from the terri-\\ntories of which it was proposed, at these hazards and costs, to\\ntake possession. He represented the whole region beyond the\\nRocky Mountains, and a vast tract between that chain and the\\nMississippi, as a desert, utterly without value for agricultural pur-\\nposes, and which no American citizen should be condemned to\\ninhabit, unless as a punishment and he ridiculed the idea that\\nsteam could ever be employed to facilitate communications across\\nthe continent, between the Columbia countries and the states of\\nthe Union. The expenses which the passage of the bill must\\nentail, would, he conceived, be incalculable, whilst no returns\\ncould be expected for them. The fur trade, if advantageous,\\ncould benefit only a few capitalists, for whose advancement the\\nagriculture, commerce, and industry, of the whole republic should\\nnot be taxed. In conclusion, he entreated the Senate to pause\\nto wait a year, or two years, in order to see what might be done\\nby peaceful means, and without a ruinous waste of resources.\\nMr. Calhoun presented a summary of the ground of the claims\\nof the United States and of Great Britain to the territories in\\nquestion, and of the arrangements attempted, as well as of those\\nmade and, reviewing the provisions of the bill, he conceived that\\nit directly violated the subsisting convention on the subject be-\\ntween the two nations. The American government, it is true,\\ndoes not, by this bill, confer grants of land upon its citizens, but\\nit binds itself to do so and that engagement forms a complete\\nreality as to assuming possession. Upon examining all the acts of\\nGreat Britain, with regard to those countries, he could find nothing\\nin them of equal extent and force the act of Parliament of 1821\\nmerely extends the jurisdiction of British laws over British sub-\\njects, and authorizes no possession. He could not but anticipate\\na breach of the peace with Great Britain, if the part of the bill\\nthen before the Senate, relating to e^rants of land, were carried", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0413.jp2"}, "414": {"fulltext": "384 DEBATES IN THE SENATE OF THE U. S. ON OREGON. [1843.\\ninto effect all its other provisions he regarded favorably, and he\\nVi as resolved to contribute, so far as lay in his power, to the main-\\ntenance of all the rights of the United States which could be\\nexercised conformably with the convention of 1827. He believed\\nthe possession of the countries of the Columbia to be important to\\nthe United States in many respects but that the period was not\\ncome when their occupation should be attempted at the risk of a\\nwar with the most powerful nation of the earth. Time, he con-\\nsidered, would do more for the United States than they could do\\nby immediate action themselves: the advance of their citizens over\\nthe western regions had been already rapid beyond all the calcu-\\nlations of the most sanguine statesme^n no extraordinary means\\nwere required from their government to accelerate it. He was\\ndesirous to give to the bill all the attention which its importance\\nrequired and he hoped that it would be recommitted to the\\ncommittee on foreign relations, whose report would doubtless\\nthrow additional light on the subject.\\nMr. Benton entered at length into the history of discovery and\\nsettlement on the west coasts of North America reviewing, at the\\nsame time, the various conventions between civilized nations with\\nregard to it. He considered the right of the United States to\\nthe whole territory, as far north as the 49th parallel of latitude,\\nto be determined by the possession of Louisiana, the northern\\nboundary of which he asserted to have been fixed at that parallel,\\nby commissaries appointed agreeably to the treaty of Utrecht.\\nHe painted in glowing colors the agricultural advantages of the\\nterritory, which he regarded as inferior in that respect to none in\\nthe world, and the importance of its rivers, which were, in his\\nview, destined to serve as the channels for the conveyance of the\\nteas and silks of China to the Atlantic regions of both continents.\\nHe strongly recommended the passage of the bill, and he was\\nprepared for war, if necessary, rather than surrender any portion\\nof the country in question.\\nMr. Choate opposed the provision in the bill for grants of land\\nbut in all other particulars he was entirely in favor of it. He con-\\ntended that, agreeably to the convention of 18:27, still subsisting,\\nneither government, as a government, could do any thing to divest\\nthe citizens or subjects of the other of the enjoyment of the\\ncommon freedom of the country and if the subjects or citizens\\nof either made establishments there, they did so at their own\\nrisk, and neither government was called to interfere. If this bill", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0414.jp2"}, "415": {"fulltext": "1843.] DEBATES IN THE SENATE OF THE U. S. ON OREGON. 385\\nwere passed, its effect must be to hinder some part of the territory\\nfrom being open, except as regards American citizens. He was\\nwilling that the United States should, as Great Britain had done,\\nand as permitted by the convention, extend their jurisdiction over\\nall the countries to which the bill applies, and erect forts where\\nneeded but not do more. If they had not done so earlier, it\\nwas to be attributed to their own supineness, not to the injustice\\nof the other party. In conclusion, he considered the matter as\\nopen for negotiation, and that no time should be lost in terminating\\nthe questions at issue and, as the first step, he would recommend\\nthat notice be given to Great Britain of the intention of the United\\nStates to abrogate the existing convention at the end of a year.\\nMr. Berrien objected to the bill proposed, on many grounds, as\\nto its principles and its details. The question was one of the\\nutmost gravity, of a future empire, to be founded in the west,\\nby the institutions and commerce of the United States, a ques-\\ntion with which weighty considerations are complicated, including\\nan important compact with a foreign, power. That power has its\\nown views on this question, at variance with those of the United\\nStates, but in which she doubtless believes as fully. This bill,\\nhowever, supposes all the right to be on the side of the Union,\\nwhich is thus legislating upon an ex parte decision. The territory,\\nwhich forms the subject of the discussion, is a barren and savage\\nregion, as yet unoccupied by the people of either nation, except\\nfor hunting, fishing, and trading with the natives all which are\\nconducted freely and equally by the people of both nations, under\\nthe faith of a convention to that effect and by the side of this\\ncompact a bill is placed, which assumes and engages to give the\\nsoil itself, and all that goes with it, not merely for the term of the\\nduration of the convention, but as long as the grass shall grow\\nor the waters shall flow. The patents, thus granted, would bar\\nall British subjects from particular spots and the act of granting\\nthem, being a clear and positive appropriation, by the American\\ngovernment, of that domain, would certainly be a violation of the\\ncompact. It has been alleged that the patents are not imme-\\ndiate, but provisional that the government pledges itself to issue\\nthem to those entitled to receive them, at the end of five years\\nbut there is no difference between these two forms of the act of a\\ngovernment of a perpetual body; the parties are put into\\npresent possession, and protection is promised to them there. The\\nbil!, moreover, violates the faith of the political contract at home,\\n49", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0415.jp2"}, "416": {"fulltext": "386 DEBATES IN THE SENATE OF THE U. S. ON OREGON. [r843.\\nby interfering with the treaty-making power of the executive.\\nThe adjustment of the matter by negotiation with Great Britain\\nis only postponed, in order that it may be soon resumed, with a\\nprospect of accommodation and it is most inexpedient, at such\\na moment, to interfere with the legitimate organ of the govern-\\nment for such functions. Should the bill pass, it would warrant,\\nin his opinion, the exercise, by the president, of the qualified veto,\\ngiven to him by the constitution, for the protection of the peculiar\\nprerogative of his office.\\nMr. Archer directed his attention chiefly to what he considered\\nas the two great points presented for consideration by this bill\\nnamely, the consistency of the provision for granting allodial\\ntitles to lands in Oregon, with the stipulations of the convention\\nof 1827 and the general policy of accelerating the settlement\\nof that territory by the people of the United States. Upon the\\nfirst point he showed, by reference to the proceedings and results\\nof the several negotiations between the United States and Great\\nBritain on the subject, that the title to the territory had been the\\nonly question discussed that no agreement on that question had\\never been attained and that the two governments, finding it im-\\npossible to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, had, by the con-\\nvention, dissoluble at the pleasure of either, left the country\\nequally free to the people of both. The title was thus in suspense,\\nand with it were suspended all the privileges flowing therefrom,\\nexcept those of temporary use most especially was suspended\\nthe right to grant a property in the soil and if this were not the\\ntrue meaning and intention of the agreement, it was vain and\\nuseless. No breach of the contract on the part of Great Britain\\nhad been proved the people of that nation had indeed gained\\nadvantages in trade over the citizens of the United States yet it\\nwas not by constraint or intimidation, but by greater dexterity in\\nbusiness, which involved no contravention of stipulations, and\\ncould authorize no contravention on the other side. If the present\\nbill should become a law, the United States must be prepared to\\nmaintain and execute all its provisions and Great Britain, though,\\nlike the United States, directly interested in the continuance of\\npeace, would, if she viewed the measures in question as an in-\\nfringement of the convention, stand upon that point, when she\\nmight not stand upon the value of the territory. War might be\\nthe consequence and it was proper to consider on which side\\nthe advantages would be in the contest, and what would be its\\nI", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0416.jp2"}, "417": {"fulltext": "1843.] DEBATES IN THE SENATE OF THE U. S. ON OREGON. 387\\nresults. In any case, whether or not war should ensue, the ques-\\ntion of the possession of Oregon could only be decided by nego-\\ntiation and if, at the end of a war, the United States should\\nobtain all that they here claim, it would be but a poor recompense\\nfor the evils and costs incurred. With regard to the policy of\\naccelerating the settlement of the territory west of the Rocky\\nMountains, by American citizens, Mr. Archer coincided nearly in\\nopinion with Mr. McDuffie he considered that territory as of\\nlittle value to any nation the part near the coast alone contained\\nland fit for agricultural purposes, and there were no harbors which\\nwere or could be rendered tolerable. The United States had\\nseven hundred millions of acres of land east of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains still vacant, of which a large portion was more fertile and\\nsalubrious than any other lands, wherever they might be, even in\\nOregon these should be occupied before the population could\\nwith reason be urged to establish themselves in the latter country.\\nIn conclusion, he had no objection to the extension of the juris-\\ndiction of the United States to the Pacific, in the manner proposed\\nby the bill, or to the erection of forts on the Columbia, if they\\nshould be found necessary or to any other measure which might\\nbe taken, pari passu, with Great Britain, not inconsistent with re-\\nciprocal stipulations but he should oppose the provision respecting\\ngrants of land, not only for the reasons already given, but also\\nbecause it would tend to defeat the very object of the bill, namely,\\nthe ultimate possession of the country west of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains by the United States.\\nTo the objections thus made to his bill, Mr. Linn replied at\\nlength, displaying considerable ingenuity of argument, particularly\\nwith the object of showing that all whicii was thereby openly pro-\\nposed had been already done in a covert manner by Great Britain.\\nHe dwelt on the great importance of the Oregon countries, on\\nthe vast extent of lands on the Columbia and its tributary streams,\\nwhich were said to exceed in productiveness any in the states\\nof the Union, and on the number and excellence of the harbors\\non those coasts, the use of which was imperatively required by\\nthe American whaling vessels employed in the adjacent ocean,\\non the facility with which travel and transportation might be\\neffected across the continent, by means of ordinary roads at pres-\\nent, and by railroads hereafter and he produced a number of\\nletters, reports, and other documents from various sources, con-\\nfirming all these statements. Finally, he appealed to the honor", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0417.jp2"}, "418": {"fulltext": "388 CONSIDERATIONS ON THE CONVENTION OF 1827. [1843.\\nand generosity of the nation, for its protection to the American\\ncitizens already estabUshed in Oregon, who had gone thither ia\\nconfidence that such aid would be extended to them, and were\\ngroaning under the oppressions of the Hudson s Bay Company.*\\nPrevious to the final vote, Mr. Archer endeavored to have the\\nclause respecting the grants of lands struck out but his motion\\ndid not prevail, and on the 3d of February, 1843, the bill w^as\\npassed by the Senate, twenty-four being for and twenty-two\\nagainst it. It was immediately sent to the House of Representa-\\ntives, in which a report against its passage was made by Mr.\\nAdams, the chairman of the committee on foreign affairs the\\nsession, however, expired without any debate on the subject in\\nthat House.\\nIn order to determine whether the bill for the occupation of\\nOregon, passed by the Senate of the United States, in 1843, could,\\nif it had become a law, have been carried into fulfilment without a\\nbreach of public faith, until after the abrogation of the existing\\nconvention with Great Britain, in the manner therein stipulated, it\\nwill be necessary first to analyze that convention, and to reduce\\nthe various permissions, requirements and prohibitions, involved in\\nit, to their simplest expressions. The two nations, on agreeing,\\nas by that convention, to leave the territory west of the Rocky\\nMountains, with its waters, free and open to the citizens and\\nsubjects of both, of course agreed that neither should exercise\\nany exclusive dominion, or do any thing calculated to hinder the\\npeople of the other from enjoying the promised advantages in any\\npart of that territory. Each nation, of course, reserved to itself\\nthe right to provide for the maintenance of peace and the admin-\\nistration of justice among its own citizens, and to appoint agents\\nfor that purpose it was, indeed, the duty of each, as a civilized\\npower, to do so without delay and it was morally imperative upon\\nthem to enter into a supplementary compact for the exercise of\\nconcurrent jurisdiction, in cases affecting the persons or interests\\nof subjects or citizens of both, unless provision to that effect\\nshould have already been made in some other way. Finally, as\\nthe country was inhabited by tribes of savages, the citizens and\\nsubjects of each of the civilized nations residing therein might\\nThis was destined to be the last effort of Mr. Linn for the advancement of the\\ncause to which he had so long devoted his powerful energies. He expired on the\\n3d of October, 1843, at his residence in St. Genevieve, Missouri, without warning,\\nand probably without a struggle.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0418.jp2"}, "419": {"fulltext": "1843.] CONSIDERATIONS ON THE CONVENTION OF 1827. 389\\ntake precautions for their defence against attacks from those\\nsavages, by mihtary organization among themselves, and by the\\nerection of the fortifications necessary for that special purpose\\nand it here again became the duty of the contracting parties to\\nsettle by compact the manner in which their governments might\\njointly or separately aid their people in such defence.\\nAs the advantages offered to the citizens or subjects of the two\\nnations are not defined, the terms of the convention relating to\\nthem are to be understood in their most extensive favorable sense\\nincluding the privileges, not only of fishing, hunting, and trading\\nwith the natives, but also of clearing and cultivating the ground,\\nand using or disposing of the products of such labor in any\\npeaceful way, and of making any buildings, dams, dikes, canals,\\nbridges, roads, ,c., which the private citizens or subjects of the\\nparties might make in their own countries under no other restric-\\ntions or limitations than those contained in the clause of the con-\\nvention providing for the freedom and openness of the territory\\nand waters, or those which might be imposed by the respective\\ngovernments.\\nThis appears to be the amount of the permissions, requirements,\\nand prohibitions, of the convention and, had the two governments\\ndone all that is here demanded, no difficulties could have been\\nreasonably apprehended so long, at least, as the territory in ques-\\ntion remains thinly peopled. These things, however, have not all\\nbeen done not only has no supplementary compact been made\\nbetween the two nations, but the government of the United States\\nhas neglected to secure the protection of their laws to their citi-\\nzens, who have thus, doubtless, in part, been prevented from\\ndrawing advantages from the convention equal to those long since\\nenjoyed by British subjects, under the security of the prompt and\\nefficient measures of their government.\\nIf this view of the existing convention between the United\\nStates and Great Britain, relative to the territory west of the\\nRocky Mountains, be correct, and embrace all its permissions and\\nprohibitions, neither of the parties could be justified, during the\\nsubsistence of the agreement, in ordering the erection of forts at\\nthe mouth of the Columbia, where they certainly are not required\\nfor protection against any third power, and in promising to secure\\nlarge tracts of land in that territory, by patent, to its citizens or\\nsubjects. Had the bill passed by the Senate in 1843 become a\\nlaw, the convention would from that moment have been virtually", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0419.jp2"}, "420": {"fulltext": "390 DEBATE IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT ON OREGON. [1S43.\\nand violently rescinded and any attempt to enforce the measures\\nwould undoubtedly have been resisted by Great Britain. The\\nabrogation of the convention, in the manner therein provided, or\\nin some other way, by common consent of the parties, should\\nprecede all attempts, by either, to occupy any spot in the territory\\npermanently and whenever the government of either nation\\nconsiders the time to be near, in which such occupation, by its own\\ncitizens or subjects, will be indispensable, it should endeavor to\\nsettle, by negotiation with the other power, some mode of effecting\\nthat object, before giving notice of its intention to abrogate the\\nagreement for such a notice can only be regarded as the an-\\nnouncement of the determination of the party giving it to take\\nforcible possession of the territory at the end of the term.\\nThe reports of the debates in the American Senate on the bill\\nfor the occupation of Oregon, reached England while the treaty,\\nrecently concluded at Washington, was under consideration in\\nParliament and they did not fail to elicit some observations in\\nthe House of Commons. Lord Palmerston, the late secretary for\\nforeign affairs, and then leader of the opposition, pronounced\\nthat, if the bill should pass, and be acted on, it would be equiva-\\nlent to a declaration of war, as it would be the invasion and\\nseizure of a territory in dispute, by virtue of a decree made by\\none of the parties in its own favor. Mr. Macaulay, who had been\\nthe secretary of war under the previous administration, con-\\nceived that the fact of the passage of such a bill by the Senate,\\na body comprising among its members a large portion of the men\\nof the greatest weight and most distinguished ability in the United\\nStates, showed a highly-excited condition of the public mind in\\nthat country. Mr. Blewitt quoted the words of one of the\\nsenators in the debate, as being a most violent attack on England\\nand he regarded the mode in which the matter had been dealt\\nwith in the Senate as an insult to his nation. Sir Robert Peel,\\nthe premier, in answer, simply stated, that communications of\\na friendly nature, on the subject of Oregon, were then going\\non between the two governments, a proposition having been\\naddressed to the United States, for considering the best means of\\neffecting a conciliatory adjustment of the questions respecting\\nthose territories and that, if the bill introduced into the American\\nSenate had passed both Houses of Congress, it would not have\\nreceived the sanction of the executive, which had given assur-\\nances of its anxiety to settle those questions by negotiation.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0420.jp2"}, "421": {"fulltext": "1843.] EMIGRATION FROM THE U. STATES T O OREGON. 391\\nThis last declaration from Sir Robert Peel was confirmed by the\\npresident of the United States, in his message sent to Congress on\\nthe 5th of December following; and, in February, 1844, the Hon-\\norable Richard Pakenham arrived in Washington, as minister pleni-\\npotentiary from Great Britain, with full instructions to treat for a\\ndefinitive arrangement of the disputed points relative to the coun-\\ntries west of the Rocky Mountains.*\\nIn the mean time, the excitement in the United States with re-\\ngard to the immediate occupation of Oregon, as well as the difficul-\\nties of effecting an amicable arrangement of the questions with Great\\nBritain respecting that country, had increased and become more\\ngeneral. In each year since 1838, small parties of emigrants had set\\nout from Missouri for the Columbia but they had suffered so much\\non their way, from hunger, thirst, fatigue, and a dread of Indians,\\nthat few had reached the place of their destination, and those who\\nreturned to the United States gave accounts of their expeditions by\\nno means calculated to induce otliers to follow them. On exam-\\nining these accounts, however, it appeared that in all cases the par-\\nties had been insuflScient in numbers, or were not provided with the\\nrequisite supplies, or were guided and commanded by incompetent\\npersons besides which, nothing like an assurance of protection, after\\nthey should have made their settlements, was afforded by their gov-\\nernment. On the faith of the promise of such protection, held out\\nby the passage through the Senate of the bill for the immediate\\noccupation of Oregon, a thousand persons, men, women, and chil-\\ndren, assembled at Westport, near the Missouri River, on the fron-\\ntier of the state of Missouri, from which they began their march to\\nOregon, with a large number of wagons, horses, and cattle, in June,\\n1843.f They pursued the route along the banks of the Platte,\\nand its northern branch, which had been carefully surveyed in the\\npreceding year by Lieutenant Fremont, of the United States army,f\\nto the South Pass, in the Rocky Mountains thence through the\\nvalleys of the Green and Bear Rivers to the Hudson s Bay Compa-\\nny s post, called Fort Hall, on the Lewis and thence, in separate\\nparties, to the Willamet valley, where they arrived in October. Their\\njourney, of more than two thousand miles, was, of course, laborious\\nand fatiguing they were subjected to many difficulties and priva-\\ntions, and seven of their party died on the way, from sickness\\nSir Robert Peel s speech in the House of Commons, February Gth, 1S44.\\nt See the interesting report and map of Lieutenant Fremont, published by order of\\nthe Senate, in the spring of 1843.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0421.jp2"}, "422": {"fulltext": "392 AMERICAN EMIGRANTS TO OREGON. [1843.\\nor accident.* Their numbers and discipline, however, enabled them\\nto set at defiance the Sioux and the Blackfeet, those Tartars of the\\nAmerican stejjpes, who could only gaze from a distance at the\\ncrowd of pale-faces leaving the sunny valleys of the Mississippi for\\nthe rugged wilds of the Columbia. Upon the whole, the difficulties\\nwere less than had been anticipated, even by the most sanguine\\npartisans of the immediate occupation of Oregon and the success\\nof the expedition encouraged a still greater number to follow in\\n1844, before the end of which year the number of American citi-\\nzens in Oregon exceeded three thousand.\\nThe increase of the numbers of American citizens in Oregon was\\nnoticed by the president, in his Message to Congress of the 5th of\\nDecember following, in which he repeated the assurance that every\\nproper means would be used to bring the negotiation recently re-\\nnewed with Great Britain to a speedy termination and he strongly\\nrecommended the immediate establishment of military posts at\\nplaces on the line of route to the Columbia. In the course of the\\nsession, each House of Congress received various memorials, pe-\\ntitions, and resolutions, from State legislatures, all urging the govern-\\nment to adopt measures for the immediate establishment of the right\\nof the United States to the countries beyond the Rocky Mountains\\nand several bills having in view the same object were introduced\\nand debated, though none of them were passed by either branch of\\nthe federal legislature. Of these bills, some were nearly identical\\nwith that which had been passed by the Senate in the preceding ses-\\nsion the others were to the effect, that notice should be immedi\\nately given to the British government of the intention of the United\\nStates to terminate the convention of 1827, in the time and man-\\nner therein provided. The debates were continued in both houses,\\nIt may be here remarked, that, on the 1st of July, 1843, while this crowd of men,\\nwomen, and children, with their wagons, horses, and cattle, were quietly pursuing their\\nway across the continent, to the regions of the lower Columbia, an article appeared in the\\nEdinburgh Review a journal commonly well informed, and fair in its views on Amer-\\nican matters in which it was affirmed, ex-cnthcdra, that Hoiccrcr the jwiitical\\nquestions between England and Jlmerica, as to the oicncrship of Oregon, may be decided,\\nOregon will never be colonized overland from the United States. The Reviewer\\nasserts that The world must assume a neioface, before the Jlmcrican wagons make\\nplain the road to the Columbia as they have done to the Ohio/, and he determines that\\nIVJioever, therefore, is to be the future owner of Oregon, its people will come from Eu-\\nrope. This is not the first occasion, in which European predictions, implying doubts\\nas to the energy of American citizens, and their capacity to execute what they have\\nundertaken, have been contradicted by facts, so soon as uttered. The American\\nemigrants reached Oregon by a road which nature has made as plain as that from\\nthe Atlantic to the Ohio and no one will question their power to maintain them-\\nselves there, if any people can do so.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0422.jp2"}, "423": {"fulltext": "1844.] DEBATES IN CONGRESS. 393\\nfor some time, embracing not only all the questions connected with\\nthe claim of the United States to Oregon, but also incidentally, that\\nrespecting the north-eastern boundary of theRepublic,which had been\\nalready settled by the treaty of Washington. The abrogation of the\\nconvention was defended, as a legitimate and unexceptionable means\\nof opening Oregon to American citizens, from which they were\\nnow wholly excluded and as offering to those desirous of emi-\\ngrating thither, some guarantee of future protection by their govern-\\nment. It was opposed chiefly on the ground that a negotiation\\nrespecting the rights of the two claimant powers, was about to be\\nopened, agreeably to an invitation from the American government\\nand that it would be impolitic if not improper and indecorous thus\\nto determine what was declared to be a subject for discussion as\\nthe notice of the intention to annul the agreement could only be\\ninterpreted as a direct assertion of absolute right, and of a resolu-\\ntion to maintain that right by force, if necessary, at the end of the\\nperiod prescribed. The advocates of abrogation were averse to\\nany further negotiations contending that in all those entered into\\nupon this subject, the United States had suffered, and that the\\nBritish were only anxious to gain time, and thus to continue the\\nexclusion of American citizens, until they could themselves occupy\\nthe whole territory but if a negotiation should now be com-\\nmenced it would end before the expiration of the period stated in\\nthe notice when either some new arrangement would have been\\nmade, or it would be seen that Great Britain was resolved to con-\\ntest the claim of the United States at all hazards. On the other\\nhand it was insisted that the British could never occupy the coun-\\ntry that they could use it only for the fur trade, which was de-\\nclining rapidly, and must speedily cease and that Oregon would\\ncome into the possession of the Americans by quiet and silent emi-\\ngration, as soon as could be reasonably desired, if not sooner.\\nEqually different were the anticipations of the two parties, as to\\nthe results of a war with Great Britain, if it should be occasioned\\nby the measure proposed the one holding up defeat, devastation,\\ndestruction of commerce, and dissolution or dismemberment of the\\nUnion, as the probable consequences, while the other seemed to^\\nentertain no doubt that it would lead to the overthrow of the\\nBritish dominions in North America.\\nAt the commencement of the ensuing session of Congress, the\\nPresident declared, in his message, that a negotiation had been for-\\nmally begun, and was pending between the secretary of state and\\n50", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0423.jp2"}, "424": {"fulltext": "894 NEGOTIATIONS IN PROGRESS. [1844.\\nher Britannic majesty s minister plenipotentiary, relative to the rights\\nof the respective nations to Oregon. The report of the secretary of\\nw^ar, accompanying this message, contained a recommendation, for\\nthe establishment of a territorial government over the region traversed\\nby the river Platte, between the States of Missouri and Arkansas\\non the east, and the Rocky Mountains on the west, and for the for-\\nmation of military posts on the line of route from those States to\\nOregon and California. Agreeably to this recommendation, bills\\nwere introduced into the House of Representatives for establishing\\nsuch a government over the country above described, which was to\\nbe called the Nebraska Territory, and for extending the jurisdiction\\nof its courts over Oregon but they were not made the subject of\\ndebate during the session. A bill for the immediate occupation of\\nOregon under a territorial government, and for abrogating the Con-\\nvention of 1827, in the manner provided by that agreement, was\\nhowever passed in the House of Representatives, but it was not dis-\\ncussed in the Senate. With regard to the measures last mentioned\\nnothing will be here said, in addition to what has already been ob-\\nserved. The propositions for establishing a territorial government\\nover the Nebraska country, and for extending the benefit of its laws\\nto Oregon, appear to have combined every legislative provision\\nrequired by present circumstances, to maintain the rights of the\\nUnited States, and to ensure protection to their citizens beyond the\\nRocky Mountains. On the 19th of February, 1845, the President\\ninformed Congress, by a message, that considerable progress had\\nbeen made in the negotiation with Great Britain, which had been\\ncarried on in a very amicable spirit, and there was reason to hope\\nthat it might be speedily terminated but nothing farther was com-\\nmunicated on the subject during that session, or during the extra\\nsession of the Senate in March.\\nThe history of the western section of North America has now\\nbeen brought down to as late a period as the information obtained\\nrespecting that part of the world could warrant. Accounts have\\nbeen presented of all the expeditions, discoveries, settlements, and\\nother events, worthy record, and of all the claims and pretensions\\nadvanced by civilized nations, and all the disputes, negotiations, and\\nconventions between their governments, relative to these territories.\\nIt has been shown that the discovery of the west coast of the\\ncontinent, certainly as far north as the 49th degree of latitude.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0424.jp2"}, "425": {"fulltext": "1844.] GENERAL REVIEW. 395\\nand probably much farther, and of the western sides of the west-\\nernmost islands flanking that continent, between the 49th and\\n56th degrees, is due entirely to the Spaniards that these coasts\\nwere subsequently explored more minutely by the navigators of\\nGreat Britain, Spain, and the United States, previous to their\\nmore complete survey by the subjects of Great Britain under Van-\\ncouver after which, the vast territories of the interior, drained\\nby the Columbia, were first traversed and examined by the citizens\\nof the American Union, under Lewis and Clarke, in 1805-6\\nWith regard to occupation, it has been proved conclusively, that no\\nestablishment whatever was made by any civilized people except\\nSpaniards and Russians, in any part of the western section of North\\nAmerica, until 1806, when the first British post west of the Rocky\\nMountains was founded on the upper waters of Frazer s River, near\\nthe 54th degree of latitude and that the earliest establishments\\nin the countries drained by the Columbia, which had been first\\ndiscovered and first explored by the Spaniards and the citizens of\\nthe United States, were made in 1809 and the four succeeding\\nyears by the people of the latter republic.\\nOf the international questions, arising from these discoveries and\\nsettlements, the only serious one now remaining undetermined is\\nthat betvveea the United States and Great Britain, involving nothing\\nless than the right of possessing the vast territories of the Colum-\\nbia, commonly called Oregon. Concerning this question, it has\\nbeen shown, that the United States asserted their right against\\nGreat Britain in 1815, as founded upon the discoveries and settle-\\nments of their citizens, made prior to any by the other party and\\nthat having obtained by the Florida treaty, in 1819, all the titles of\\nSpain to those countries, their government has ever since claimed\\nthe exclusive sovereignty over them, though it has more than once\\noffered, for the sake of peace, to surrender to Great Britain all north\\nof the 49th parallel of latitude. On the other hand, it has been\\nshown that the British government first claimed the possession of\\nthe Columbia regions in 1815, on the ground of their having\\nbeen early taken possession of in the name of their sovereign, and\\never since considered as part of his dominions and then in 1824,\\nin virtue of settlements alleged to have been made by British sub-\\njects, coeval with, if not prior to, any by American citizens after\\nwhich, repeated and direct assertions of positive right, that power\\ndeclared officially in 1826, that she claimed no exclusive sovereignty\\nover any portion of those territories, limiting her pretensions re-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0425.jp2"}, "426": {"fulltext": "396 Hudson s bay company s system. fl844.\\nspecting them, to a right of joint occupancy with other states,\\nagreeably to the Nootka Convention between herself and Spain, in\\n1790, and leaving the right of sovereignty in abeyance. On the\\nclaim of Great Britain, thus formally reduced to specific terms, it\\nhas been considered sufficient to show, that, agreeably to the usages\\nof nations, and to the never-failing practice of that power, as main-\\ntained by her government, particularly in the negotiation with the\\nUnited States in 1816, respecting the Newfoundland fishery,* the\\nNootka Convention expired in 1796, and has ever since remained a\\ndead letter.\\nThe British government cannot continue to uphold the sub-\\nsistence of the Nootka Convention, upon which all its claims were\\nthus made to rest, in 1827, without direcdy impugning its own\\ndeclaration that Great Britain knows no exception to the rule\\nthat all treaties are put an end to by a subsequent war between the\\nsame parties as well as the legality of its present occupation of\\nthe Falkland Islands, from which the British are excluded by that\\nconvention nor can the United States and their government\\nsubmit to such various interpretations of the same national law.\\nFrom the negotiation now in progress, neither the records of the\\nformer discussions, nor subsequent events, nor the present state of\\nthe parties, encourage the hope for any definite settlement of the\\nquestions at issue, that is to say, of the boundaries west of the\\nRocky Mountains though possibly some change in the existing\\nconvention, or some supplement to it may be effected, or more\\nprobably its immediate abrogation may be the consequence and\\nunder this view it will be proper to present some concluding obser-\\nvations on the condition of the countries, and their inhabitants,\\nsubject to those stipulations.\\nThe countries to which the convention of 1827 applies, have un-\\ntil a recent period, been, so far as regards the advantages derived\\nfrom them, entirely in the possession of Great Britain while the\\nUnited States, the other party to that treaty, have only secured the\\ncontinuance of their title unimpaired. The British represented first\\nby the North- West Company, and afterwards by the Hudson s Bay\\nCompany, have enjoyed the quiet and almost exclusive use of the\\nColumbia regions from 1814 to 1840. That the people of the Uni-\\nted States did not participate in these advantages, doubtless arose\\nprincipally from the circumstance, that they could render their ex-\\nSee page 318.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0426.jp2"}, "427": {"fulltext": "1844.] Hudson s bay company s treatment of Indians. 397\\nertions more productive elsewhere and also probably because their\\ngovernment, from its nature, could not afford them assurances and\\nfacilities for organization, similar to those which have imparted so\\nmuch vigor and efficiency to the operations of the British.\\nThe Hudson s Bay Company thus assisted and protected in every\\nway by its government, became a powerful body. The field for its\\nlabors was at once vastly increased by the license to trade, in exclu-\\nsion of all other British subjects, in the countries west of the Rocky\\nMountains, where the fur-bearing animals were more abundant than\\nin any other part of the world while the extension of the jurisdic-\\ntion of the Canada courts over the whole division of the continent,\\nto which its charters apply, and the appointment of its own agents\\nas magistrates, in those regions, gave all that could have been de-\\nsired for the enforcement of its regulations. The arrangement made\\nwith the Russian American Company, through the intervention of\\nthe two governments, secured the most advantageous limits in the\\nnorth-west and the position assumed by Great Britain, in the dis-\\ncussions with the United States, respecting Oregon, were calculated\\nto increase the confidence of the Company, in the strength of its\\ntenure of that country, and to encourage greater efforts.\\nIn addition to the aid thus derived from government, the consti-\\ntution of the Hudson s Bay Company is such as to secure know-\\nledge and prudence in council, and readiness and exactness in exe-\\ncution. The proceedings of its directors, by whom all general\\norders and regulations are issued, and all accounts are comptrolled,\\nare enveloped as much as possible, in secrecy all communications\\nwhich are likely to be published, being expressed in terms of studied\\ncaution, and affording only the details absolutely required. The\\nnumber of persons in its employ is small, considering the amount of\\nduties performed by them tiie manner of their admission into th\\nservice, the training to which they are subjected, and the expectations\\nheld out to them, being calculated to render their efficiency and\\ndevotion to the general interests, as great as possible. The strictest\\ndiscipline, regularity and economy are enforced throughout the\\nCompany s territories and the magistrates appointed under the act\\nof parliament, for the preservation of tranquillity, are seldom called\\nto exercise their powers, except in the settlement of trifling dis-\\nputes.\\nIn the treatment of the aborigines of these countries, the Hud-\\nson s Bay Company appears to have admirably combined and recon-\\nciled policy with humanity. The prohibition to supply them with", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0427.jp2"}, "428": {"fulltext": "398 Hudson s bay company s treatment of Indians. [1844.\\nardent spirits, appears to be rigidly enforced. Schools for the in\\nstruction of their children are established at all the principal trading\\nposts, each of which also contains a hospital for sick Indians, and\\noffers employment for those disposed to work, whilst hunting cannot\\nbe carried on. Missionaries of various sects are encouraged to en-\\ndeavor to convert them to Christianity, and to induce them to adopt\\nthe usages of civilized life, so far as may be consistent with the na-\\nture of the labors required for their support and attempts are made,\\nat great expense, to collect them in villages, on tracts where the\\nclimate and soil are most favorable for agriculture. Particular care\\nis extended to the education of the half-breed children, the offspring\\nof the marriage or concubinage of the traders with the Indian\\nwomen, who are retained, and bred as far as possible among the\\nwhite people, and are employed, whenever they are found capable,\\nin the service of the Company. As there are few or no white\\nwomen in those territories, except in the Red River settlements, it\\nmay be easily seen that the half-breeds must in time form a large if\\nnot an important portion of the native population.\\nThe conduct of the Hudson s Bay Company in these respects is\\ncertainly worthy of commendation. It is however to be observed,\\nthat of the whole territory placed under the authority of that body,\\neither by its charter or by license, only a few small portions are\\ncapable of being rendered productive by agriculture from the re-\\nmainder of the country, nothing of value in comrr\\\\erce can be ob-\\ntained except furs, and those articles can be procured in greater\\nquantities and at less cost, by the labor of the Indians, than by any\\nother means. There is, consequently, no object in expelling or\\ndestroying the natives who occupy no land required for other pur-\\nposes and can never be dangerous from their numbers while on\\nthe contrary, there is a direct and evident motive of interest to pre-\\nserve and conciliate them, and the Company certainly employs the\\nbest methods to attain those ends. By the system above described,\\nthe natural shyness and distrust of the savages have been in a great\\nmeasure removed the ties which bound together the members of\\nthe various tribes have been loosened, and extensive combinations\\nfor any purpose have become impossible. The dependence of the\\nIndians upon the Company is at the same time rendered entire and\\nabsolute for having abandoned the use of all their former arms,\\nhunting and fishing implements, and clotlies, they can no longer\\nsubsist without the guns, ammunition, fish-hooks, blankets and other\\nsimilar articles, which they receive only from the British traders.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0428.jp2"}, "429": {"fulltext": "1844.] HUDSON S BAY COMPANY S TREATMENT OF AMERICANS. 399\\nThe position of the Hudson s Bay Company towards these people,\\nis thus wholly different from that of the East India Company, with\\nrespect to the Chinese the motives of the former body to prohibit\\nthe introduction of spirits among the Indians, being no less strong\\nthan those of the latter, to favor the consumption of opium in\\nChina.\\nThe course observed by the Hudson s Bay Company towards\\nAmerican citizens, in the territory west of the Rocky Mountains,\\nhas been equally unexceptionable, and yet equally poUtic. All the\\nmissionaries and emigrants from the United States, and indeed all\\nstrangers from whatsoever country they might come, have been re-\\nceived at the establishments of the company on the Columbia with\\nthe utmost kindness and hospitality, and aided in the prosecution of\\ntheir objects, so far and so long as those objects were not commer-\\ncial. But no sooner did any one unconnected with the Company,\\nattempt to hunt, or trap, or to trade with the natives, than all the\\nforce of the body was immediately turned towards him. There is\\nno evidence or well-founded suspicion, that violent means have ever\\nbeen employed by the company, directly or indirectly, to defeat the\\nefforts of its rivals. Many American citizens have been murdered\\nby the Indians west of the Rocky Mountains but many more ser-\\nvants of the Hudson s Bay Company have suffered in the same way.\\nIndeed, violent means would have been unnecessary on the part of\\nthe Company, whilst it enjoyed advantages so great over all other\\ncompetitors in trade, by its organization, its wealth, and the know-\\nledge of the country possessed by its agents. Wherever an Ameri-\\ncan port has been established, or an American party has been en-\\ngaged in trading on the Columbia, an agent of the Hudson s Bay has\\nsoon appeared in the same quarter, at the head of a number of ex-\\nperienced hunters, or with a large amount of specie or merchandise\\non hand, to be given to the Indians foi furs, on terms much lower\\nthan the Americans could offer and the latter, thus finding their\\nlabors vain, were soon obliged to retire from the field. Even with-\\nout employing these extraordinary and expensive means, the British\\ntraders, receiving their goods in the Columbia by sea from London,\\nfree from duty, can always undersell the Americans, who must\\ntransport their merchandise more than two thousand miles over\\nland, from the frontiers of the United States, where many of the\\narticles best adapted for the trade have previously been subjected to\\nimport duties. In pursuance of the same system, the Company en-\\ndeavors, and generally with success, to prevent the vessels of the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0429.jp2"}, "430": {"fulltext": "400 Hudson s bay company s treatment of Americans. [1844.\\nUnited States from obtaining cargoes on the north-west coasts of\\nAmerica thougli the mariners of all nations, when thrown upon\\nthese coasts by shipwreck or by other misfortunes, have uniformly\\nreceived shelter and protection, at its posts and factories. On the\\nother hand, the publications made by the directors and agents of\\nthe Hudson s Bay Company evince the most hostile feelings towards\\nthe citizens of the United States, against whom every species of\\ncalumny is levelled in those works, whilst, at the same time, all their\\nefforts to establish themselves in Oregon are derided.*\\nUnder these circumstances, the fur trade has, until recently, been\\nvery profitable to the Hudson s Bay Company but it is now cer-\\ntainly declining in every part of North America, from the diminu-\\ntion of the number of the animals, whilst the price of furs does not\\nincrease, in consequence of the advantageous employment of silk,\\ncotton, and wool in their place, particularly in China. The Hud-\\nson s Bay Company endeavors to prevent this decrease of the ani-\\nmals in the countries east of the Rocky Mountains, by withdrawing\\nits hunters and traders from certain districts in succession, during a\\nnumber of years but in the Columbia countries, where its control\\nis not exclusive, and its tenure of the soil is insecure, no precautions\\nof this kind are observed, and many of its posts have therefore been\\nreduced or abandoned.\\nAs the fur trade in the Columbia regions declined, the Hudson s\\nBay Company began to turn its attention to agriculture, pasturage,\\ncutting timber, fishing, and other pursuits, for which persons were\\nintroduced from Canada or from Europe, and extensive establish-\\nments have been formed in several places. From the use or ex-\\nportation of these products, some revenue is saved or gained, but it\\nis evident that capital thus invested can yield but slender returns, and\\nno other modes for its employment are offered at present in Oregon,\\nor further north. Those countries, indeed, contain lands in de-\\nSee History of the Oregon Territory and British Ajnerican Fur Trade, Ify John\\nDunn, 8vo. London, 1844, a compound of ridiculous blunders, vulgar ribaldry, and\\ninfamous calumnies, against the United States and their citizens. In blind and fe-\\nrocious hatred of the Americans, Mr. Dunn, ex-storekeeper at Fort Vancouver, may\\nindeed claim equality with His Exc y Charles Povvlett Thompson, Lord Sydenham,\\nsome time President of the Board of Trade of Great Britain, and subsequently\\nGovernor and Captain-General of Canada. See the memoirs and letters of this\\nlatter worthy, published by his brother, and also the admirable remarks on that\\nwork by Lord Brougham, in his Historical Sketches of the Statesmen of the time of\\nGeorge IH. It will be borne in mind that the letters containing these libels were\\naddressed by Lord Sydenham to the British ministers, his former colleagues in\\noffice and that they are published by his attached relative as evidences of his\\ncharacter, and as claims to the admiration of his countrymen.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0430.jp2"}, "431": {"fulltext": "1844. J RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 401\\ntached portions, which may afford to the industrious cultivator the\\nmeans of subsistence, and also, in time, of procuring some foreign\\nluxuries but they produce no precious metals, no cotton, no coffee,\\nno rice, no sugar, no opium nor are they, like India, inhabited by\\na numerous population, who may be easily forced to labor for the\\nbenefit of a few.\\nWith regard to colonization it has been already said that a very\\nsmall proportion of the territories belonging to, or held under license\\nby the Hudson s Bay Company, is capable of being rendered produc-\\ntive by cultivation. The only place east of the Rocky Mountains, in\\nwhich attempts have been made to found permanent agricultural\\nsettlements, is on the Red River, between the 49th parallel of lati-\\ntude, there forming the northern boundary of the United States,\\nand Lake Winnipeg, into which that river empties. Of the cession\\nof this country by the Hudson s Bay Company to Lord Selkirk, and\\nthe unfortunate results of his first efforts to colonize it, accounts\\nhave been already given. New efforts, with the same object, but\\nwith no better results, were afterwards made by the son and suc-\\ncessor of that nobleman and the territory was at length, in 1836,\\nretro-ceded to the Company, which has, with much difficulty and\\nexpense, established on it about six thousand persons, nearly all of\\nthem Indians and half-breeds, under what conditions as to tenure of\\nthe soil, is not known.* The land produces wheat, rye, potatoes,\\nMr. Pelly, the governor of the Hudson s Bay Company, in a letter addressed\\non the 10th of February, 1837, to Lord Glcnclg, the British secretary for the colo-\\nnies, says, This rising community, if well governed, may be found useful at\\nsome future period, in the event of difficnlties occurring between Great Britain and\\nthe United States of America, who have several military posts, say those of the\\nSault Saint Mary, Prairie du Chien, and the River Saint Peter s, established on\\ntheir Indian frontiers, along the line of boundary with British North America. On\\nthe other hand, Mr. Thomas Simpson, an officer of the Hudson s Bay Company, in\\nhis interesting account of the discoveries etfected by himself and his companion,\\nDease, in 1838 and 1S39, states that the settlers on the Red River have found\\nout the only practicable outlet for their cattle and grain, in the fine level plains\\nleading to the Mississippi and the St. Peter s, where there is a promise of a\\nsufficient market among the Americans, particularly as the bulky nature of the\\nexports, a long and dangerous navigation to Hudson s Bay, and above all, the\\nroving and indolent habits of the half-breed race, who form the mass of the po-\\npulation, and love the chase of the butfalo better than the drudgery of agriculture,\\nor regular industry, seem to preclude the possibility of this colony rising to im-*\\nportance. He moreover adds, that the Scotch, who compose a small, but the\\nonly useful portion of the community, carefully avoid all amalgamation with the\\nothers in order to prevent which, they generally retire to the United States, so\\nsoon as they have by industry and economy accumulated a moderate amount of\\nproperty. There being fortunately no prospect of difficulties occurring between\\nGreat Britain and the United States, we may hope that the little colony on the Red\\nRiver, will flourish, and profit by its vicinity to the great state of Iowa.\\n51", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0431.jp2"}, "432": {"fulltext": "402 AMERICAN CITIZENS IN OREGON. [1844.\\nhemp, flax, and some other vegetables, ajid grass for cattle, tolerably\\nwell, and it may be considered fertile when compared with other\\nparts of the continent situated so far north it is, however, deficient\\nin wood, and notwithstanding all the advantages held out to the\\ninhabitants, there is no prospect that it will ever become profitable\\nor useful, either to the Hudson s Bay Company or to the British\\ngovernment, in any way and least of all, in the event of diffi-\\nculties occurring between Great Britain and the United States of\\nAmerica, to provide for which seems to be one of the objects of the\\nCompany in fostering it.\\nThere is no reason to believe that the British government has\\nmade grants of any nature in the countries weSt of the Rocky\\nMountains, except that to the Hudson s Bay Company, which is\\nmerely a license to use those countries, in common with American\\ncitizens. The company has however allowed many settlements to\\nbe formed by- its retired servants; and has also encouraged associ-\\nations of British subjects, its own servants and others, to make es-\\ntablishments for farming and grazing on a large scale. The earliest\\nof these establishments were in the valley of the Willamet, south\\nof the Columbia, where the British were soon outnumbered by the\\nAmericans, and now compose a very inconsiderable part of the\\npopulation. The larger establishments, besides those at Fort Van-\\ncouver, are situated in the prairies about Bulfinch s Harbor, and\\naround Nasqually, one of the Company s posts at the southern\\nextremity of Puget s Sound, and near the head waters of the Cow-\\nelitz River, midway between Nasqually and Vancouver. On what\\nterms these establishments have been founded is not publicly\\nknown it may however be supposed that they would not have\\nbeen undertaken without some assurance from the British Govern-\\nment, that the persons interested would be maintained and pro-\\ntected, or in any event be indemnified for their expenses and labors.\\nOf the American citizens in Oregon very little can be said as yet.\\nThey are all engaged in agriculture and other matters immediately\\nconnected with that branch of industry and according to the most\\nrecent accounts, have established for themselves a provisional system\\nof government, according to the constitution of their native republic.\\nWith their neighbors of tlie Hudson s Bay Company, they seem to\\nlive on good terms, and will probably so continue as long as the\\nColumbia River separates the territories occupied by the two parties.\\nThe Americans will have no objection to settlers from any quarter\\nbut it may be doubted whether their attempts to extend their estab-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0432.jp2"}, "433": {"fulltext": "1845.] AMERICAN CITIZENS IN CALIFORNIA. 403\\nlishments and laws to the country north of that river will be\\nquietly borne by the British and it is scarcely possible that the\\ntwo populations should remain at peace much longer, without some\\nchange in the relations of their governments, with regard to that\\npart of the world.\\nIn California, the number of xYmericans is large and is daily in-\\ncreasing, particularly in the region north of the Bay of San Francisco,\\nformerly occupied by the Russians, who, in 1841, ceded all their\\nproperty and claims to a company composed chiefly of citizens of\\nthe United States. The Americans seem to live on very good terms\\nwith the Mexicans, and to give themselves little concern about the\\ngovernment, of the unfriendly feelings of which towards them, they\\nare occasionally reminded, by a decree for their expulsion. These\\ndecrees, the Governor of the Territory contents himself with pro-\\nclaiming, as it would be madness in him to attempt to enforce them,\\nwhilst he is obliged to depend almost entirely on the Americans, to\\nsuppress the incursions of the surrounding Indians. When it is also\\nremembered, that Monterey is as far from the capital, and centre of ef-\\nfective power in Mexico as Washington, it appears very improbable,\\nif not impossible, that California should long remain in the hands of\\nits present owners. Offers have more than once been made by the\\nUnited States to purchase it, at prices which may be termed liberal\\nbut they have been always rejected by Mexico and similar propo-\\nsitions have, it is said, been presented on the part of Great Britain.\\nThat the United States will quietly submit to the transfer of this\\nterritory to any other power, is not to be expected and the Mexi-\\ncan government should be well assured of support, before it ventures\\nto consummate such an act.\\nOn reviewing dispassionately the agricultural, commercial, and\\nother economical advantages of Oregon, there appears to be no\\nreason founded on such considerations, which should render either\\nof the powers claiming the possession of that country anxious to\\noccupy it immediately, or unwilling to cede its own pretensions to\\nothers for a moderate compensation. But political considerations,\\namong which are always to be reckoned not only those proceeding\\nfrom just, patriotic, and philanthropic views, but also those which\\nare the offspring of national and individual ambition, jealousy and\\nhatred, ever have proved, and doubtless will in this case prove par-\\namount to the others. It is the unobjectionable, and indeed im-\\nperative pohcy of the United States, to secure the possession of\\nthose territories, in order to provide places of resort and refresh-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0433.jp2"}, "434": {"fulltext": "404 CONCLUSION. [1845.\\nment for their numerous vessels, engaged in the trade and fishery\\nof the Pacific, particularly as there is a prospect that they may in\\ntime be excluded from the Sandwich Islands and also to prevent\\nthose territories from falling into the hands of any other power,\\nwhich might direct against their western frontiers the hordes of\\nIndians roving through the middle and \\\\vesternmost divisions of the\\ncontinents. Great Britain, on the other hand, can have no motive\\nfor opposing the occupation of Oregon by the United States, except\\nthat of checking their advancement, by excluding their vessels from\\nthe Pacific, and by maintaining an influence deleterious to their\\ninterests and safety, over the savages in their vicinity.\\nGreat Britain, at present, possesses the advantage, as regards the\\nforcible and temporary occupation both of Oregon and California,\\nwhere a few ships of war stationed in the Bay of San Francisco,\\nthe Columbia, and Puget s Sound, might doubtless control the Amer-\\nican settlements, all necessarily situated in the vicinity of the\\ncoast, and receiving nearly all their supplies of foreign articles by\\nsea. But that she should, within any period which it is now pos-\\nsible to foresee, furnish a population to the regions in question,\\nthere are certainly no grounds for supposing. Her provinces in\\nAmerica have no redundance of inhabitants and what induce-\\nments can be offered in good faith to her subjects in Europe, for\\nundertaking a voyage of six months to the Columbia, or a voyage to\\nCanada and a subsequent journey of four thousand miles through\\nher wild and frozen Indian territories, so long as the West Indies,\\nSouthern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and, lastly the United\\nStates are open to them The difficulties experienced by\\nAmerican citizens, in their passage to Oregon, along the valleys of\\nthe Platte and the Lewis, great though they may be at present, sink\\ninto insignificance, when compared with those which British sub-\\njects must encounter, in proceeding to that country, by either of the\\nroutes above indicated and the contrast becomes still stronger,\\nwhen we compare the character and habits of Americans, trained\\nfrom their childhood to struggle and provide against the hardships\\nand privations incident to the settlement of a new country, with\\nthose of Europeans, accustomed only to a routine of labor the most\\nsimple, and the least calculated to nourish energies or to stimulate\\ninvention.\\nEND OF THE HISTORY,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0434.jp2"}, "435": {"fulltext": "PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0435.jp2"}, "436": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0436.jp2"}, "437": {"fulltext": "PIIOOES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.\\nA.\\nOriginal Account of the Voyaoe of the Greek Pilot Juan\\nDE FucA along the North-West Coasts of America, in\\n1592.\\nA Note made hy vie, Michael Loch the elder, touching the Strait of Sea\\ncommonhj called Fretuni Anian, in the South Sea, through the North-\\nWest Passage q/ Meta Incognita.*\\nWhen I was at Venice, in April, 1596, haply arrived there an\\nold man, about sixty years of age, called, commonly, Juan de Fura, but\\nnamed properly Apostolos Valerianus, of nation a Greek, born in Cepha-\\nlonia, of profession a mariner, and an ancient pilot of ships. This man,\\nbeing come lately out of Spain, arrived first at Leghorn, and went thence\\nto Florence, where he found one John Douglas, an Englishman, a famous\\nmariner, ready coming for Venice, to be pilot of a Venetian ship for\\nEngland, in whose company they came both together to Venice. And\\nJohn Douglas being acquainted with me before, he gave me knowledge\\nof this Greek pilot, and brought him to my speech; and, in long talks\\nand conference between us, in presence of John Douglas, this Greek\\npilot declared, in the Italian and Spanish languages, thus much in effect\\nas followeth\\nFirst, he said that he had been in the West Indies of Spain forty\\nyears, and had sailed to and from many places thereof, in the service of\\nthe Spaniards.\\nAlso, he said that he was in the Spanish ship which, in returning\\nfrom the Islands Philippinas, towards Nova Spania, was robbed and\\ntaken at the Cape California by Captain Candish, Englishman, whereby\\nhe lost sixty thousand ducats of his own goods.\\nAlso, he said that he was pilot of three small ships which the viceroy\\nof Blexieo sent from Mexico, armed with one hundred men, under a cap-\\ntain, Spaniards, to discover the Straits of Anian, along the coast of the\\nSouth Sea, and to fortify in that strait, to resist the passage and proceed-\\nings of the English nation, which were feared to pass through those\\nExtracted from the Pilgrims of SDmuel Purchas, vol. iii. p. 849. The orthogra-\\npliy of Uie Kiiglish ia modernized. Tlio letters inserted are, however, given in tlieir\\noriginal lingua Franca. See p. tiff of the History.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0437.jp2"}, "438": {"fulltext": "408 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [A.\\nStraits into the South, Sea and that, by reason of a mutiny which hap-\\npened among the soldiers for the misconduct of their captain, that voyage\\nwas overthrown, and the ship returned from California to Nova Spania,\\nwithout any thing done in that voyage and that, after their return, the\\ncaptain was at 3Iexico punished by justice.\\nAlso, he said that, shortly after the said voyage was so ill ended, the\\nsaid viceroy of Mexico sent him out again, in 1592, with a small caravel\\nand a pinnace, armed with mariners only, to follow the said voyage for\\nthe discovery of the Straits of Anion, and the passage thereof into the\\nsea, which they call the North Sea, which is our north-west sea and that\\nhe followed his course, in that voyage, west and north-west in the South\\nSea, all along the coast of Nova Spania, and California, and the Indies,\\nnow called North America, (all which voyage he signified to me in a great\\nmap, and a sea card of mine own, which I laid before him,) until he came\\nto the latitude of 47 degrees; and that, there finding that the land trended\\nnorth and north-east, with a broad inlet of sea, between 47 and 48 degrees\\nof latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing therein more than twenty days,\\nand found that land trending still sometime north-west, and north-east, and\\nnorth, and also east and south-eastward, and very much broader sea than\\nwas at the said entrance, and that he passed by divers islands in that sail-\\ning; and that, at the entrance of this said strait, there is, on the north-\\nwest coast thereof, a great headland or island, with an exceeding high\\npinnacle, or spired rock, like a pillar, thereupon.\\nAlso, he said that he went on land in divers places, and that he saw\\nsome people on land clad in beasts skins and that the land is very fruit-\\nful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and other things, like Nova Spania.\\nAnd also, he said that he being entered thus far into the said strait,\\nand being come into the North Sea already, and finding the sea wide\\nenough every where, and to be about thirty or forty leagues wide in the\\nmouth of the straits where he entered, he thought he had now well dis-\\ncharged his office and that, not being armed to resist the force of the\\nsavage people that might happen, he therefore set sail, and returned home-\\nwards again towards Nova Spania, where he arrived at Acapulco, anno\\n1592, hoping to be rewarded by the viceroy for this service done in the\\nsaid voyage.\\nAlso, he said that, after coming to Mexico, he was greatly welcomed\\nby the viceroy, and had promises of great reward but that, having sued\\nthere two years, and obtained nothing to his content, the viceroy told him\\nthat he should be rewarded in Spain, of the king himself, very greatly,\\nand willed him, therefore, to go to Spain, which voyage he did perform.\\nAlso, he said that, when he was come into Spain, he was welcomed\\nthere at the king s court; but, after long suit there, also, he could. not get\\nany reward there to his content; and therefore, at length, he stole away\\nout of Spain, and came into Italy, to go home again and live among his\\nown kindred and countrymen, he being very old.\\nAlso, he said that he thought the cause of his ill reward had of the\\nSpaniards, to be for that they did understand very well that the English\\nnation had now given over all their voyages for discovery of the north-\\nwest passage wherefore they need not fear them any more to come that\\nway into the South Sea, and therefore they needed not his service therein\\nany more.\\nAlso, he said that, understanding the noble mind of the queen of", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0438.jp2"}, "439": {"fulltext": "A.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 409\\nEngland, and of her wars against the Spaniards, and hoping that her\\nmajesty would do him justice for liis goods lost by Captain Candish, he\\nwould be content to go into England, and serve her majesty in that voyage\\nfor the discovery perfectly of the north-west passage into the South Sea,\\nif she would furnish him with only one ship of forty tons burden, and a\\npinnace, and that he would perform it in thirty days time, from one end\\nto the other of the strait and he willed me so to write to England.\\nAnd, upon conference had twice with the said Greek pilot, I did write\\nthereof, accordingly, to England, unto the right honorable the old Lord\\nTreasurer Cecil, and to Sir Walter Raleigh, and to Master Richard Hak-\\nluyt, that famous cosmographer, certifying them hereof. And I prayed\\nthem to disburse one hundred pounds, to bring the said Greek pilot into\\nEngland with myself, for that my own purse would not stretch so wide at\\nthat time. And I had answer that this action was well liked and greatly\\ndesired in England but the money was not ready, and therefore this\\naction died at that time, though the said Greek pilot, perchance, liveth\\nstill in his own country, in Crphalonia, towards which place he went\\nwithin a fortnight after this conference had at Venice.\\nAnd, in the mean time, while I followed my own business in Venice,\\nbeing in a lawsuit against the Company of Merchants of Turkey, to re-\\ncover my pension due for being their consul at Aleppo, which they held\\nfrom me wrongfully, and when I was in readiness to return to England,\\nI thought I should be able of mv own purse to take with me the said\\nGreek pilot; and therefore I wrote unto him from Venice a letter, dated\\nJuly, 159G, which is copied here under\\nAl Mag Sig Capitan Juan de Fuca, Piloto de India, amigo mio\\nchar\u00e2\u0084\u00a2 en Zefalonia.\\nMUY HONRADO SeNNOR,\\nSiendo yo para buelverme en Inglatierra dentre de pocas\\nmezes, y accuerdandome de lo trattado entrc my y V. M. en Venesia\\nsobre el viagio de las Indias, me ha parescido bien de scrivir esta carta\\na V. M. para que se tengais animo de andar con migo, puedais escribirme\\npresto en que maniera quereis consertaros. Y puedais embiarmi vuestra\\ncarta con esta nao Ingles, que sta al Zante (sino hallais otra coiuntura\\nraeior) con el sobrescritto que diga en casa del Sennor Eleazar Hyc-\\nnian, mercader Ingles, al tragetto de San Tomas en Venisia. Y Dios\\nguarde la persona de V. M. Fecha en Venesia al primer dia de Julio,\\n1596 annos. a j tt- t\\\\t\\nAmigo de V. M., ,f j t j\\nMichael Lock, Ingles.\\nTo the Magnificent Captain Juan de Fuca, Pilot of the Indies, my most dear friend\\nin Cephalonia.\\nINloST HoNORKD SiR,\\nBeing about to return to England in a fow months, and recollecting what\\npassed between you and myself, at Venice, respecting the vo3-age to the Indies, I\\nhave thought proper to write you this letter, so that, if you have a mind to go with\\nme, you can write me word directly how you wisli to arrange. You may send me your\\nletter by this English vessel, which is at Z;inte, (if you should find no better op-\\nportunity,) directed to the care of Mr. Eleazer liyckman, an English merchant, St\\nThomas Street, Venice. God preserve you, sir.\\nYour friend,\\nMicH.^.EL Lock, nf England.\\nVe.vice, July 1st, 1596. 50", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0439.jp2"}, "440": {"fulltext": "410 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [A,\\nAnd I sent the said letter from Venice to Zante in the ship Cherubin\\nand, shortly after, I sent a copy thereof in the ship Minion, and also a\\nthird copy thereof by Manea Orlando, patron de nave Venetian. And unto\\nmy said letters he wrote me answer to Venice by one letter, which came\\nnot to my hands, and also by another letter, which came to my hands,\\nwhich is copied here under\\nAl 111 Sig\u00c2\u00b0 Michael Lock, Ingles, in casa del Sig Lasaro, merca-\\nder Ingles, al tragetto de San Tomas en Venesia.\\nMuY Illustre Sig\\nLa carta de V. M. recevi a 20 dias del mese di Settembre,\\npor loqual veo loche V. M. me manda. lo tengho animo de complir loche\\ntengo promettido a V. M. y no solo yo, mas tengo vinte hombres para\\nlievar con migo, porche son hombres vaglientes; y assi estoi esperando\\npor otra carta che avise a V. M. parache me embiais los dinieros die tengo\\nescritto a V. M. Porche bien save V. M. como io vine pover, porque me\\nglievo Captain Candis mas de sessenta mille ducados, como V. M. bien\\nsave; embiandome lo dicho, ire a servir a V. M. con todos mis com-\\npagneros. I no spero otra cosa mas de la voluntad e carta de V. M. con\\ntanto nostro Sig Dios guarda la illustre persona de V. M. muchos annos.\\nDe Ceffidonia a 34 de Settembre del 1596.\\nAmigo y servitor de V. M.,\\nJuan Fuca.\\nAnd the said letter came into my hands in Venice, the 16th day of\\nNovember, 1596; but my lawsuit with the Company of Turkey was not\\nended, by reason of Sir John Spenser s suit, made in England, at the\\nqueen s court, to the contrary, seeking only to have his money discharged\\nwhich I had attached in Venice for my said pension, and thereby my own\\npurse was not yet ready for the Greek pilot.\\nAnd, nevertheless, hoping that my said suit would have shortly a good\\nend, I wrote another letter to this Greek pilot from Venice, dated the 20th\\nof November, 1596, which came not to his hands, and also another letter,\\ndated the 24th of January, 1596, which came to his hands. And thereof\\nhe wrote me answer, dated the 28th of May, 1597, which I received the\\n1st of August, 1597, by Thomas Norden, an English merchant, yet living\\nin London, wherein he promised still to go with me unto England, to\\nperform the said voyage for discovery of the north-west passage into the\\nSouth Sea, if I would send him money for his charges, according to his\\nTo the Illustrious Michael Lock, Engrlisliman, at the liouse of Mr. Lazaro, English\\nmerchant, in St. Thomas Street, Venice.\\nMost Illustrious Sir,\\nYour letter was received b} me on the 20th of September, by which I\\nam informed of what you communicate. I have a mind to comply with my promise\\nto yon, and liave not only myself, but twenty men, brave men, too, whom I can\\ncarry with me; so I am waiting for an answer to another letter which I wrote you,\\nabout the money which I asked you to send me. For you know well, sir, how I be-\\ncame poor in consequence of Captain Candish s having taken from me more than\\nsixty thousand ducats, as you well know. If you will send me what I asked, I will\\ngo with you, as well as nil my companions. I ask no more from your kindness, as\\nshown by your letter. God preserve you, most illustrious sir, for many j ears.\\nYour friend and servant,\\nJuan Fuca.\\nCephalonia, September 2-Uh, 1506.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0440.jp2"}, "441": {"fulltext": "B.] rROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 411\\nformer writing, without whicli money he said he could not go, for that as\\nhe was undone utterly when he was in the ship Santa Anna, wiiich came\\nfrom China, and was ro!)l)ed at California. And yet again, afterward, I\\nwrote him another letter iVoin Venice, whereunto he wrote nie answer by\\na letter written in his Greek language, dated the 20th of October, 1598,\\nthe which I have still by me, wherem he promiseth still to go with me\\ninto England, and perform the said voyage of discovery of the north-west\\npassage into the South Sea by the said straits, which he calleth the Strait\\nof Nova Spania, which he saith is but thirty days voyage in the straits, if\\nI will send him the money formerly written for his charges; the which\\nmoney I could not yet send him, for that I had not yet recovered my pen-\\nsion owing me by the Company of Turkey aforesaid; and so, of long time,\\nI stayed any further proceeding with him in this matter.\\nAnd yet, lastly, wiien I myself was at Zante, in the month of June,\\n1G02, minding to pass from thence for England by sea, for that 1 had then\\nrecovered a little money from the Company of Turkey, by an order of the\\nlords of the Privy Council of England, I wrote another letter to this Greek\\npilot, to Cephalonia, and required him to come to me to Zante, and go\\nwith me into England, but I had no answer thereof from him; for that,\\nas I heard afterward at Zante, he was then dead, or very likely to die of\\ngreat sickness. Whereupon, I returned myself, by sea, from Zante to\\nVenice, and from thence I went, by land, through France, into England,\\nwhere I arrived at Christmas, anno 1G02, safely, I thank God, after my\\nabsence from thence ten years time, with great troubles had for the Com-\\npany of Turkey s business, which hath cost me a great sum of money,\\nfor the which I am not yet satisfied of them.\\nB.\\nFurs and the Fur Trade.\\nFur, strictly speaking, is the soft, fine hair which forms the natural\\nclothing of certain animals, particularly of those inhabiting cold countries.\\nIn commerce, however, the word is understood to mean the skin of the\\nanimal, with the hair attached, either before or after, but generally after,\\nit has been rendered soft and pliable, by a peculiar process, called dress-\\ning. The undressed skins are commoidy called peltry: h\\\\it fur and\\npeltry are employed as synonymous terms and the word fur, in com-\\nmerce, is generally to be understood as peltry. The skins of seals, bears,\\nwolves, lions, leopards, buffaloes, ,c., are also placed under the denomi-\\nnation o( furs, in commerce.\\nSkins must have formed the first clothing of man in cold countries\\nand, at the present day, they constitute the whole or the greater part of\\nthe dress of many millions of individuals. For this purpose, the skin,\\nwith or without the fur, is employed as cloth would be; or the fur alone\\nis converted by art into the peculiar substance called fdt, of which hats\\nare made.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0441.jp2"}, "442": {"fulltext": "412 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [B,\\nFurs differ in value, according to the fineness, the length, the thick-\\nness, and the color, of their hair. The most precious is that of the\\nermine, a species of weasel; it is thick, soft, fine, and of dazzling white-\\nness, except the tip of the tail, which is of a glossy black color, and is\\nused to form spots on the skin. Of great value, also, are the skins of the\\nmarten, the sable, the fiery fox, the silver fox, and the black fox after\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0which come those of the sea otter, the beaver, the seal, and though fiir\\ninferior to the others of the muskrat, the raccoon, the fox, the weasel,\\nc. Of these, the ermine is, as before said, the most precious the\\nmuskrat is that of which the greatest quantity is collected while the\\naggregate value of the beaver skins annually consumed among civilized\\nnations is greater than that of all the other furs together.\\nThe finer furs are principally used in Russia, Turkey, and China,\\nin the latter country especially, where they form important portions of the\\ndress of every rich, noble, or ostentatious person. In Europe, and in the\\nUnited States, furs are also much worn in the shape of caps, muffs, and\\ntrimmings. The greatest consumption of the inferior furs is in the man-\\nufacture of hats, which is of comparatively modern date, and, as well as\\nthe use of those articles, is confined almost entirely to Europe and\\nAmerica. The furs mostly used for this purpose are those of the beaver,\\nthe otter, the nutria, (an animal resembling the beaver, found in Patago-\\nnia,) and the muskrat; but the greater number of hats are composed\\nchiefly of wool, with or without a slight covering of fur.\\nNearly all the furs now brought into commerce are procured from the\\ncountries north of the 40th parallel of north latitude, through the agency\\nof the British Hudson s Bay Company, or of the Russian American\\nCompany, or by various private associations and individuals in the United\\nStates. Of those obtained in the Russian dominions, some are carried\\nover land to China, others also over land to Europe, and the remainder by\\nsea to Europe. Those found in the territories of the United States are\\nnearly all carried to New York, from which portions are sent to London\\nor to Canton. The furs collected in the parts of America possessed or\\nclaimed by Great Britain, are mostly shipped for London, either at Mont-\\nreal, or at York Factory on Hudson s Bay, or at Fort Vancouver, at the\\nhead of navigation of the Columbia River. The southern hemisphere\\nsupplies scarcely any furs, except those of the nutria, of which consid-\\nerable quantities are brought from Buenos Ayres to New York or to\\nLondon. London is undoubtedly the most extensive mart for furs in the\\nworld, and New York is probably the second; of the others, the princi-\\npal are Leipsic, Nijney-Novogorod on the VVolga, Kiakta on the boun-\\ndary line between Russia and China, and Canton. Of the value of the\\nfurs thus annually brought into trade, it is impossible to form an exact\\nestimate. According to a rough calculation, the amount received by the\\nfirst collectors, for the skins in their undressed state, is about three mil-\\nlions of dollars; but they afterwards pass through many hands, so that the\\nprice is much enhanced before they reach the actual consumer.\\nThe fur trade has been, hitherto, very profitable to those engaged in it;\\nbut it is now, from a variety of causes, declining every where. The in-\\ncrease in the number of persons employed in the pursuit, and the spread\\nof civilized population over the countries from which the furs are chiefly\\nprocured, are rapidly diminishing the number of the animals; so that, in\\nmany countries in which they formerly abounded, not one can be obtained", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0442.jp2"}, "443": {"fulltext": "C] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 413\\nat the present day. This diminution in the amount of the article offered\\nhas not, however, increased the jjrice as other articles, composed of silk,\\nwool, or cotton, are substituted for furs, with advantage, both as to com-\\nfort and cheapness.\\nFor particulars with regard to the manner in which the fur trade of the\\nnorthern parts of America is conducted, see the accounts of the Russian\\nAmerican Company s establisiuncnts and system, in the Geographical\\nSketch, and in chap. xii. of the History, and the view of the Hudson s\\nBay Company s proceedings, in chap, xviii. Respecting the furs them-\\nselves, minute information may be derived from an article on the subject\\nby Mr. Aiken, in the Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement\\nof Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, published at London in 1830, as\\nalso from a similar article, by Professor Silliman, in the American Jour-\\nnal of Science and Art for i\\\\pril, 1834, and from the article on furs in\\nMcCulloch s Dictionary of Commerce.\\nc.\\nCorrespondence between the Spanish Commandant and Com-\\nmissioner AT Nootka Sound and the Masters of the\\nAmerican trading Vessels Columbia and Hope, respecting\\nthe Occurrences at that Place in the Summer of 1789.*\\nTranslation of thr Letter from the Spanish Commandant to Captains\\nRobert Gray and Joseph Ingraham.\\nNootka, Jlugust 2d, 1792.\\nIn order to satisfy the court of England, as is just, for the injury, dam-\\nages, and usurpation, which it conceives itself to have sustained at this\\nport, in the year 1789, I have to request of you, gentlemen, the favor to\\ninform me, with that sincerity which distinguishes you, and which is\\nconformable with truth and honor, for what reason Don Esteban .lose\\nMartinez seized the vessels of Colnett, [called] the Ipliigenia and the\\nNorth-West America? What establishment or building had Mr. Meares\\non the arrival of the Spaniards What territories are those which he\\nsays that he purchased from Maquinna, Yuquiniarri, or other chief of\\nthese tribes 1 With what objects were the crew of the North-West\\nAmerica transferred to the Columbia, and ninety-six skins placed on\\nhoard that ship? Finally, what was the whole- amount of skins carried\\nby you to China, and to whom did they belong?\\nYour most obedient and assured servant,\\nJuan Francisco i k la Bodega y Q,uadra.\\nThe letter of Grav and Ingraham is copied from ln rraham s Journal of his voyarje\\nin the Hope, preserved, in nianuscri])!, in the library of the Department of State at\\nWashington. The translation of (Quadra s letter is made from the origin.al in\\nSpanish, which is attached by a wafer to the journal. A synopsis of the letter of\\nGray and Inirraham, which is, in every respect, incorrect, may be found in Vancou-\\nver s Journal, vol. i. p. 389. See p. 212 of this History.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0443.jp2"}, "444": {"fulltext": "414 PKOOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [C.\\nAnswer of Captains Gray and Ingraliam to Don Juan Francisco de la\\nBodega y Quadra.*\\nNooTKA Sound, August 3d, 1792.\\nSir,\\nYour esteemed favor was handed to us yesterday, requesting from\\nus information relative to the transactions between tlie English and Span-\\niards in this sound, in the year 1789, whicli we will do with great pleasure,\\nand impartially, as you request.\\nOn the 5th of May, 1789, when Don Estevan Jose Martinez arrived in\\nFriendly Cove, he found riding at anchor there the Iphigenia only the\\nship Columbia being at Malnvhinna, five miles up the sound. The sloop\\nWashington and North-West America (schooner) were on a cruise. This\\ninformation is necessary in order to regulate the sequel of the present.\\nAfter the usual ceremonies of meeting were over, Don Martinez requested\\nthe papers of each vessel, and demanded why they were at anchor in\\nNootka Sound, alleging it belonged to his Catholic majesty. Captain\\nViana, who passed as commander of the Iphigenia, answered, they had\\nput in, being in distress, having but little provisions, and in great want of\\nevery necessary, such as cables, anchors, rigging, sails, c. that they\\nwere in daily expectation of the arrival of Captain Meares from Macao,\\nto supply them, when they should depart. Captain Meares was expected\\nto return in the same vessel he sailed in from hence in the year 1788,\\nwhich Wcis under the Portuguese colors, and had a Portuguese captain on\\nboard this vessel, with the Iphigenia, were said to belong to one Cravalia,\\nor Cavallo, a merchant of Macao, in whose name the Iphigenia s papers\\nwere made out. Seeing the Iphigenia was in such want, Don Martinez\\ngave them a temporary assistance, by supplying them with such articles\\nas they were most in want, till the vessel before mentioned should arrive.\\nAt this time there was not the least suspicion of any misunderstanding or\\ndisturbance among us, as Don Martinez was apparently satisfied with the\\nanswers each vessel had given to his request.\\nHowever, on the 10th of May, the San Carlos, Captain Arrow,\\n[Haro,] arrived. The same day the American officers came to Uquot, or\\nFriendly Cove, to welcome them in; and the next morning, the 11th of\\nMay, Don Martinez captured the Iphigenia, and his reason, as we under-\\nstand, was, that, in their Portuguese instructions, they had orders to cap-\\nture any English, Spanish, or Russian, subjects they met on the north-\\nwest coast of America. This, at the time, seemed improbable, as she\\nwas a vessel of small force and it was afterwards found to have been a\\nmistake, owing to their want of a perfect knowledge of the Portuguese\\nlanguage. However, after the vessel was taken, the officers and seamen\\nwere divided, some on board the Princesa, and some on board the San\\nCarlos, where they were treated with all imaginable kindness, and every\\nattention paid them.\\nReference is frequently made to this letter in the 8t.h and 11th chapters of the\\nprecedinsf History. A synopsis of its contents may be found in the 10th chapter of\\nVancouver s account of Ills expedition, on comparing which with the letter, it will\\nbe seen that tlie evidence of the American captains is garbled and distorted in the\\nmost imworthy manner in the synopsis, not only by suppressions, but even by direct\\nfalsifications. To show this fully, it would be necessary to insert the whole of Van-\\ncouver s synopsis; the assertion, however, is sufficiently proved by the few notes\\nwhich follow.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0444.jp2"}, "445": {"fulltext": "C] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 415\\nOn the 24th of May, the above-mentioned mistake being discovered,\\nthe Iphigenia was returned again, and the Portuguese flag hoisted on\\nboard her the same day. Captain Douglas, with the Portuguese captain\\nand seamen, repaired on board. The Iphigenia, while in possession of\\nthe Spaniards, from being a wreck was put in complete order for sea,\\nbeing calked, rigging and sails repaired, anchors and cables sent from the\\nPrincesa, /C. On the 2Gth, Don Martinez supplied them with every kind\\nof provisions they were in need of, for which Captain Douglas gave him\\nbills on Cravalia, the before-mentioned merchant of Macao. On the 3lst,\\nthe Iphigenia sailed, and was saluted by the Spanish fort; and the com-\\nmodore accompanied them out of the harbor, giving every assistance with\\nboats, c. When Captain Douglas took his leave of the commodore, he\\ndeclared he should ever entertain a sense of Don Martinez s kindness,\\ndeeming his conduct relative to the vessel no more than his duty as a\\nking s officer. Upon the whole, we both believe the Iphigenia s being\\ndetained was of infinite service to those who were concerned in her.\\nThis must be plain to every one who will consider the situation of the\\nvessel when the Princesa arrived, and the advantages reaped from the\\nsupplies and assistance of the Spaniards. The detention, if it may be\\ncalled so, could be no detriment for, had nothing taken place, she must\\nhave remained two months longer at least, having, as has already been\\nmentioned, put into port, being in distress. Of course they could not\\nhave sailed till supplies arrived, which was not till July, as will appear in\\nthe sequel whereas, being early fitted, as above mentioned, she sailed on\\nthe coast northward of Nootka Sound, and, there being no other vessel there,\\nthey collected upwards of seven hundred sea otter skins; which has been\\noften represented to us by Captain Douglas and his officers, after our\\narrival in China. This may suffice for the transactions relative to the\\nIphigenia. Before Captain Douglas sailed, he gave Don Estevan Marti-\\nnez a letter to Mr. Funter, master of the schooner North-West America,\\ntelling him, from Captain Meares s not arriving at the appointed time, there\\nwas great reason to fear the vessel he sailed from Nootka in had never\\nreached China, (she being in bad condition when she sailed from this\\nplace;) therefore, as he, Mr. Funter, must, on his arrival, be destitute of\\nevery necessary, he was at liberty to conduct as he thought most condu-\\ncive to the interests of his employers. We shall make mention of this\\nvessel again hereafter.\\nInterim, we observe your wish to be acquainted what house or estab-\\nlishment Mr. Meares had at the time the Spaniards arrived here. We\\nanswer in a word. None. On the arrival of the Columbia, in the year\\n1TS8, there was a house, or rather a hut, consisting of rough posts, cov-\\nered with boards, made by the Indians but this Captain Douglas pulled\\nto pieces, prior to his sailing for the Sandwich Islands, the same year.\\nThe boards he took on board the Iphigenia, and the roof he gave to\\nCaptain Kendrick, which was cut up and used as firewood on board the\\nColumbia; so that, on the arrival of Don Estevan J. Martinez, there was\\nOf the whole of this paratrmph, all that is said hy Vancouver is, The vessel\\nand cargo were liberated, and Martinez supplied the Iphigenia s wants from the\\nPrincesa, enabling her, by so doing, to prosecute her voyage without waiting for the\\nreturn of Mr. Mcares. The extremity of distress to which the Iphigenia was re-\\nduced on her arrival at Nootka, the seven hundred sea otter skins, and the other ad-\\nvantages derived by her owners from the supplies furnished by the Spanish command-\\nant, are carefully kept out of sight.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0445.jp2"}, "446": {"fulltext": "416 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [C.\\nno vestige of any house remaining. As to the land Mr. Meares said he\\npurchased of Maquinna or any otiier chief, we cannot say further than we\\nnever heard of any although we remained among these people nine\\nmonths, and could converse with them perfectly well. Besides this, we\\nhave asked Maquinna and other chiefs, since our late arrival, if Captain\\nMeares ever purchased any land in Nootka Sound; they answered, No;\\nthat Captain Kendrick was the only man to whom they had ever sold\\nany And.\\nOn the 8th of June, the schooner North-West America arrived, and\\nthe next day the Spaniards took possession of her. Don E. J. Martinez\\nhad an account taken of the property on board, particularly of the skins,\\nwhich he said should be given to the officers and seamen, that they might\\nbe sure of their wages. On the ICth of June, the sloop Princess Royal\\narrived from Macao, commanded by Thomas Hudson this vessel brought\\naccounts of the safe arrival of Captain Meares, and that Captain Colnett\\nwas coming on the coast, commodore of the English trading vessels from\\nMacao for the ensuing season, in a snow named the Argonaut. Mr.\\nHudson likewise brought accounts of the failure of Juan Cravalia Co.,\\nmerchants of Macao, before mentioned. What right the commodore had\\nto detain the North-West America before, it is not for us to say but he\\nalways said it was an agreement* between Captain Douglas and himself;\\nbut, after the arrival of this vessel with the above news, he held her as\\nsecurity for the bills of exchange drawn on said Cravalia tSi. Co. in favor\\nof his Catholic majesty this we have heard him say. On the 2d of July,\\nthe Princess Royal sailed out of the port, having, to our knowledge, been\\ntreated by the commodore and his officers with every possible attention,\\nwhich Captain Hudson himself seemed conscious of and grateful for.\\nPrior to this vessel s sailing, the commodore gave to Mr. Punter all the\\nskins he brought in in the North-West America, which were shipped on\\nboard the sloop Princess Royal by Mr. Funter, for his own account. In\\nthe evening of the 2d, a sail was descried from the Spanish fort. We\\nwere among the first that went out to meet them. It proved to be the\\nArgonaut, Captain Colnett, before mentioned. The transactions of this\\nvessel were such, that we can give the sense of them in a few words, that\\nmay answer eve.y purpose of the particulars, many of which are not im-\\nmediately to the point, or tending to what we suppose you wish to know.\\nIt seems Captain Meares, with some other Englishmen at Macao, had\\nconcluded to erect a fort and settle a colony in Nootka Sound from what\\nauthority we cannot say. However, on the arrival of the Argonaut, we\\nfieard Captain Colnett inform the Spanish connnodore he had come for\\nthat purpose, and to hoist the British flag, take formal possession, c.\\nThe account of the seizure of the North-West America in the letter is thus\\npresented by Vancouver\\nThe North-West America is stated by these gentlemen to have arrived on the\\n8th of June, and tliat, on tlie followinjr day, the Spaniards took possession of her.\\nTen days afterwards came tlie Princess Royal, commanded by Mr. Hudson, from\\nMacao, who brought the news of the failure of the merchant at Macao, to whom the\\nIphiirenia and other vessels belonged; that Martinez assigned this as a reason flar\\nhis capturing the North-West America, (although she was seized before the arrival of\\nthe Princess Royal;) that he had detained her as an indemnification for the bills of\\nexchange drawn on her owner in favor of his Catholic majesty.\\nThe parenthesis is here inserted obviously with the intention of creating the im-\\npression that Gray and Ino-raham had committed a falsehood or inconsistency in their\\nevidence although this idea is specially contradicted in the letter.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0446.jp2"}, "447": {"fulltext": "Cj PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 417\\nto which the commodore answered, he had taken possession already in the\\nname of his Catholic majesty on which Captain Colnett asked if he\\nwould be prevented from building a house in the port. The commodore,\\nmistaking his meaning, answered him, he was at liberty to erect a tent,\\nget wood and water, c., after which he was at liberty to depart when he\\npleased but Captain Colnett said that was not what he wanted, but to\\nbuild a block house, erect a fort, and settle a colony, for the crown of\\nGreat Britain. Don Estevan Jose Martinez answered, No; that, in doing\\nthat, he should violate the orders of liis king, run a risk of losing his\\ncommission, and not only that, but it would be relinquishing the Span-\\niards claim to the coast: besides, Don Martinez observed, the vessels did\\nnot belong to the king, nor was he intrusted with powers to transact such\\npublic business. On which Captain Colnett answered, he Avas a king s\\nofficer; but Don Estevan replied, his being in the navy was of no conse-\\nquence in the business. *In conversing on the subject, after the arrival\\nof the vessel in port, it seems Captain Colnett insulted the commodore by\\nthreatening him, and drew his sword in the Princesa s cabin on which\\nDon Martinez ordered the vessel to be seized. We did not see him draw\\nhis sword, but were informed of the circumstance by those whose veracity\\nwe had no reason to doubt. After seizing the Argonaut, the sloop Prin-\\ncess Royal arrived a second time; and, as she belonged to the same com-\\npany, the commodore took possession of her also. With respect to the\\ntreatment of the prisoners, although we have not perused Mr. Meares s\\npublication, we presume none of them will be backward in confessing\\nthat Don E. J. Martinez always treated them very kindly, and all his\\nofficers, consistent with the character of gentlemen.\\nHaving acquainted you with the principal part of the business, agree-\\nable to request, one thing remains to answer, which is, of the captain,\\nofficers, and seamen, of the North-West America. You ask if we car-\\nried them to China. We did, and with them one hundred sea otter skins,\\nthe value of which, we judge, independent of freight, was four thousand\\neight hundred and seventy-five dollars; these were delivered to Mr.\\nMeares, and were, we suppose, his property. We sincerely hope, sir,\\nwhen things are represented with truth, it will rescue our friend Don\\nEstevan J. Martinez from censure; at least, that he may not be deemed\\nan impostor and a pirate, which many, from only hearing one part of the\\nstory, supposed he was. As to the treatment of the Americans by Don\\nEstevan, we have ever testified it in terms due to such hospitality, and\\nare happy again to have it in our power to do what we deem justice to his\\nconduct. While speaking of others of your nation, we can never be un-\\nmindful of you. Your kind reception and treatment of us has made an\\nimpression that will not be easily erased and we hope you will bear in\\nmind how very sincerely we are, sir, your most humble servants,\\nRobert Gray,\\nJoseph Ingraham.\\nVancouver here writes, using the first person, as if copying the words of the\\nAmerican captains, In conversation afterwards on this subject, as we were in-\\nformed, (say these gentlemen,) for we were not present during tliis transaction,\\nsome dispute arose in the Princesa s cabin; on which Don Martinez orflered the Ar-\\ngonaut to be seized. Soon after this the Princess Royal returned, c. the rumor\\nthat Colnett insulted the commodore by threatening him, and drew his sword in the\\nPrincesa s cabin beino- omitted.\\n53\u00c2\u00b0", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0447.jp2"}, "448": {"fulltext": "418 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. \\\\jB.\\nD.\\nOfficial Documents relative to the Dispute between Great\\nBritain and Spain in 1790.*\\nMessage from the King of Great Britain to Parliament, 3Iay 5th, 1790.\\nGeorge R.\\nHis majesty has received information that two vessels, belonging\\nto his majesty s subjects, and navigated under the British flag, and two\\nothers, of which the description is not hitherto sufficiently ascertained,\\nhave been captured at Nootka Sound, on the north-western coast of\\nAmerica, by an officer commanding two Spanish ships of war that the\\ncargoes of the British vessels have been seized, and that their officers and\\ncrews have been sent as prisoners to a Spanish port.\\nThe capture of one of these vessels had before been notified by the\\nambassador of his Catholic majesty, by order of his court, who, at the\\nsame time, desired that measures might be taken for preventing his majes-\\nty s subjects from frequenting those coasts, which were alleged to have\\nbeen previously occupied and frequented by the subjects of Spain. Com-\\nplaints were also made of the fisheries carried on by his majesty s subjects\\nin the seas adjoining to the Spanish continent, as being contrary to the\\nrights of the crown of Spain. In consequence of this communication, a\\ndemand was immediately made, by his majesty s order, for adequate satis-\\nfaction, and for the restitution of the vessel, previous to any other dis-\\ncussion.\\nBy the answer from the court of Spain, it appears that this vessel and\\nher crew had been set at liberty by the viceroy of Mexico; but this is\\nrepresented to have been done by him on the supposition that nothing but\\nthe ignorance of the rights of Spain encouraged the individuals of other\\nnations to come to those coasts for the purpose of making establishments,\\nor carrying on trade, and in conformity to his previous instructions, re-\\nquiring him to show all possible regard to the British nation.\\nNo satisfaction is made or offered, and a direct claim is asserted by the\\ncourt of Spain to the exclusive rights of sovereignty, navigation, and\\ncommerce, in the territories, coasts, and seas, in that part of the world.\\nHis majesty has now directed his minister at Madrid to make a fresh\\nrepresentation on this subject, and to claim such full and adequate satis-\\nfaction as the nature of the case evidently requires. And, under these\\ncircumstances, his majesty, having also received information that consid-\\nerable armaments are carrying on in the ports of Spain, has judged it\\nindispensably necessary to give orders for making such preparations as\\nmay put it in his majesty s power to act with vigor and effect in support\\nof the honor of his crown and the interests of his people. And his\\nThe following papers, with the exception of the last, are taken from the London\\nAnnual Register for 1790. The translations of the Spanish notes are evidently made\\nwith little care. See chap. ix. of this History.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0448.jp2"}, "449": {"fulltext": "D.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 419\\nmajesty recommends it to his faithful Commons, on whose zeal and public\\nspirit he has the most perfect reliance, to enable him to take such meas-\\nures, and to make such augmentation of his forces, as may be eventually\\nnecessary for this purpose.\\nIt is his majesty s earnest wish that the justice of his majesty s demands\\nmay insure, from the wisdom and equity of his Catholic majesty, the sat-\\nisfaction which is so unquestionably due, and that this affair may be termi-\\nnated in such a manner as to prevent any grounds of misunderstanding in\\nfuture, and to continue and confirm that harmony and friendship which\\nhas so happily subsisted between the two courts, and which his majesty\\nwill always endeavor to maintain and improve, by all such means as are\\nconsistent with the dignity of his majesty s crown and the essential interests\\nof his subjects.\\nG. R.\\n(2.)\\nDeclaration of the King of Spain to all the other Courts of Europe.\\nAranjuez, June 4th, 1790.\\nThe king, being apprized of the particulars laid before his ministers,\\non the 16th of May, by Mr. Merry, his Britannic majesty s minister,\\nrelative to the unexpected dispute between this court and Great Britain,\\nas to the vessels captured in Port St. Lawrence, or Nootka Sound, on the\\ncoast of California, in the South Sea, has commanded the undersigned,\\nhis majesty s first secretary of state, to answer to the said minister of\\nEngland, that he had the honor to make known personally, and in writing,\\nto the said minister, upon the ISth of the same month, that his majesty\\nat no time pretended to any rigiits in any ports, seas, or places, other than\\nwhat belongs to his crown by the most solemn treaties, recognized by all\\nnations, and more particularly with Great Britain, by a right founded on\\nparticular treaties, the uniform consent of both nations, and by an imme-\\nmorial, regular, and established possession; that his majesty is ready to\\nenter upon every examination and discussion most likely to terminate the\\ndispute in an amicable way, and is willing to enter into immediate con-\\nference with the new ambassador, and, if justice requires it, will certainly\\ndisapprove of the conduct, and punish his subjects, if they have gone\\nbeyond their powers. This offer and satisfaction will, it is hoped, serve\\nas an example to the court of London to do as much on its part.\\nAs the two courts of London and Madrid have not yet received proper\\nand authenticated accounts and proofs of all that has really passed in\\nthese distant latitudes, a contradiction in the development of facts has by\\nthis means been occasioned. Even at this moment, the papers and min-\\nutes made up by the viceroy of New Spain on this matter are not arrived.\\nPosterior letters, indeed, say that the English vessel, the Argonaut, had\\nnot been seized and confiscated till legally condemned, and that the small\\nvessel, called the Princess Royal, which had afterwards arrived, was not\\nseized or confiscated, but that, on the contrary, full restitution was made\\nby the viceroy, and an obligation only taken from the captain to pay the\\nprice of the vessel, if she was declared a lawful prize; and on the precise\\nsame terms he had liberated a Portuguese vessel belonging to Macao, and\\ntwo American vessels. These particulars will be more explicitly proved\\nand elucidated on the arrival of the necessary papers.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0449.jp2"}, "450": {"fulltext": "420 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. fj}.\\nThe first time that our ambassador made a public notification of this\\nmatter to the ministry at London, on the 10th of February last, many of\\nthe circumstances that are now certain were then doubtful. The rights\\nand immemorial possession of Spain to that coast and ports, as well as\\nseveral other titles proper to be taken into view in a pacific negotiation,\\nwere not quite certain and, if the court of London had made an ami-\\ncable return to the complaints made by his majesty relative to those mer-\\nchants whom Spain regards as usurpers and the violators of treaties, and\\nhad showed any desire to terminate the affair by an amicable accommo-\\ndation, a great deal of unnecessary expense might have been saved. The\\nhigh and menacing tone and manner in which the answer of the British\\nminister was couched, at a time when no certain information of the par-\\nticulars had arrived, made the Spanish cabinet entertain some suspicions\\nthat it was made not so much for the purpose of the dispute in question,\\nas a pretext to break entirely with our court for which reason it was\\nthought necessary to take some precautions relative to the subject.\\nOn a late occasion, a complaint was made to the court of Russia, as\\nto some similar points relative to the navigation of the South Sea. A\\ncandid answer being returned by that court, the affair was terminated\\nwithout the least disagreement. Indeed, it may be asserted with truth,\\nthat the manner, much more than the substance, has produced the dis-\\nputes that have taken place on this head with Great Britain.\\nNevertheless, the king does deny what the enemies to peace have\\nindustriously circulated that Spain extends pretensions and rights of\\nsovereignty over the whole of the South Sea as far as China. When the\\nwords are made use of, Li the name of the king, his sovereignty, navi-\\ngation, and exclusive commerce to the continent and islands of the South\\nSea, it is the manner in which Spain, in speaking of the Indies, has\\nalways used these words; that is to say, to the continent, islands, and\\nseas, which belong to his majesty, so far as discoveries have been made\\nand secured to him by treaties and immemorial possession, and uniformly\\nacquiesced in, notwithstanding some infringements by individuals, who\\nhave been punished upon knowledge of their offences and the king sets\\nup no pretensions to any possessions, the right to which he cannot prove\\nby irrefragable titles.\\nAlthough Spain may not have establishments or colonies planted upon\\nthe coasts or in the ports in dispute, it does not follow that such coast or\\nport does not belong to her. If this rule were to be followed, one nation\\nmight establish colonies on the coasts of another nation, in America, Asia,\\nAfrica, and Europe, by which means there would be no fixed boundaries\\na circumstance evidently absurd.\\nBut, whatever may be the issue of the question of right, upon a ma-\\nture consideration of the claims of both parties, the result of the question\\nof fact is, that the capture of the English vessels is repaired by the resti-\\ntution that has been made, and the conduct of the viceroy for, as to the\\nqualification of such restitution, and whether the prize was lawful or not,\\ntliat respects the question of right yet to be investigated that is to say,\\nif it has been agreeably to, or in contradiction to, the treaties relative to\\nthe rights and possessions of Spain. Lastly, the king will readily enter\\ninto any plan by which future disputes on this subject may be obviated,\\nthat no reproach may be upon him as having refused any means of recon-\\nciliation, and for the establishment of a solid and permanent peace, not", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0450.jp2"}, "451": {"fulltext": "D.^ PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 421\\nonly between Spain and Great Britain, but also between all nations; for\\nthe accomplishment of which object, his majesty has made the greatest\\nefforts in all the courts of Europe, which he certainly would not have\\ndone if he had any design to involve England and the other European\\npowers in a calamitous and destructive war.\\nEl Conde de Florida Blanca.\\n(3.)\\nMemorial of the Court of Spain, presented hy Count de Florida Blanca,\\nthe Spanish Minister of State, to Mr. Fitzhcrbcrt, the British AmbaS\\nsador at Madrid.\\nMadrid, June XZth, 1790.\\nBy every treaty upon record betwixt Spain and the other nations of\\nEurope, for upwards of two centuries, an exclusive right of property,\\nnavigation, and commerce, to the Spanish West Indies, has been uniformly\\nsecured to Spain, England having always stood forth in a particular man-\\nner in support of such right.\\nBy article 8th of the treaty of Utrecht, (a treaty in which all the\\nEuropean nations may be said to have taken a part,) Spain and England\\nprofess to establish it as a fundamental principle of agreement, that the\\nnavigation and commerce of the West Indies, under the dominion of\\nSpain, shall remain in the precise situation in which they stood in the\\nreign of his Catholic majesty Charles II., and that that rule shall be invi-\\nolably adhered to, and be incapable of infringement.\\nAfter this maxim, the two powers stipulated that Spain should never\\ngrant liberty or permission to any nation to trade to, or introduce their\\nmerchandises into, the Spanish American dominions, nor to sell, cede,\\nor give up, to any other nation its lands, dominions, or territories, or any\\npart thereof On the contrary, and in order that its territories should be\\n])reserved whole and entire, England offers to aid and assist the Spaniards\\nin reestablishing the limits of their American dominions, and placing\\nthem in the exact situation they stood in at the time of his said Catholic\\nmajesty Charles IT., if, by accident, it shall be discovered that they have\\nundergone any alteration to the prejudice of Spain, in whatever manner\\nor pretext such alteration may have been brought about.\\nThe vast extent of the Spanish territories, navigation, and dominion,\\non the continent of America, isles and seas contiguous to the South Sea,\\nare clearly laid down, and authenticated by a variety of documents, laws,\\nand formal acts of possession, in the reign of King Charles II. It is also\\nclearly ascertained, that, notwithstanding the repeated attempts made by\\nadventurers and pirates on the Spanish coasts of the South Sea and adja-\\ncent islands, Spain has still preserved her possessions entire, and opposed\\nwith success those usurpations, by constantly sending her ships and vessels\\nto take possession of such settlements. By these measures and reiterated\\nacts of possession, Spain has preserved her dominion, which she has ex-\\ntended to the borders of the Russian establishments, in that part of the\\nworld.\\nThe viceroys of Peru and New Spain having been informed tliat these\\nseas had been, for some years past, more frequented than formerly,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0451.jp2"}, "452": {"fulltext": "422 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [D,\\nthat smuggling had increased, that several usurpations prejudicial to\\nSpain and the general tranquillity had been suffered to be made, they\\ngave orders that the western coasts of Spanish America, and islands and\\nseas adjacent, should be more frequently navigated and explored.\\nThey were also informed that several Russian vessels were upon the\\npoint of making commercial establishments upon that coast. At the time\\nthat Spain demonstrated to Russia the inconveniences attendant upon\\nsuch encroachments, she entered upon the negotiation with Russia, upon\\nthe supposition that the Russian navigators of the Pacific Ocean had no\\norders to make establishments within the limits of Spanish America, of\\nwhich the Spaniards were the first possessors, (limits situated within\\nPrince William s Strait,) purposely to avoid all dissensions, and in order\\nto maintain the harmony and amity which Spain wished to preserve.\\nThe court of Russia replied, it had already given orders that its sub-\\njects should make no settlements in places belonging to other powers,\\nand that, if those orders had been violated, and any had been made in\\nSpanish America, they desired the king would put a stop to them in a\\nfriendly manner. To this pacific language on the part of Russia, Spain\\nobserved that she could not be answerable for what her officers might do\\nat that distance, whose general orders and instructions were, not to permit\\nany settlements to be made by other nations on the continent of Spanish\\nAmerica.\\nThough trespasses had been made by the English on some of the\\nislands of those coasts, which had given rise to similar complaints having\\nbeen made to the court of London, Spain did not know that the English\\nhad endeavored to make any settlements on the northern part of the\\nSouthern Ocean, till the commanding officer of a Spanish ship, in the\\nusual tour of the coasts of California, found two American vessels in St.\\nLaurence, or Nootka Harbor, where he was going for provisions and stores.\\nThese vessels he permitted to proceed on their voyage, it appearing, from\\ntheir papers, that they were driven there by distress, and only came in\\nto refit.\\nHe also found there the Iphigenia, from Macao, under Portuguese\\ncolors, which had a passport from the governor; and, though he came\\nmanifestly with a view to trade there, yet the Spanish admiral, when he\\nsaw his instructions, gave him leave to depart, upon his signing an en-\\ngagement to pay the value of the vessel, should the government of Mexico\\ndeclare it a lawful prize.\\nWith this vessel there came a second, ^vhich the admiral detained,\\nand, a few days after, a third, named the Argonaut, from the above-\\nmentioned place. The captain of this latter was an Englishman. He\\ncame not only to trade, but brought every thing with him proper to form\\na settlement there, and to fortify it. This, notwithstanding the remon-\\nstrances of the Spanish admiral, he persevered in, and was detained, to-\\ngether with his vessel.\\nAfter him came a fourth English vessel, named the Princess Royal,\\nand evidently for the same purposes. She, likewise, was detained, and\\nsent to Port St. Bias, where the pilot of the Argonaut made away with\\nhimself.\\nThe viceroy, on being informed of these particulars, gave orders that\\nthe captain and the vessels should be released, and that they should have\\nleave to refit, without declaring them a lawful prize; and this he did, on", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0452.jp2"}, "453": {"fulltext": "D.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 423\\naccount of the ignorance of the proprietors, and the friendship which\\nsubsisted between the two courts ot London and Madrid.\\nHe also gave them leave to return to Macao with their cargo, after\\ncapitulating with them in the same manner as with the Portuguese cap-\\ntain, and leaving the affair to be finally determined by the Count de\\nReviilagigedo, his successor, who also gave them their liberty.\\nAs soon as the court of Madrid had received an account of the\\ndetention of the first English vessel at Nootka Sound, and before that of\\nthe second arrived, it ordered its ambassador at London to make a report\\nthereof to the English minister, which he did on the 10th of February\\nlast, and to require that the parties who had planned these expeditions\\nshould be punished, in order to deter others from making settlements on\\nterritories occupied and frequented by the Spaniards for a number of years.\\nIn the ambassador s memorial, mention was only made of the Spanish\\nadmiral that commanded the present armament, having visited Nootka\\nSound in 1774, though that harbor had been frequently visited, both\\nbefore and since, with the usual forms of taking possession. These forms\\nwere repeated more particularly in the years 1755 and 1779, all along the\\ncoasts is far as Prince William s Sound; and it was these acts that gave\\noccasion to the memorial made by the court of Russia, as has been\\nalready noticed.\\nThe Spanish ambassador at London did not represent in this memo-\\nrial at that time, that the right of Spain to these coasts was conformable\\nto ancient boundaries, which had been guarantied by England at the\\ntreaty of Utrecht, in the reign of Charles II., deeming it to be unneces-\\nsary as orders had been given, and vessels had actually been seized on\\nthose coasts, so far back as 1692.\\nThe answer that the English ministry gave, on the 26th of February,\\nwas, that they had not as yet been informed of the facts stated by the\\nambassador, and that the act of violence, mentioned in his memorial,\\nnecessarily suspended any discussion of the claims therein, till an adequate\\natonement had been made for a proceeding so injurious to Great Britain.\\nIn addition to this haucrhty language of the British minister, he fur-\\nther added, that the ship must in the first place be restored and that,\\nwith respect to any future stipulations, it would be necessary to wait for a\\nmore full detail of all the circumstances of this affair.\\nThe harsh and laconic style in which this answer was given, made the\\ncourt of Madrid suspect that the king of Great Britain s ministers were\\nforming other plans; and they were the more induced to think so, as\\ntliere were reports that they were going to fit out two fleets, one for the\\nMediterranean and the other for the Baltic. This, of course, obliged\\nSpain to increase the small squadron she was getting ready to exercise\\nher marine.\\nThe court of Spain then ordered her ambassador at London to pre-\\nsent a memorial to the British ministry, setting forth that, though the\\ncrown of Spain had an indubitable right to the continent, islands, harbors,\\nand coasts, of that part of the world, founded on treaties and immemorial\\npossession, yet, as the viceroy of Mexico had released the vessels that were\\ndetained, the king looked upon the affair as concluded, without entering\\ninto any disputes or discussions on the undoubted rights of Spain and,\\ndesiring to give a proof of his friendship for Great Britain, he should rest\\nsatisfied if she ordered that her subjects, in future, respected those rights.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0453.jp2"}, "454": {"fulltext": "424 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. ^I^\\nAs if Spain, in this answer, had laid claim to the empire of that\\nocean, though she only spoke of what belonged to her by treaties, and as\\nif it had been so grievous an offence to terminate this affair by restitution\\nof the only vessel which was then known to have been taken, it excited\\nsuch clamor and agitation in the Parliament of England, that the most\\nvio-orous preparations for war have been commenced; and those powers\\ndisinclined to peace charge Spain with designs contrary to her known\\nprinciples of honor and probity, as well as to the tranquillity of Europe,\\nwhich the Spanish monarch and his ministers have always had in view.\\nWhile England was employed in making the greatest armaments and\\npreparations, that court made answer to the Spanish ambassador, (upon\\ntiie 5th of May,) that the acts of violence committed against the British\\nflag rendered it necessary for the sovereign to charge his minister at\\nMadrid to renew the remonstrances, (being the answer of England\\nalready mentioned,) and to require that satisfaction which his majesty\\nthought he had an indisputable right to demand.\\nTo this was added a declaration not to enter formally into the matter\\nuntil a satisfactory answer was obtained; and at the same time the\\nmemorial of Spain should not include in it the question of right; which\\nformed a most essential part of the discussion.\\nThe British administration offer, in the same answer, to take the\\nmost effectual and pacific measures, that the English subjects shall not\\nact against the just and acknowledged rights of Spain, but that they\\ncannot at present accede to the pretensions of absolute sovereignty, com-\\nmerce, and navigation, which appeared to be the principal object of the\\nmemorials of the ambassador; and that the king of England considers it\\nas a duty incumbent upon him to protect his subjects in the enjoyment of\\nthe right of continuing their fishery in the Pacific Ocean.\\nIf this pretension is found to trespass upon the ancient boundaries\\nlaid down in the reign of King Charles IL, and guarantied by England\\nin the treaty of Utrecht, as Spain believes, it appears that that court will\\nhave good reason for disputing and opposing this claim and it is to be\\nlioped that the equity of the British administration will suspend and\\nrestrict it accordingly.\\nIn consequence of the foregoing answer, the charge d of aires from the\\ncourt of London at Madrid insisted, in a memorial of the IGth of May,\\non restitution of the vessel detained at Nootka, and the property therein\\ncontained on an indemnification for the losses sustained, and on a repa-\\nration proportioned to the injury done to the English subjects trading\\nunder tlie British flag, and that they have an indisputable right to the\\nenjoyment of a free and uninterrupted navigation, commerce, and fishery;\\nand to the possession of such establishments as they should form with the\\nconsent of the natives of the country, not previously occupied by any of\\nthe European nations.\\nAn explicit and prompt answer was desired upon this head, in such\\nferms as might tend to calm the anxieties, and to maintain the friendship,\\nsubsisting between the two courts.\\nThe charge d affaires having observed that a suspension of the\\nSpanish armaments would contribute to tranquillity, upon the terms to\\nbe communicated by the British administration, an answer was made by\\nthe Spanish administration, that the king was sincerely inclined to disarm\\nupon the principles of reciprocity, and proportioned to the circumstances", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0454.jp2"}, "455": {"fulltext": "D.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 425\\nof the two courts; adding that the court of Spain was actuated by the\\nmost pacific intentions, and a desire to give every satisfaction and indem-\\nnification, if justice was not on their side, provided England did as much\\nif she was found to be in the wrong.\\nThis answer must convince all the courts of Europe that the conduct\\nof the king and his administration is consonant to the invariable principles\\nof justice, truth, and peace.\\nEl Conde de Florida Blanca.\\n(4.)\\nLetter from Count de Fernan Nunez, the Spanish Ambassador at Paris,\\nto M. de Montmorin, the Secretary of the Foreign Department of\\nFrance.\\nParis, June 16th, 1790.\\nSir,\\nI have the honor to address you, with this, a faithful extract of\\nall the transactions which have hitherto passed between my court and that\\nof London, on the subject of the detention of two English vessels, which\\nwere seized in the Bay of St. Lawrence, or Nootka, situated in the 50th\\ndegree to the north of California, and which were afterwards taken to the\\nport of St. Bias.\\nYou will observe by this relation,\\n1. That, by the treaties, demarkations, takings of possession, and the\\nmost decided acts of sovereignty exercised by the Spaniards in these\\nstations, from the reign of Charles IL, and authorized by that monarch in\\n1692, the original vouchers for which shall be brought forward in the\\ncourse of the negotiation, all the coast to the north of the Western Amer-\\nica, on the side of the South Sea, as far as beyond what is called Prince\\nWilliam s Sound, which is in the 61st degree, is acknowledged to belong\\nexclusively to Spain.\\n2. That the court of Russia, having been informed of this extent of\\nour boundary, assured the king, my master, without the least delay, of\\nthe purity of its intentions in this respect, and added, That it was\\nextremely sorry that the repeated orders issued to prevent the subjects of\\nRussia from violating, in the smallest degree, the territory belonging to\\nanother power, should have been disobeyed.\\n3. That the state of the possessions and exclusive commerce on the\\nsea-coast of the Southern Ocean, as it existed in the time of Charles IL,\\nhad been acknowledged and defined anew by all the nations of Europe,\\nand more particularly by England, in the eighth article of the treaty\\nof Utrecht.\\n4. That, notwithstanding the just title he has to a preservation of his\\nancient rights, the king, my master, has approved of the conduct of the\\nviceroy of Mexico, who, in consequence of his general orders and instruc-\\ntions for the preservation of peace with every power, took upon himself to\\nrelease the vessels seized in the port of Nootka, upon a supposition that\\nthe conduct of their captains was a consequence of their total ignorance\\nwith respect to the legitimacy of the rights of Spain on those coasts.\\nIt is in consequence of the desire of his Catholic majesty to pre-\\nserve peace to himself, and to establish the general tranquillity of Europe,\\n54", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0455.jp2"}, "456": {"fulltext": "426 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [D.\\nthat lie has taken the steps you will observe in the said extract, and that\\nhe has commenced an amicable and direct negotiation with England,\\nwhich he will finish with Mr. Fitzherbert, the new ambassador sent\\nfrom that court to the court of Madrid. We are in hopes that the con-\\nsequences of this negotiation will be favorable but, at the same time, we\\nmust employ all the necessary means to make it so.\\nAn immediate and exact accomplishment of the treaty signed at Paris,\\nthe loth of August, 1761, under the title of the Family Compact, becomes\\nan indispensable preliminary to a successful negotiation. It is in conse-\\nquence of the absolute necessity which Spain finds of having recourse to\\nthe succor of France, that the king, my master, orders me to demand\\nexpressly what France can do in the present circumstances to assist\\nSpain, according to the mutual engagements stipulated by the treaties.\\nHis Catholic majesty desires that the armaments, as well as other proper\\nmeasures to fulfil and realize these sacred engagements, be immediately\\nput in execution. He charges me to add further, that the present state\\nof this unforeseen business requires a very speedy determination, and that\\nthe measures which the court of France shall take for his assistance, shall\\nbe so active, so clear, and so positive, as to prevent even the smallest\\nground for suspicion. Otherwise his most Christian majesty must not be\\nsurprised that Spain should seek other friends and different allies among\\nall the powers of Europe, without excepting any one, upon whose assist-\\nance she can rely in case of need. The ties of blood and personal friend-\\nship which unite our two sovereigns, and particularly the reciprocal\\ninterest which exists between two nations united by nature, shall be\\nrespected in all new arrangements, as far as circumstances will permit.\\nThis, sir, is the positive demand which I am obliged to make, and in\\nconsequence of which I hope his most Christian majesty will immediately\\ntake such measures as shall seem most suitable, in the present circum-\\nstances, to satisfy my master, in an object so interesting and important to\\nthe preservation of his legal rights, and the honor of his nation.\\nI have the honor to be, c..\\nEl Conde de Fernan Nunez.\\n(5.)\\nLetter from Mr. Fitzherbert to Count de Florida Blanca.\\nMadrid, [probably,] June \\\\Qth, 1790.\\nSir,\\nIn compliance with your excellency s desire, I have now the\\nhonor to communicate to you, in writing, what I observed to you in the\\nconversation we had the day before yesterday.\\nThe substance of these observations are briefly these\\nThe court of London is animated with the most sincere desire of\\nterminating the difference that at present subsists between it and the\\ncourt of Madrid, relative to the port of Nootka, and the adjacent lati-\\ntudes, by a friendly negotiation; but as it is evident, upon the clearest\\nprinciples of justice and reason, that an equal negotiation cannot be\\nopened till matters are put in their original state, and as certain acts have\\nbeen committed in the latitudes in question by vessels belonging to the", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0456.jp2"}, "457": {"fulltext": "D,] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 427\\nroyal marine of Spain, against several British vessels, without any re-\\nprisals having been made, of any sort, on the part of Britain, that power is\\nperfectly in the right to insist, as a preliminary condition, upon a prompt\\nand suitable reparation for these acts of violence; and in consequence of\\nthis principle, the practice of nations has limited such right of reparation\\nto three articles, viz., the restitution of the vessels a full indemnification\\nfor the losses sustained by the parties injured and, finally, satisfaction to\\nthe sovereign for the insult offered to his flag. So tiiat it is evident that\\nthe actual demands of my court, far from containing any thing to preju-\\ndice the rights or the dignity of his Catholic majesty, amount to no more,\\nin fiict, than what is constantly done by Great Britain herself, as well as\\nevery other maritime power, in similar circumstances. Finally, as to the\\nnature of the satisfaction which the court of London exacts on this occa-\\nsion, and on which your excellency appears to desire some explanation, 1\\nam authorized, sir, to assure you, that if his Catholic majesty consents to\\nmake a declaration in his name, bearing in substance that he had deter-\\nmined to oflfer to his Britannic majesty a just and suitable satisfaction\\nfor the insult offered to his flag, such offer, joined to a promise of\\nmaking restitution of the vessels captured, and to indemnify the pro-\\nprietors, under the conditions specified in the official letter of Mr. Merry\\non the 16th of May, will be regarded by his Britannic majesty as consti-\\ntuting in itself the satisfaction demanded; and his said majesty will accept\\nof it as such by a counter-declaration on his part. I have to add, that as\\nit appears uncertain if the vessels the North-West, an American vessel,\\nand the Iphigenia, had truly a right to enjoy the protection of the British\\nflag, the king will with pleasure consent that an examination of this ques-\\ntion, as well as that relative to the just amount of the losses sustained\\nby his subjects, may be left to the determination of commissioners to\\nbe named by the two courts.\\nHaving thus recapitulated to your excellency the heads of what I\\nobserved to you in conversation, I flatter myself you will weigh the whole\\nin your mind, with that spirit of equity and moderation which character-\\nizes you, that I may be in a condition of sending to my court, as soon as\\npossible, a satisfactory answer as to the point contained in the official\\npaper sent to Mr. Merry, on the 4th of the month, and which, for the\\nreasons I have mentioned, cannot be regarded by his Britannic majesty\\nas fulfilling his just expectations.\\nI have the honor to be, -c.,\\nAlleyne Fitzherbert.\\n(6.)\\nLetter from Count de Florida Blanca to Mr. Fitzherbert.\\nMadrid, June ISth, 1790.\\nYou will pardon me, sir, that I cannot give my assent to the principles\\nlaid down in your last letter; as Spain maintains, on the most solid\\ngrounds, that the detention of the vessels was made in a port, upon a\\ncoast, or in a bay, of Spanish America, the commerce and navigation of\\nwhich belonged exclusively to Spain, by treaties with all nations, even\\nEngland herself", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0457.jp2"}, "458": {"fulltext": "428 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [l\\nThe principles laid down cannot be adapted to the case. The\\nvessels detained attempted to make an establishment at a port where\\nthey found a nation actually settled, the Spanish commander at Nootka\\nhaving, previous to their detention, made the most amicable represen-\\ntations to the aggressors to desist from their purpose.\\nYour excellency will also permit me to lay before you, that it is not\\nat all certain that the vessels detained navigated under the British flag,\\nalthough they were English vessels there having been reason to believe\\nthat they navigated under the protection of Portuguese passports, fur\\nnislied them by the governor of Macao as commercial vessels, and not\\nbelonging to the royal marine. Your excellency will add to these rea-\\nsons, that, by the restitution of these vessels, their furniture and cargoes,\\nor their value, in consequence of the resolution adopted by the viceroy of\\nMexico, which has been approved of by the king, for the sake of peace,\\nevery thing is placed in its original state, the object your excellency aims\\nat nothing remaining unsettled but the indemnification of losses, and\\nsatisfaction for the insult, which shall also be regulated when evidence\\nshall be given what insult has been committed, which hitherto has not\\nbeen sufficiently explained.\\nHowever, that a quarrel may not arise about words, and that two\\nnations friendly to each other may not be exposed to the calamities of\\nwar, I have to inform you, sir, by order of the king, that his majesty\\nconsents to make the declaration which your excellency proposes in your\\nletter, and will offer to his Britannic majesty a just and suitable satisfac-\\ntion for the insult offered to the honor of his flag, provided that to these\\nare added either of the following explanations:\\n1. That, in offering such satisfaction, the insult and the satisfaction\\nshall be fully settled, both in form and substance, by a judgment to be\\npronounced by one of the kings of Europe, whom the king, my master,\\nleaves wholly to the choice of his Britannic majesty; for it is sufficient to\\nthe Spanish monarch that a crowned head, from full information of the\\nfacts, shall decide as he thinks just.\\n2. That, in oflTering a just and suitable satisfaction, care shall be\\ntaken that, in the progress of the negotiation to be opened, no facts be\\nadmitted as true but such as can be fully established by Great Britain\\nwith regard to the insult offered to her flag.\\n3. That the said satisfaction shall be given on condition that no\\ninference be drawn therefrom to affect the rights of Spain, nor of the\\nright of exacting from Great Britain an equivalent satisfaction, if it shall\\nbe found, in the course of negotiation, that the king has a right to\\ndemand satisfaction, for the aggression and usurpation made on the\\nSpanish territory, contrary to subsisting treaties.\\nYour excellency will be pleased to make choice of either of these\\nthree explanations to the declaration your excellency proposes, or all the\\nthree together, and to point out any difficulty that occurs to you, that\\nit may be obviated or any other mode that may tend to promote the\\npeace which we desire to establish.\\nI have the honor to be, c..\\nEl Conde de Florida Blanca.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0458.jp2"}, "459": {"fulltext": "D.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 429\\nSpanish Declaration, and British Counter-Declaration, exchanged at\\nMadrid on the 2ith of July, 1790.\\nDECLARATION.\\nHis Britannic majesty having complained of the capture of certain\\nvessels belonging to his subjects in the port of Nootka, situated on the\\nnorth-west coast of America, by an ofhcer in the service of the king, the\\nundersigned counsellor and principal secretary of state to his majesty,\\nbeing thereto duly authorized, declares, in the name and by the order of\\nhis said majesty, that he is willing to give satisfaction to his Britannic\\nmajesty for tlie injury of which he has complained, fuily persuaded that\\nhis said Britannic majesty would act in the same manner towards the\\nking, under similar circumstances and his majesty further engages to\\nmake full restitution of all the British vessels which were captured at\\nNootka, and to indemnify the parties interested in those vessels, for the\\nlosses which they shall have sustained, as soon as the amount thereof\\nshall have been ascertained.\\nIt being understood that this declaration is not to preclude or preju-\\ndice the ulterior discussion of any right which his majesty may claim to\\nform an exclusive establishment at the port of Nootka.\\nIn witness whereof, I have signed this declaration, and sealed it with\\nthe seal of my arms. At Madrid, the 24th of July, 1T90.\\n(l. s.) Signed,\\nLe Comte de Florida Blanca.\\ncounter-declaration.\\nHis Catholic majesty having declared that he was willing to give\\nsatisfaction for the injury done to the king, by the capture of certain\\nvessels belonging to his subjects, in the bay of Nootka, and the Count de\\nFlorida Blanca having signed, in the name and by the order of his Catho-\\nlic majesty, a declaration to this effect, and by which his said majesty\\nlikewise engages to make full restitution of the vessels so captured, and\\nto indemnify the parties interested in those vessels for the losses they shall\\nhave sustained, the undersigned ambassador extraordinary and plenipo-\\ntentiary of his majesty to the Catholic king, being thereto duly and\\nexpressly authorized, accepts the said declaration in the name of the king,\\nand declares that his majesty will consider this declaration, together with\\nthe performance of the engagements contained therein, as a full and entire\\nsatisfaction for the injury of which his majesty has complained.\\nThe undersigned declares, at the same time, that it is to be under-\\nstood, that neither the said declaration signed by Count Florida Blanca,\\nnor the acceptance thereof by the undersigned, in the name of the king,\\nis to preclude or prejudice, in any respect, the right which his majesty\\nmay claim to any establishment which his subjects may have formed, or\\nshould be desirous of forming in future, at the said bay of Nootka.\\nIn witness whereof, I have signed this counter-declaration, and sealed\\nit with the seal of my arms. At Madrid, the 24th of July, 1790.\\n(l. s.) Signed,\\nAlleyne Fitzherbert.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0459.jp2"}, "460": {"fulltext": "430 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [jjj.\\n(8.)\\nDecree of the National Convention of France, on the Subject of the\\nApplication of the King of Spain for Aid in resisting the Demands\\nof Great Britain. Paris, August 6th, 1790.\\nThe National Assembly, deliberating on the formal proposition of the\\nking, contained in the letter of the minister, dated the 1st of August,\\nDecree, that the king be supplicated to make known to his Catholic\\nmajesty, that the French nation, in taking all proper measures to maintain\\npeace, will observe the defensive and commercial engagements which the\\nFrench government have previously contracted with Spain.\\nThey further decree that his majesty shall be requested immediately\\nto charge his ambassador in Spain to negotiate with the minister of his\\nCatholic majesty to the effect of perpetuating and renewing, by a national\\ntreaty, the ties so useful to the two nations, and to fix with precision and\\nclearness every stipulation which shall be strictly conformable to the\\nviews of general peace, and to the principles of justice, which will be\\nforever the policy of the French.\\nThe National Assembly further taking into consideration the arma-\\nments of the different nations of Europe, their progressive increase,\\nand the safety of the French colonies and commerce, decree, that the\\nking shall be prayed to give orders that the French marine force in\\ncommission shall be increased to forty-five ships of the line, with a\\nproportionate number of frigates and other vessels.\\nE.\\nDocuments relative to the Discovery of the Columbia\\nRiver by the Spaniards and the Americans.\\nExtract from the Report of Captain Bruno Heceta, commanding the\\nSpanish Corvette Santiago, in a Voyage along the North-West Coast\\nof Ainerica, in 1775, containing the Particulars of his Discovery of\\nthe Mouth of the Great River, since called the Columbia*\\nORIGINAL.\\nEl dia diez y siete, [de agosto, 1775,] recorri la costa, hasta el grade\\ncuarenta y seis; y vi que desde la latitud de cuarenta y siete grades y\\nFrom the original Report, preserved in the Hydrographical Office at Madrid,\\ncopied under the supervision of Don Martin Fernandes de Navarate, the chief of\\nthat department, whose certificate in proof of its authenticity is appended to the\\ncopy. See p. 120 of this History.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0460.jp2"}, "461": {"fulltext": "E.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 431\\ncuarenta minutos, hasta la de cuarenta y seis grades cuareuta minutos,\\ncorria al angulo de diez y ocho, en el segundo cuadrante y desde esta\\ngraduacion, hasta la de cuarenta y seis, y ciiatro, al angulo de doce del\\nmismo cuadrante, y con la misma sonda, playa y frondosidad, y algunos\\nislotes, que la de los dias anteriores.\\nLa tarde de este dia, descubri una grande bahia, que la nombre de\\nla Asuncion cuya figura representa el piano que va inserto en este diario;\\nsu latitud y amplitud esta sujeta a las demarcaciones mas exactas que\\nofrece la theorica y practica de esta carrera.\\nLas latitudes de los cabos mas salientes de dicha bahia, particularmente\\nla del Norte, esta calculada por la observacion de aquel dia.\\nHabiendola llegado a flanquear a las seis de la tarde, y cuasi situada la\\nfragata entre los dos Cabos, sonde en veinte y cuatro brazas, y eran tan\\nrapidos los remolinos de las corrientes, que no obstante haber esforzado\\nde vela, fue trabajoso el salir 6 seperarse del Cabo de mas al Norte, que\\nes hacia la parte donde rhas se inclinaba la corriente, que tambien tenia\\nsu direccion al este, y con el dependia del flujo de la marea.\\nEstas corrientes y hervidero de aguas me ban hecho creer sea desem-\\nbocadura de algun gran rio 6 paso para algun otro mar.\\nSi la latitud en que se situo la bahia no tubiera la constante prueba de\\nla observacion de aquel dia creeria sin dificultad era este el paso descubierto\\nel ano de 1592 por Juan de Fuca, que lo situan las cartas entre los grados\\nde cuarenta y ocho grados y cuarenta y siete de latitud, donde no me\\nqueda duda, no se halla este estrecho, por haber estado fondeado el dia\\ncatorce de Julio, en el centre de estas latitudes, y registrado varias veces\\ntodas aquellas inmediaciones.\\nNo obstante la mucha diferencia de la situaclon de esta bahia, y el\\npaso que cita de Fuca, se mi hace poco dificultoso el dudar, si es uno\\nmismo; porque he observado, hay igual variedad 6 mayor, en las latitudes\\nde otros cabos y puertos de esta costa, como los citare a su tiempo; y en\\ntodos, es mayor la latitud en que los fijan, que la que tiene sus verdaderas\\nsituaciones.\\nEl no haber entrado y fondeado en el puerto, que parece forma la que\\nen el piano supongo isla, no obstante los vivos deseos que me asisten, fue\\nporque, habiendo tomado parecer del segundo Capitan y practico Don\\nJuan Perez, y piloto Don Christoval Revilla, insistieron en que no debia\\nexecutar, porque, de dejar caer el ancla, no teniamos gente con que\\nzarparla, y atender a la faena, que de esto resulta. Hecho cargo yo, de\\nestas razones, y que para hacer rumbo al fondeadero, me era precise\\nhechar la lancha al agua (unica embarcacion menor que tenia) esquifarla\\ncon catorce individuos de la tripulacion, lo menos, y que sin estos no\\npodia empeiiarme, notando al mismo tiempo, era tarde, resolvi virar para\\nfuera; y hallandome a la distancia de -tres 6 cuatro leguas, hice capa.\\nExperimente esta noche vivas corrientes al S. O. que me imposibilitaron\\nintentar recalar en esta bahia, la maiiana del dia siguiente, por estar\\nmuy sotavento.\\nTambien estas me hicieron consentir, en que en el reflujo, salia de\\naquella bahia, mucha cantidad de aguas.\\nLos dos Cabos que cito en el piano, de San Rogue y del Frondoso\\ncorren al angulo de diez grados del tercer cuadrante ambos son escar-\\npados de tierra colorada con poca elevacion.\\nEl dia dies y ocho, demarque el Cabo Frondoso que cito, con otro que", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0461.jp2"}, "462": {"fulltext": "432 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [E.\\nle puse por nonibre de Falcon, situado en la latitud de cuarenta y cinco\\ngrades cuarenta y tres minutos; y corria al angulo de veinte y dos grados\\ndel tercer cuadrante y desde este cabo sigue la costa, al angulo de cinco\\ngrados, del segundo cuadrante.\\nEsta es de tierra montuosa, no muy elevada, ni tan poblada de arboleda,\\ncoino la que induce los grados desde la latitud de cuarenta y ocho, treinta,\\nhasta los cuarenta y seis.\\nEn la sonda, encontre notable diferencia; pues a distancia de siete\\nleguas, sonde en ochenta y cuatro brazas, y acercandome a la costa, no\\nhalle algunas veces sonda lo que me ha hecho creer, hay algunos placeres\\n6 bancos de arena, sobre estas costas, pues tambien el color de las aguas\\nlo denota asi. En algunas partes, acaba la costa en playa, y en otros\\nacantilada.\\nUna montana plana, que la llame de 3Icsa, hara que qualquier navegante\\nse haga capaz de la situacion del Cabo Falcon, aunque no haya tenido\\nobservacion; por que esta en la latitud de cuarenta y cinco veinte y ocho\\nminutos, v se deja ver de lejos por ser medianamente alta.\\nTRANSLATION.\\nOn the 17th [ot August, 1775] I sailed along the coast to the 46th\\ndegree, and observed that, from the latitude of 47 degrees 4 minutes\\nto that of 46 degrees 40 minutes, it runs in the angle of 18 degrees of the\\nsecond quadrant,* and from that latitude to 46 degrees 4 minutes, in the\\nangle of 12 degrees of the same quadrant the soundings, the shore, the\\nwooded character of the country, and the little islands, being the same as\\non the preceding days.\\nIn the evening of this day, I discovered a large bay, to which I gave\\nthe name of Assumption Bay, and of which a plan will be found in this\\njournal. Its latitude and longitude are determined according to the most\\nexact means afforded by theory and practice.\\nThe latitudes of the two most prominent capes of this bay, especially\\nof the northern one, are calculated from the observations of this day.t\\nHaving arrived opposite this bay at six in the evening, and placed the\\nship nearly midway between the two capes, I sounded, and found bottom\\nin twenty-four brazas the currents and eddies were so strong that,\\nnotwithstanding a press of sail, it was difficult to get out clear of the north-\\nern cape, towards which the current ran, though its direction was east-\\nward, in consequence of the tide being at flood.\\nThese currents and eddies of the water caused me to believe that J:he\\nplace is the mouth of some great river, or of some passage to another sea.\\nThe card of the Spanish compass was formerly divided into four quadrants, on\\nwhich the points were counted by degrees.\\nIn the table accompanying the report, the position of the vessel is given on the\\n17th of August, as in latitude of 46 degrees 17 minutes, which is within one minute of\\nthe latitude of Cape Disappointment, (the Cape San Rogue of Heceta,) the northern\\npoint, at the entrance of the Columbia the longitude is made 15 dejjrees 38 minutes\\nwest of Cape San Lucas, the southern extremity of California, which is about a\\ndegree and a half too far west, yet remarkably near the truth, considering tliat\\nthe Spanisli navigator was obliged to depend entirely on the dead reckoning for\\nhis longitudes.\\nt The Spanish hraza, or fathom, contains six Spanish feet, nearly equal to five feet\\nnine inches English.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0462.jp2"}, "463": {"fulltext": "E.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 433\\nHad I not been certain of the latitude of this bay, from my observations\\nof the same day, I might easily have believed it to be the p.iss;ige dis-\\ncovered by Juan de Fuca, in 150 2, which is placed on the charts between\\nthe 47 til and the 4Sth degrees where I am certain that no such strait\\nexists; because I anchored on the 14th of July midway between these\\ntwo latitudes, and carefully examined every thing around.\\nNotwithstanding the great difference between the position of this bay\\nand the passage mentioned by De Fuca, I have little difficulty in con-\\nceiving that they may be the same, having observed equal or greater\\ndifferences in the latitudes of other capes and ports on this coast, as I\\nshall show at its proper time and in all cases the latitudes thus assigned\\nare higher than the real ones.\\nI did not enter and anchor in this port, which in my plan I suppose\\nto be formed by an island, notwithstanding my strong desire to do so;\\nbecause, having consulted the second captain, Don Juan Perez, and the\\npilot, Don Christoval Revilla, they insisted that I ought not to attempt it,\\nas, if we let go the anchor, we should not have men enough to get it up,\\nand to attend to the other operations which would be thereby rendered\\nnecessary. Considering this, and also that, in order to reach the anchor-\\nage, I shoidd be obliged to lower my long-boat, (the only boat that I had,)\\nand to man it with at least fourteen of the crew, as 1 could not manage with\\nfewer, and also that it was then late in the day, I resolved to put out; and\\nat the distance of three or four leagues I lay to. In the course of that\\nnight, I experienced heavy currents to the south-west, which made it\\nimpossible for me to enter the bay on the following morning, as I was\\nfar to leeward.\\nThese currents, however, convinced me that a great quantity of water\\nrushed from this bay on the ebb of the tide.\\nThe two capes which I name in my plan Cape San Roque and Cape\\nFrondoso,f lie in the angle of ten degrees of the third quadrant. They\\nare both faced with red earth, and are of little elevation.\\nOn the 18th, I observed Cape Frondoso, with another cape, to which\\nI gave the name of Cape Falcon, situated in the latitude of 45 degrees\\n43 minutes, and they lay at the angle of 22 degrees of the third quadrant,\\nand from the last-mentioned cape I traced the coast running in the angle\\nof five degrees of tlie second quadrant.\\nThis land is mountainous, but not very high, nor so well wooded as\\nthat lying between the latitudes of 48 degrees 30 minutes, and 46 degrees.\\nOn sounding, I found great differences at the distance of 7 leagues,\\nI got bottom at 84 brazas and nearer the coast, I sometimes found no\\nbottom; from which I am inclined to believe that there are reefs or\\nshoals on these coasts, which is also shown by the color of the water. In\\nsome places, the coast presents a beach, in others it is rocky.\\nA flat-topped mountain, which I named The Tablc,^ will enable any nav-\\nigator to know the position of Cape Falcon without observing it as it is\\nin the latitude of 45 degrees 28 minutes, and may be seen at a great dis-\\ntance, being somewhat elevated.\\nCape Disappointment. Cape Lookout.\\nt Cape Adams. Charke s Point of View.\\n55", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0463.jp2"}, "464": {"fulltext": "434 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [E.\\n(2.)\\nExtract from the Second Volume of the Log-Book of the Ship Columbia^\\nof Boston, commanded hy Robert Gray, containing the Account of\\nher Entrance into the Columbia River, in May, 1792.*\\nBlay 7th, 1792, A. M. Being within six miles of the land, saw an\\nentrance in the same, which had a very good appearance of a harbor;\\nlowered away the jolly-boat, and went in search of an anchoring-place,\\nthe ship standing to and fro, with a very strong weather current. At one,\\nP. M., the boat returned, having found no place where the ship could\\nanchor with safety made sail on the ship stood in for the shore. We\\nsoon saw, from our mast-head, a passage in between the sand-bars. At\\nhalf past three, bore away, and ran in north-east by east, having from four\\nto eight fathoms, sandy bottom and, as we drew in nearer between the\\nbars, had from ten to thirteen fathoms, having a very strong tide of ebb to\\nstem. Many canoes came alongside. At five, P. M., came to in five\\nfathoms water, sandy bottom, in a safe harbor, well sheltered from the\\nsea by long sand-bars and spits. Our latitude observed this day was\\n46 degrees 58 minutes north.\\n3Iay 10th. Fresh breezes and pleasant weather; many natives along-\\nside; at noon, all the canoes left us. At one, P. M., began to unmoor,\\ntook up the best bower-anchor, and hove short on the small bower-anchor.\\nAt half past four, (being high water,) hove up the anchor, and came to\\nsail and a beating down the harbor.\\n31ay llth. At half past seven, we were out clear of the bars, and\\ndirected our course to the southward, along shore. At eight, P. M., the\\nentrance of Bulfinch s Harbor bore north, distance four miles the south-\\nern extremity of the land bore south-south-east half east, and the northern\\nnorth-north-west; sent up the main-top-gallant-yard and set all sail. At\\nfour, A. M., saw the entrance of our desired port bearing east-south-east,\\ndistance six leagues; in steering sails, and hauled our wind in shore. At\\neight, A. M., being a little to windward of the entrance of the Harbor,\\nbore away, and run in east-north-east between the breakers, having from\\nfive to seven fathoms of water. When we were over the bar, we found\\nthis to be a large river of fresh water, up which we steered. Many canoes\\ncame alongside. At one, P. M., came to with the small bower, in ten\\nfathoms, black and white sand. The entrance between the bars bore\\nwest-south-west, distant ten miles; the north side of the river a half mile\\ndistant from the ship the south side of the same two and a half miles\\ndistance; a village on the north side of the river west by north, distant\\nthree quarters of a mile. Vast numbers of natives came alongside\\npeople employed in pumping the salt water out of our water-casks, in\\norder to fill with fresh, while the ship floated in. So ends.\\nMay 12^/t. Many natives alongside; noon, fresh wind; let go the\\nThis extract was made in 1816, by Mr. Bulfinch, of Boston, one of the owners of\\nthe Columbia, from the second volume of the log-book, which was then in the pos-\\nsession of Captain Gray s heirs, but has since disappeared. It has been frequently\\npublished in newspapers and reports to Congress, accompanied by the affidavit of Mr.\\nBulfinch to its exactness. See p. 236 of the History.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0464.jp2"}, "465": {"fulltext": "E.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 435\\nbest bower-anchor, and veered out on both cables sent down the niain-\\ntop-gallant-yard filled up all the water-casks in the hold. The latter\\npart, heavy gales, and rainy, dirty weather.\\n3Iay Vith. Fresh winds and rainy weather; many natives along-\\nside hove up the best bower-anchor seamen and tradesmen at their\\nvarious departments.\\nMay \\\\4tth. Fresh gales and cloudy; many natives alongside; at\\nnoon, weighed and came to sail, standing up the river north-east by east;\\nwe found the channel very narrow. At lour, P. M., we had sailed up-\\nwards of twelve or fifteen miles, when the channel was so very narrow\\nthat it was almost impossible to keep in it, having from three to eighteen\\nfathoms water, sandy bottom. At half past four, the ship took ground,\\nbut she did not stay long before she came off, without any assistance.\\nWe backed her off, stern foremost, into three fathoms, and let go the\\nsmall bower, and moored ship with kedge and hawser. The jolly-boat\\nwas sent to sound the channel out, but found it not navigable any farther\\nup so, of course, we must have taken the wrong channel. So ends,\\nwith rainy weather; many natives alongside.\\n3Iay I yth. Light airs and pleasant weather; many natives from\\ndifferent tribes came alongside. At ten, A. M., unmoored and dropped\\ndown with the tide to a better anchoring-place smiths and other trades-\\nmen constantly employed. In the afternoon. Captain Gray and Mr. Hos-\\nkins, in the jolly-boat, went on shore to take a short view of the country.\\n3Iay Wth. Light airs and cloudy. At four, A. M., hove up the\\nanchor and towed down about three miles, with the last of the ebb-tide\\ncame into six fathoms, sandy bottom, the jolly-boat sounding the channel.\\nAt ten, A. M., a fresh breeze came up river. With the first of the ebb-\\ntide we got under way, and beat down river. At one, (from its beimr\\nvery squally,) we came to, about two miles from the village, (Chinouk,)\\nwhich bore west-south-west; many natives alongside; fresh o-ales and\\nsqually.\\n3Iay 17th. Fresh winds and squally; many canoes alongside; calk-\\ners calking the pinnace; seamen paying the ship s sides with tar; painter\\npainting ship; smiths and carpenters at their departments.\\n3Iay ISt/i. Pleasant weather. At four in the mornins:, beoran to\\nheave ahead; at half past, came to sail, standing down river with the ebb-\\ntide; at seven, (being slack water and the wind fluttering,) we came to in\\nfive fathoms, sandy bottom the entrance between the bars bore south-\\nwest by west, distant three miles. The north point of the harbor bore\\nnorth-west, distant two miles; the south bore south-east, distant three and\\na half miles. At nine, a breeze sprimg up from the eastward took up\\nthe anchor and came to sail, but the wind soon came flutterino- acrain\\ncame to with the kedge and hawser; veered out fifty fathoms. Noon,\\npleasant. Latitude observed, 46 degrees 17 minutes north. At one,\\ncame to sail with the first of the ebb-tide, and drifted down broadside\\nwith light airs and strong tide at three quarters past, a fresh wind came\\nfrom the northward; wore ship, and stood into the river acrain. At four,\\ncame to in six fathoms; good holding-ground about six or seven miles\\nup many canoes alongside.\\n3Iay lOth. Fresh wind and clear weather. Early a number of\\ncanoes came alongside; seamen and tradesmen employed in their various\\ndepartments. Captain Gray gave this river the name of Columbia s", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0465.jp2"}, "466": {"fulltext": "436 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [F.\\nRiver, and the north side of the entrance Cape Hancock, the south,\\nAdaius s Point.\\nMay 2Qth. Gentle breezes and pleasant weather. At one, P. M.,\\n(being full sea,) took up the anchor, and made sail, standing down river.\\nAt two, the wind left us, we being on the bar with a very strong tide,\\nwhich set on the breakers; it was now not possible to get out without a\\nbreeze to shoot her across the tide so we were obliged to bring up in\\nthree and a half fathoms, the tide running five knots. At three quarters\\npast two, a fresh wind came in from seaward we immediately came to\\nsail, and beat over the bar, having from five to seven fathoms water in the\\nchannel. At five, P. M., we were out, clear of all the bars, and in twenty\\nfathoms water. A breeze came from the southward; we bore away to\\nthe northward set all sail to the best advantage. At eight, Cape Han-\\ncock bore south-east, distant three leagues the north extremity of the land\\nin sight bore north by west. At nine, in steering and top-gallant sails.\\nMidnight, light airs.\\n31ai/ 2\\\\st. At six, A. M., the nearest land in sight bore east-south-\\neast, distant eight leagues. At seven, set top-gallant-sails and light stay-\\nsails. At eleven, set steering-sails fore and aft. Noon, pleasant, agree-\\nable weather. The entrance of Bulfinch s Harbor bore south-east by east\\nhalf east, distant five leagues.\\nF.\\nShowing that the Forty-ninth Parallel of Latitude was\\nnot selected as the line of separation between the\\nFrench and the British Territories in North America,\\nBY Commissaries appointed agreeably to the Treaty of\\nUtrecht.*\\nMr. Monroe, minister plenipotentiary of the United States in London,\\nin his letter of September 5th, 1804, to Lord Harrowby, the British secre-\\ntary for foreign affairs,t makes the following statement with regard to the\\nadoption of the 49th parallel of latitude as the northern boundary of Lou-\\nisiana\\nBy the tenth article of the treaty of Utrecht, it is agreed that France\\nshall restore to Great Britain the Bay and Straits of Hudson, together with\\nall the lands, seas, sea-coasts, rivers, and places, situate in the said bay\\nand straits, which belong thereto; and it is also agreed, on both sides, to\\ndetermine, within a year, by commissaries to be forthwith named by each\\nparty, the limits which are to be fixed between the said Bay of Hudson\\nand the places appertaining to the French, which limits both the British\\nand French subjects shall be wholly forbid to pass over, or thereby to go\\nto each other, by sea or by land the same commissioners shall also have\\norders to describe and settle in like manner the boundaries between the\\nSee p. 282 of the History.\\nt Communicated to Congress, and published with President Jefferson s message of\\nMarch 30th, 1808.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0466.jp2"}, "467": {"fulltext": "F.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 4JJ7\\nOther British and French colonies in those parts. Commissaries were\\naccordingly appointed by each power, who executed the stipulations of\\nthe treaty, in establishing the boundaries proposed by it. They lixed the\\nnorthern boundary of Canada and Louisiana by a line beginning on the\\nAtlantic, at a cape or promontory in 58 degrees 30 minutes north latitude,\\nthence south-westwardly to the Lake Mistissin, thence farther south-west\\nto the latitude of 49 degrees north from the equator, and along that line\\nindefinitely.\\nMr. Monroe does not give his authority for the assertion respecting the\\nadoption of this line by the commissaries he, however, most probably\\nderived his information from the mnp of America attached to Postle-\\nthwayt s Dictionary of Commerce, published in 1751, to which he alludes\\nin other parts of his correspondence, and in which a line appears nearly\\nas described by him, with a note on the map, saying, The line that parts\\nFrench Canada from British Canada was settled by commissaries, after\\nthe peace of Utrecht, making a curve from Davis s Inlet, in the Atlantic\\nSea, doion to the AS)th degree, through Lake Abitibis, to the North-West\\nOcean. In the Dictionary to which this map is attached, the limits of\\nthese territories are expressly declared to be undetermined. The map of\\nNorth America, by Palairet and Delaroche, published at London in 1765,\\nalso gives the same line, without any note as to the manner in which it\\nwas adopted. In the map of the British Possessions in America, pub-\\nlished by Bowen and Gibson in 1775, and in one or two other inferior\\nmaps, the 49th parallel is given as the southern limit of the Hudson s\\nBay Company s territories, from the vicinity of Lake Superior, westward\\nto Red River, down which the boundary is continued to Lake Winnipeg.\\nThese are the only authorities, as yet discovered, for the belief that the\\n49th parallel was adopted as a boundary by commissaries appointed ac-\\ncording to the treaty of Utrecht.\\nOn the other hand, Mitchell s great map of America, published in\\n1755 at London, under the patronage of the colonial department, presents\\na line drawn around Hudson s Bay, at the distance of about one hundred\\nand fifty miles from its shore, as the bounds of Hudson s Bay by the\\ntreaty of Utrecht and the same line appears on the map of America\\naccompanying Smollett s History of England, published in 1760, on that\\nof Beimet, published in 1770, on that of Faden, in 1777, and on some\\nother maps of that period.\\nNo line of separation whatsoever, between the Hudson s Bay territories\\nand the French possessions in America, is to be found on the large and\\nbeautiful map of America by Henry Popple, published in 1738, also under\\nthe patronage of the colonial department, and bearing the stamp of the\\napprobation of Dr. Halley, which is particularly minute in all that relates\\nto the territories in question or on any of the maps in the atlas of Max-\\nwell and Senex, published in 1721, or in any of tliose attached to the\\nvolume of Boyer s Political State for 1721 to the History of Hudson s\\nBay, by Dobbs to the American Traveller, by Cluny to the History\\nof the British Empire in America, by Wynne to Alcedo s Dictionary\\nof America, or on many other maps, of inferior merit, which might be\\nnamed.\\nThese discrepancies should not excite surprise for maps, and books\\nof geography, which are most frequently consulted in relation to bounda-\\nries, are, or rather have been, the very worst authorities on such subjects", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0467.jp2"}, "468": {"fulltext": "438 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [F.\\nas they are ordinarily made by persons wholly unacquainted with political\\naffairs. Of this, numerous examples may be cited from works of authors\\nthe most highly esteemed as geographers, even at the present day.*\\nNo allusion whatsoever to the settlement of any boundary line between\\nthe Hudson s Bay territories and the French dominions, by commissaries\\nappointed agreeably to the treaty of Utrecht, is to be found in any of the\\nfollowing works, which have been carefully examined with reference to\\nthis question viz. Actes, Memoires, c., concernant la Paix d Utrecht,\\na voluminous work, published in 171G Actes, Negotiations, c., depuis\\nla Paix d Utrecht, 1745 the collections of treaties and state papers by\\nDumont, Boyer, Martens, Jenkinson, and Herstlet Collection des Edits,\\nOrdonnances, c., concernant le Canada the histories of, and memoirs\\non, Louisiana, by Dumont, Le Page Dupratz, Vergennes, Marbois, and\\nothers Memoires des Commissaires Francais et Anglais, sur les Pos-\\nsessions, c., des deux Couronnes en Amerique, 1754 the works of\\nSwift and of Bolingbroke the Parliamentary History of England and\\nthe Histories of England by Tindal, Smollet, Belsham, Mahon, or Wade.\\nThis is strong negative evidence. Anderson, in his elaborate History\\nof Commerce, (vol. iii. p. 267,) thus pointedly denies that any such set-\\ntlement of limits was effected agreeably to the provisions of the treaty of\\nUtrecht Though the French king yielded to the queen of Great\\nBritain, to be possessed by her, in fidl right, forever, the Bay and Straits\\nof Hudson, and all parts thereof, and within the same then possessed by\\nFrance, yet leaving the boundaries between Hudson s Bay and the north\\nparts of Canada belonging to France to be determined by commissaries\\nwithin a year, was, in effect, the same thing as giving up the point alto-\\ngether it being well known, to all Europe, that France never permits\\nher commissaries to determine matters referred to such, unless it can be\\ndone with great advantage to her. Those boundaries, therefore, have\\nnever yet been settled, though the British and French subjects are, by\\nthat article, expressly debarred from passing over the same, or thereby to\\ngo to each other, by sea or land. These commissaries were likewise to\\nsettle the boundaries between the other British and French colonies on\\nIn a large and beautifully-engraved map of the United States, published at Piiila-\\ndelphia, in 1821, from the most undouhted authorities, by -i-\\\\ geographer and\\ndraughtsman, the northern boundary of the United States west of the Mississippi is\\nrepresented by a line drawn westward from the sources of that river, nearly under the\\nlatitude of 47 degrees and 40 minutes; the country north of this line being stated to\\nbe in dispute beticecn Spain and Great Britain. Now, three years before this nisp\\nappeared, the boundary between the United States and the British possessions in that\\npart of America had been fixed by treaty, according to which, the dividing line fol-\\nlowed the course of the 49t,h parallel and, two years before the date of the map,\\nSpain had also, by treaty, ceded to the United States her rights to all territories in\\nAmerica north of the 42d parallel. These treaties had been published and it is\\nscarcely credible that they should have been unknown to an American geographer\\nengaged in preparing a map of the United States. Mistakes of the same kind, equally\\ngreat, are, however, committed in Europe. In the Encyclopfedia of Geography,\\npublished at Edinbvirgh, in 1834, by Hugh Murray, and other scientific persons, we\\nfind it stated, (p. 1374,) that the whole region west of the Rocky Mountains, e.x-\\ntending between the 42d and the 49th parallels of latitude, has, bij discovery and\\ntreaty, been assigned to the United States and a statement to the same effect may be\\nfound in the London Quarterly Review for January, 1822. These mistakes evidently\\narose from ignorance but the same defence cannot be pleaded in all cases for maps\\nhave been drawn, and engraved, and colored, with a full knowledge of their falsehood,\\nin order to forward the ends of governments or of individuals.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0468.jp2"}, "469": {"fulltext": "G.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 439\\nthat continent, which, likewise, was never done. The same denial is\\ntransferred by Macpherson to his Annals of Commerce.\\nThe only evidence of the appointment of commissaries for the settlement\\nof limits according to the treaty of Utrecht which has been discovered,\\nis contained in a passage in Charlevoix s Histoire dc la Nouvdle France,\\nof which the following is a translation France took no part in this\\ndispute, [between the British and the Indians of Nova Scotia, in 1722,]\\nin order to avoid giving the slightest pretext for interrupting the good\\nunderstanding between the two nations, which had been restored with so\\nmuch difficulty even the negotiations between the two courts for the set-\\ntlement of boundaries ceased, although commissaries had been appointed,\\non both sides, for that object since 1719.\\nG.\\nPapers relative to the American Establishment of Astoria,\\nON THE Columbia River.*\\nLetter from J. J. Astor, of New York, to the Honorable John Quincy\\nAdams, Secretary of State of the United States.f\\nf^ New York, Januanj Ath, 1823.\\nI had the honor to receive your letter of the 24th ultimo. Indis-\\nposition has prevented my acknowledging the receipt thereof at an earlier\\nperiod.\\nYou request information of arrangements made, at or about 1S14, by\\nthe North- West Company and citizens of the United States, by which\\nthat company became possessed of a settlement made at the mouth of\\nColumbia River by citizens of the United States. The settlement to\\nwhich you allude, I presume, is Astoria, as I know of no other having\\nbeen made at or near the mouth of that river. Several circumstances are\\nalleged, as having contributed to the arrangement by which the North-\\nWest Company became in possession of that settlement, but chiefly to the\\nmisuse of the confidence which had been placed in Mr. McDougal, who,\\nat the time the arrangement was made, and at the time my agent, Mr.\\nWilson P. Hunt, was absent, acted as sub-agent.\\nI beg leave briefly to state, that, contemplating to make an establish-\\nment, at the mouth of Columbia River, which should serve as a place of\\ndepot, and give further facilities for conducting a trade across this conti-\\nnent to that river, and from thence, on the range of north-west coast,\\nc., to Canton, in China, and from thence to the United States, arrano-e-\\nraents were accordingly made, in 1810, for a party of men to cross the\\nSee chap. xiv. of the History.\\nt Documents accompanying President Monroe s message to Congress of January\\n27th, 1823.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0469.jp2"}, "470": {"fulltext": "440 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [G.\\ncontinent for the Columbia River. At the same time, I fitted out the\\nship Tonquin, carrying twenty guns and sixty men, commanded by the\\nlate Captain Thorn, lieutenant in the United States navy. The ship\\nsailed in September, 1810, having on board the means for making an\\nestablishment at Columbia, where she arrived on the 22d of March, 1811.\\nThey landed, found the natives friendly, and built a fort, erected a house,\\nstore, c. This being accomplished, Captain Thorn left thirty men in\\npossession of the place, to await the party who were to make the voyage\\nover land these, also, happily arrived, though not till several months after.\\nOn or about the 1st of June, Captain Thorn left Columbia River, with a\\nview to make some trade on the coast, and then to return to the river\\nbut, unfortunately. Thorn never returned. At about two hundred miles\\nnorth of Columbia, he put in a bay to trade with the natives. Not at-\\ntending to the precautions necessary, as he had been instructed to do, to\\nguard against an attack, he suffered a whole tribe of Indians to come on\\nboard and about his ship. An attack was made he was overpowered\\nfire was communicated to the magazine, the ship was blown up, and every\\nsoul on board or near her perished.\\nIn 1811, I fitted out another ship, the Beaver, carrying twenty guns,\\nwith a duplicate cargo to the ship Tonquin, and sixty or seventy men.\\nThe Captain [Sowles] was instructed to sail for the Columbia River, and\\nin search of the men who were sent across the continent, as also of the\\nTonquin. The Beaver sailed from this in October, 1811, arrived at Co-\\nlumbia in May following, found the establishment, and landed such men,\\ngoods, provisions, c., as the establishment was in need of My instruc-\\ntions to the captain were, that, after supplying the establishment, he should\\nproceed to Chatka,* a Russian settlement, for the purpose of trade, and\\nthen return to Columbia, take what furs we had, and proceed to Canton,\\nand thence to New York. He accordingly left Columbia, (and, most\\nunfortunately, Mr. Hunt, of Trenton, New Jersey, my chief agent, left\\nthe river with him,) sailed, as directed, for the Russian settlement, and\\neffected their object; but, instead of following instructions to return to\\nColumbia, he sailed direct for Canton, leaving Mr. Hunt at one of the\\nSandwich Islands, to await the arrival of another ship, which I had prom-\\nised to send from this in 1812. The ship Beaver arrived at Canton, and\\nreceived there the news of the war. I had sent orders to the captain to\\nreturn to Astoria; but he was fearful of being captured, and remained\\nsafely at Canton till the war was over, when he came home. In conse-\\nquence of the war, I found it inconvenient to send a ship in 1812, but I\\ndid send one, the Lark, early in 1813, with directions to the captain to\\nsail for Columbia River, and to stop at the Sandwich Islands for informa-\\ntion. Being within a few days sail of those islands, the ship, in a squall\\nof wind, was upset, and finally drifted on the beach of one of those\\nislands, a wreck, ship and cargo totally lost. Here was met Mr. Hunt,\\nwho, after all the information he received, and my great desire to protect\\nthe establishment at Columbia River, procured an American vessel, took\\nsome provisions, sailed, and arrived in Columbia River. He there learned\\nthat Mr. McDougal had transferred all my property to the North-West\\nCompany, who were in possession of it by a sale, as he called it, for the\\nsum of about fifly-eight thousand dollars, of which he retained fourteen\\nSitka, or New Archangel, the chief establishment in Russian America.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0470.jp2"}, "471": {"fulltext": "G.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 441\\nthousand dollars, for wages said to be due to some of the men. From the\\nprice obtained for the goods, c., and he having himself become interested\\nin the purchase, and made a partner of the North- West Company, some\\nidea may be formed as to this man s correctness of dealings. It will be\\nseen, by the agreement (that of which I transmit a copy) and the invento-\\nry, that he sold to the North-West Company eighteen thousand one\\nhundred and seventy and a quarter pounds of beaver at two dollars, which\\nwas at that time selling in Canton at five and six dollars nine hundred\\nand seven otter skins at fifty cents, or half a dollar, which were selling at\\nCanton at five to six dollars per skin.\\nI estimated the whole property to be worth nearer two hundred\\nthousand dollars than forty thousand dollars, about the sum I received in\\nbills on Montreal. Previous to the transaction of McDougal, we had\\nalready established trading posts in the interior, and were in contact with\\nthe North-West Company. It is now to be seen what means have been\\nused by them to counteract my plan. It is well known that, as soon as\\nthe Norlh-West Company had information of my intention and plan for\\nconducting my commercial operations, they despatched a party of men\\nfrom the interior, with a view to arrive before my people at Columbia.\\nThese men were obliged to return without effecting their object. In the\\nmean time, representation was made to their government as to the proba-\\nble effect of my operations on their interest, and requesting to interfere\\nin their behalf This being in time of peace, the government did not\\ndeem it advisable so to do. So soon, however, as war was declared, these\\nrepresentations were renewed, aid was asked from the government, and it\\nwas granted. The Phoebe frigate, and sloops of war Raccoon and Por-\\ncupine, were sent from England, with orders to proceed to Columbia\\nRiver, and destroy my property. They sailed from England early in Jan-\\nuary, 1813. Arriving at Rio Janeiro, Admiral Dickson ordered the\\nPhoebe frigate, with one of the sloops, to pursue Captain Porter in the\\nfrigate Eosex, and the sloop of war Raccoon, to the Columbia. She ar-\\nrived there, took possession in the name of the king, and changed the\\nname of the place from Astoria to Fort George. Previous to this, the\\nNorth-West Company had despatched another or second pnrty of men to\\nthe Columbia. They arrived there in the absence of Mr. Hunt; McDou-\\ngal gave them support and protection, and they commenced, after some\\ntime, to negotiate with this gentleman.\\nThe reasons assigned by him for his conduct will be seen by an extract\\nof a letter said to have been sent by a Mr. Shaw, c-f the North-West\\nCompany, and of which I send you a copy. The plan by me adopted\\nwas such as must materially have affected the interest of the North-West\\nand Hudson s Bay Companies, and it was easy to be foreseen that they\\nwould employ every means to counteract my operations, and which, as my\\nimpression, I stated to the executive of your department as early ;:s Feb-\\nruary, 1813, as will be seen by a copy of the sketch of a letter which I\\nwrote to the secretary of state, and to which no reply was given. On re-\\npeated application, some time after, aid was promised me; but I believe\\nthe situation of our country rendered it inconvenient to give it. You\\nwill observe that the nnme of the Pacific Fur Company is made use of at\\nthe commencement of the arrangements for this undertaking. I preferred\\nto have it appear as the business of a company, rather than that of an\\nindividual and several of the gentlemen engaged Mr. Hunt, Mr. Crooks,\\n56", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0471.jp2"}, "472": {"fulltext": "442 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [G.\\nMr. McKay, McDougal, Stuart, c. were, in effect, to be interested as\\npartners in the undertaking, so far as respected the profit which might\\narise: but the means were furnished by me, and the property was solely\\nmine, and I sustained the loss, which, though considerable, I do not re-\\ngret, because, had it not been for the unfortunate occurrence just stated, I\\nshould have been, as I believe, most richly rewarded; as it will be seen\\nthat the difference of price in the beaver and otter skins alone, say what\\nI received, and the value of them at Canton at that time, is about sixty\\nthousand dollars. The copy of the agreement, inventory, and extract of\\nShaw s letter, you will please return to me.\\nI am, sir, c.,\\nJohn Jacob Astor\\n(2.)\\nAgreement between the Agents of the Pacific Fur Company and the North-\\nWest Company, for the Transfer of the Establishments of the Former,\\non the Columbia River, to the Latter concluded on the \\\\Qth of Octo-\\nber, 1813.\\nThe association heretofore carrying on the fur trade to the Columbia\\nRiver and its dependencies, under the firm and denomination of the\\nPacific Fur Company, being dissolved, on the 1st of July last, by\\nDuncan McDougal, Donald McKenzie, David Stuart, and John Clarke,\\nwith the intention to abandon the trade in that quarter, it is hereby agreed,\\nconcluded, and settled upon, of their own free will and consent, by\\nDuncan McDougal, acting for himself and in behalf of his associates,\\nnamely, Donald McKenzie, David Stuart, and John Clarke, on the one\\npart, and John George McTavish and John Stuart, acting for themselves\\nand in behalf of the North-West Company, on the other part, that the\\nfollowing agreement and settlement take place between them, and be\\nbinding and obligatory in the manner, and subject to the terms and agree-\\nments, hereinafter specified and contained. Now, therefore, it is hereby\\nmutually agreed and concluded, by and between the said parties to these\\npresents, and they do hereby mutually covenant and agree, to and with\\neach other, in manner following, that is to say\\nArticle 1. The party of the former part hereby covenants and\\nagrees to deliver, or cause to be delivered, the whole of the establish-\\nments, furs, and present stock in hand, on the Columbia and Thomp-\\nson s Rivers, as soon as the necessary inventories can be taken, unto the\\nsaid party of the latter part, or any other person or persons appointed by\\nthem to represent the North-West Company, to receive the same at the\\nprices and rates concluded and agreed upon as hereinafter specified, in\\narticle fourth.\\nArt. 2. In consideration of article first being duly and faithfully\\nperformed by the party of the former part, they, the said John George\\nMcTavish and John Stuart, for themselves and on behalf of the North-\\nWest Company, do bind and oblige themselves and the said North-West\\nCompany, or their agents, to pay or cause to be paid, unto the said\\nDuncan McDougal, acting for himself and in behalf of his associates, as\\nbefore mentioned, his attorneys, assigns, or order, the amount of the sums\\narising from the sale, according to article first, and the rates hereinafter", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0472.jp2"}, "473": {"fulltext": "G.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 443\\nspecified in article fourth, at three several instalments the first one\\ntihird on or before the 25th of October, 1814, the second one third on\\nor before the 25th of November, and the remaining one third on or be-\\nfore the 25th of December. And, further, it is hereby understood that,\\nshould the party of the former part find it convenient to leave the amount\\nof the several drafts, after becoming payable, as already specified, in the\\nhands of the parly of the latter part, or their agents, they, the said party\\nof the latter part, or their agents, will allow interest at six per cent, until\\npaid on demand and, as there are several moneys, the produce of their\\nwages, due unto the people employed in the service of the late Pacific Fur\\nCompany, carrying on trade on the Columbia and Thompson s Rivers,\\nthe said party of the latter part, namely, John George McTavish and John\\nStuart, acting for themselves and the North-West Company, as their\\nagents, do hereby bind and oblige themselves to pay, or cause to be paid,\\nunto the several individuals employed by the party of the former part, the\\namount of the balances due to them, according to the statement that shall\\nbe delivered by the said Duncan McDougal, acting for himself and his\\nassociates, as before mentioned, within one month after their arrival at\\nMontreal, in the province of Lower Canada; the amount of which several\\nsums, so paid, is to be considered as part of, and deducted from, the first\\ninstalment, to be paid unto the said Duncan McDougal, acting for him-\\nself and his associates, as before mentioned, his attorneys, assigns, or\\norder, on or before the 25th of October, 1814.\\nArt. 3. And, further, the said John George McTavish and John\\nStuart, acting for themselves and the North-West Company, will be at\\nliberty to make a selection, and take into their service such of the peo-\\nple in the employment of the party of the former part as they may think\\nproper in consideration of which, the said party of the latter part bind\\nand oblige themselves to pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said party of\\nthe former part, the several sums due to them by such as may enter into\\nthe service of the party of the latter part and the said party of the latter\\npart further bind and oblige themselves to provide and insure a safe pas-\\nsage to the said party of the former part, and the remaining part, that will\\nnot be taken into their service, to their respective homes.\\nArt. 4. And, further, it is hereby agreed and concluded upon, by\\nthe said parties, that the following are the rates at which the establish-\\nments, furs, and stock on hand, be valued at, as follows dry goods, sta-\\ntionery, gunpowder, and leaf tobacco, fifty per cent, on the prime cost\\nship chandlery, sixty per cent. shot, ball, lead, iron, and steel, one\\nhundred per cent. deduction on made-up iron works at Columbia River,\\nthirty-three and one third per cent. new boats, each, ten pounds Halifax\\ncurrency boats in use, each, five pounds Halifax currency shallop, with\\nrigging complete, one hundred and twelve pounds ten shillings two black-\\nsmith s forges complete, twenty-five pounds; plug tobacco, one shilling and\\nsix pence per pound plug tobacco manufactured at Columbia, one shil-\\nling and three pence per pound; beads assorted, five shillings per pound;\\narms, cannon, c., prime cost provisions at fixed prices articles in use,\\nhalf inventory prices; horses, thirty shillings each; buildings, two hun-\\ndred pounds; John.Reid s adventure, and Freeman s, in the vicinity of\\nSnake country and Spanish River, to deduct one hundred per cent.\\nbeaver furs, ten shillings per pound; beaver coating, eight shillings and\\nfour pence per pound; muskrats, seven pence half-penny each; land", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0473.jp2"}, "474": {"fulltext": "444 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [G.\\notters, two shillings and six pence each sea otters, large, sixty shillings\\neach.\\nAnd for the faithful performance of all and singular the said covenants\\nand agreements, to be by them respectively kept and performed, all and\\nevery of the parties to these presents bind themselves, separately and\\njointly, for their several associates, firmly by these presents. In witness\\nwhereof, the parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and\\nseals, this 16th day of October, 1813, at the entrance of Columbia River,\\nnorth-west coast of America.\\nDuncan McDougal,\\nJ. G. McTavish,\\nWitnesses. J. Stuart.\\nJohn C. Hasley, Angus Bethune,\\nGabriel Franchere, James McMillan,\\nAlfred Seaton, Joseph McGillivray.\\nWilliam Wallace,\\n(3.)\\nAccount of the Capture of Astoria by the British Sloop of War Raccoon,\\nCaptain Black, in December, 1813. Extracted from Adventures on\\nthe Columbia River, by John Ross Cox.\\nThe Isaac Todd sailed from London in March, 1813, in company\\nwith the Phoebe frigate, and the Cherub and Raccoon sloops of war.\\nThey arrived safe at Rio Janeiro, arid thence proceeded around Cape\\nHorn to the Pacific, having previously made arrangements to meet at\\nJuan Fernandez. The three men-of-war reached the latter island, after\\nencountering dreadful gales about the cape they waited there some time\\nfor the Tsnac Todd: but, as she did not make her appearance. Commo-\\ndore Hillyer did not deem it prudent to remain any longer inactive. He\\ntherefore, in company with the Cherub, proceeded in search of Commo-\\ndore Porter, who, in the American frigate Essex, was clearing the South\\nSea of English whalers, and inflicting other injuries of a serious nature\\non our commerce he shortly after met the Essex at Valparaiso, and, after\\na severe contest, captured her.\\nAt the same time, he ordered Captain Black, in the Raccoon, to\\nproceed direct to the Columbia, for the purpose of destroying the Ameri-\\ncan establishments at Astoria. The Raccoon arrived at the Columbia on\\nthe 1st of December, 1813. The surprise and disappointment of Captain\\nBlack and his o^icers were extreme, on learning the arrangement that had\\ntaken place between the two companies, by which the establishment had\\nbecome British property. They had calculated on obtaining a splendid\\nprize by the capture of Astoria, the strength and importance of which\\nhad been much magnified; and the contracting parties were therefore\\nfortunate in having closed their bargain previous to the arrival of the\\nRaccoon. On looking at the wooden fortifications. Captain Black ex-\\nclaimed, Is this the fort about lohich I have heard so much? D n me\\nhut 1 d batter it down in two hours ivith a four-pounder. Captain Black,\\nhowever, took possession of Astoria in the name of his Britannic majesty,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0474.jp2"}, "475": {"fulltext": "G.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 445\\nand rebaptized it by the name of Fort George. He also insisted on\\nhaving an inventory taken of the valuable stock of furs, and all other\\nproperty purchased from the American company, with a view to the adop-\\ntion of ulterior proceedings in Eiigland for the recovery of the value from\\nthe North-West Company but he subsequently relinquished this idea, and\\nwe heard no more about his claims.\\nThe Indians at the moutli of the Columbia knew well that Great\\nBritain and America were distinct nations, and that they were then at\\nwar, but were ignorant of the arrangement made between Messrs. McDou-\\ngal and McTavish, the former of whom still continued as nominal\\nchief at the fort. On the arrival of the Raccoon, which they quickly\\ndiscovered to be one of Kiiiff George s Jighting ships, they repaired,\\narmed, to the fort, and requested an audience of Mr. McDougal. He\\nwas somewhat surprised at their numbers and warlike appearance, and\\ndemanded the object of such an unusual visit. Comcomly, the principal\\nchief of the Chinooks, (whose daughter McDougal had married,) there-\\nupon addressed him in a long speech, in the course of which he said that\\nKing George had sent a ship full of warriors, and loaded with nothing\\nbut big guns, to take the Americans and make them all slaves, and that,\\nas they (the Americans) were the first white men who settled in their\\ncountry, and treated the Indians like good relations, they had resolved to\\ndefend them from King George s warriors, and were now ready to conceal\\nthemselves in the woods close to the wharf, from whence they would be\\nable, with their guns and arrows, to shoot all the men that should attempt\\nto land from the English boats, while the people in the fort could fire at\\nthem with their big guns and rifles. This proposition was uttered with\\nan earnestness of manner that admitted no doubt of its sincerity. Two\\narmed boats from the Raccoon were approaching; and, had the people\\nin the fort felt disposed to accede to the wishes of the Indians, every man\\nin them would have been destroyed by an invisible enemy. Mr. McDou-\\ngal thanked them for their friendly offer, but added, that, notwithstanding\\nthe nations were at war, the people in the boats would not injure him or\\nany of his people, and therefore requested them to throw by their war\\nshirts and arms, and receive the strangers as their friends. They at first\\nseemed astonished at this answer; but, on assuring them, in the most\\npositive manner, that he was under no apprehensions, they consented to\\ngive up their weapons for a few days. They afterwards declared they\\nwere sorry for having complied with Mr. McDougal s wishes for when\\nthey observed Captain Black, surrounded by his officers and marines,\\nbreak the bottle of Port on the flag-staff, and hoist the British ensign, afl^er\\nchanging the name of the fort, they remarked that, however we might\\nwish to conceal the fact, the Americans were undoubtedly made slaves;\\nand they were not convinced of their mistake until the sloop of war had\\ndeparted without taking any prisoners.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0475.jp2"}, "476": {"fulltext": "446 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.\\nH.\\nDOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE NEGOTIATION IN 1826\u00e2\u0080\u00947.\\nBritish Statement annexed to the Protocol of the sixth Conference, by\\n3Iessrs. Huskisson and Addiagton, Plenipotentiaries on the Part of\\nGreat Britain.\\nThe government of Great Britain, in proposing to renew, for a furtlier\\nterm of years, the third article of the convention of 1818, respecting the\\nterritory on the north-west coast of America, west of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains, regrets that it has been found impossible, in the present negotiation,\\nto agree upon aline of boundary which should separate those parts of that\\nterritory, which might henceforward be occupied or settled by the subjects\\nof Great Britain, from the parts which would remain open to occupancy\\nand settlement by the United States.\\nTo establish such a boundary must be the ultimate object of both\\ncountries. With this object in contemplation, and from a persuasion that\\na part of the difficulties which have hitherto prevented its attainment is\\nto be attributed to a misconception, on the part of the United States, of\\nthe claims and views of Great Britain in regard to the territory in ques-\\ntion, the British plenipotentiaries deem it advisable to bring under the\\nnotice of the American plenipotentiary a full and explicit exposition of\\nthose claims and views.\\nAs preliminary to this discussion, it is highly desirable to mark dis-\\ntinctly the broad difference between the nature of the rights claimed by\\nGreat Britain and those asserted by the United States, in respect to the\\nterritory in question.\\nOver a large portion of that territory, namely, from the 42d degree\\nto the 49th degree of north latitude, the United States claim full and ex-\\nclusive sovereignty.\\nGreat Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any portion of that\\nterritory. Her present claim, not in respect to any part, but to the whole,\\nis limited to a right of joint occupancy, in common with other states,\\nleaving the right of exclusive dominion in abeyance.\\nIn other words, the pretensions of the United States tend to the ejec-\\ntion of all other nations, and, among the rest, of Great Britain, from all\\nright of settlement in the district claimed by the United States.\\nThe pretensions of Great Britain, on the contrary, tend to the mere\\nmaintenance of her own rights, in resistance to the exclusive character of\\nthe pretensions of the United States.\\nHaving thus stated the nature of the respective claims of the two\\nparties, the British plenipotentiaries will now examine the grounds on\\nwliich those claims are founded.\\nThese two documents, which were published with President Adams s Message to\\nCongress of December I2th, JS27, are here inserted in full, because reference is fre-\\nquently made to them in the History, particularly to the British paper, the numerous\\nmisstatements in which are exposed and refuted. See page 347, and other pages, as\\nspecified in the notes.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0476.jp2"}, "477": {"fulltext": "H.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 447\\nThe claims of the United States are urged upon three grounds\\n1st. As resulting from their own jjrojjcr right.\\n2dly. As resulting from a right derived to them from Spain; that\\npower having, by the treaty of Florida, concluded with the United States\\nin 1819, ceded to the latter all their rights and claims on the western\\ncoast of America north of the 42d degree.\\nodly. As resulting from a right derived to them from France, to\\nwhom the United States succeeded, by treaty, in possession of the\\nprovince of Louisiana.\\nThe first right, or right proper, of the United States, is founded on\\nthe alleged discovery of the Columbia River by Mr. Gray, of Boston,\\nwho, in 1792, entered that river, and e.Kplored it to some distance from\\nits mouth.\\nTo this are added the first exploration, by Lewis and Clarke, of a\\nmain branch of the same river, from its source downwards, and also the\\nalleged priority of settlement, by citizens of the United States, of the\\ncountry in the vicinity of the same river;\\nThe second right, or right derived from Spain, is founded on the alleged\\nprior discovery of the region in dispute by Spanish navigators, of whom\\nthe chief were, 1st, Cabrillo, who, in lo4;5, visited that coast as far as 44\\ndegress north latitude; 2d, De Fucn, who, as it is affirmed, in 1598,\\nentered the straits known by his name, in latitude 49 degrees; 3d,\\nGualle, who, in 1582, is said to have pushed his researches as hicrh as\\n57 degrees north latitude; 4th, Perez, and others, who, between the years\\n1774 and 1792, visited Nootka Sound and the adjacent coasts.\\nThe third right, derived from the cession of Louisiana to the United\\nStates, is founded on the assumption that that province, its boundaries\\nnever having been exactly defined longitudinally, may fairly be as-\\nserted to extend westward across the Rocky Mountains, to the shore\\nof the Pacific.\\nBefore the merits of these respective claims are considered, it is\\nnecessary to observe that one only out of the three can be valid.\\nThey are, in fact, claims obviously incompatible the one with the\\nother. If, for example, the title of Spain by first discovery, or the title\\nof France as the original possessor of Louisiana, be valid, then must one\\nor the other of those kingdoms have been the lawful possessor of that\\nterritory, at the moment when the United States claim to have discovered\\nit. If, on the other hand, the Americans were the first discoverers, there\\nis necessarily an end of the Spanish claim; and if priority of discovery\\nconstitutes the title, that of France falls equally to the ground.\\nUpon the question, how far prior discovery constitutes a legal claim to\\nsovereignty, the law of nations is somewhat vague and undefined. It is,\\nhowever, admitted by the most approved writers that mere accidental\\ndiscovery, unattended by exploration by formally taking possession in\\nthe name of the discoverer s sovereign by occupation and settlement,\\nmore or less permanent by purchase of the territory or receiving the\\nsovereignty from the natives constitutes the lowest degree of title, and\\nthat it is only in proportion as first discovery is followed by any or all of\\nthese acts, that such title is strengthened and confirmed.\\nThe rights conferred by discovery, therefore, must be discussed on\\ntheir own merits.\\nBut before the Bi itish plenipotentiaries proceed to comppje the relative", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0477.jp2"}, "478": {"fulltext": "448 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [H.\\nclaims of Great Britain and the United States, in this respect, it will be\\nadvisable to dispose of the two other grounds of right, put forward by the\\nUnited States.\\nThe second ground of claim, advanced by the United States, is the\\ncession made by Spain to the United States, by the treaty of Florida,\\nin 1819.\\nIf the conflicting claims of Great Brititin and Spain, in respect to all\\nthat part of the coast of North America, had not been finally adjusted by\\nthe convention of Nootka, in the year 1790, and if all the arguments and\\npretensions, whether resting on priority of discovei y, or derived from any\\nother consideration, had not been definitively set at rest by the signature\\nof that convention, nothing would be more easy than to demonstrate that\\nthe claims of Great Britain to that country, as opposed to those of Spain,\\nwere so far from visionary, or arbitrarily assumed, that they established\\nmore than a parity of title to the possession of the country in question,\\neither as against Spain, or any other nation.\\nWhatever that title may have been, however, either on the part of\\nGreat Britain or on the part of Spain, prior to the convention of 1790, it\\nwas from thenceforward no longer to be traced in vague narratives of\\ndiscoveries, several of them admitted to be apocryphal, but in the text and\\nstipulations of that convention itself\\nBy that convention it was agreed that all parts of the north-western\\ncoast of America, not already occupied at that time by either of the con-\\ntracting parties, should thenceforward be equally open to the subjects\\nof both, for all purposes of commerce and settlement; the sovereignty\\nremaining in abeyance.\\nIn this stipulation, as it has been already stated, all tracts of country\\nclaimed by Spain and Great Britain, or accruing to either, in whatever\\nmanner, were included.\\nThe rights of Spain on that coast were, by the treaty of Florida, in\\n1819, conveyed by Spain to the United States. With those rights the\\nUnited States necessarily succeeded to the limitations by which they\\nwere defined, and the obligations under which they were to be exercised.\\nFrom those obligations and limitations, as contracted towards Great\\nBritain, Great Britain cannot be expected gratuitously to release those\\ncountries, merely because the rights of the party originally bound have\\nbeen transferred to, a third power.\\nThe third ground of claim of the United States rests on the right\\nsupposed to be derived from the cession to them of Louisiana by\\nFrance.\\nIn arguing this branch of the question, it will not be necessary to\\nexamine in detail the very dubious point of the assumed extent of that\\nprovince, since, by the treaty between France and Spain of 1763, the\\nwhole of that territory, defined or undefined, real or ideal, was ceded by\\nFrance to Spain, and, consequently, belonged to Spain, not only in 1790,\\nwhen the convention of Nootka was signed between Great Britain and\\nSpain, but also subsequently, in 1793, the period of Gray s discovery of\\nthe mouth of the Columbia. If, then, Louisiana embraced the country\\nwest of the Rocky Mountains, to the south of the 49th parallel of latitude,\\nit must have embraced the Columbia itself, which that parallel intersects;\\nand, consequently, Gray s discovery must have been made in a country\\navowedly already appropriated to Spain, and, if so appropriated, neces-\\n1", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0478.jp2"}, "479": {"fulltext": "H.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 449\\nsarily included, with all other Spanish possessions and claims in that\\nquarter, in the stipulations of the Nootka convention.\\nEven if it could be shown, therefore, that the district west of the\\nRocky Mountains was within the boundaries of Louisiana, that circum-\\nstance would in no way assist the claim of the United States.\\nIt may, nevertheless, be worth while to expose, in a few words, the\\nfutility of the attempt to include that district within those boundaries.\\nFor this purpose, it is only necessary to refer to the original grant of\\nLouisiana made to De Crozat by Louis XIV., shortly after its discovery\\nby La Salle. That province is therein expressly described as the\\ncountry drained by the waters entering, directly or indirectly, into the\\nMississippi. Now, unless it can be shown that any of the tributaries\\nof the Mississippi cross the Rocky Mountains from west to east, it is\\ndifficult to conceive how any part of Louisiana can be found to the west\\nof that ridge.\\nThere remains to be considered the first ground of claim advanced\\nby the: United States to the territory in question, namely, that founded\\non tlieir own proper right as first discoverers and occupiers of that\\nterritory.\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0If the discovery of the country in question, or rather the mere en-\\ntrance into the mouth of the Columbia by a private American citizen, be,\\nas the United States assert, (although Great Britain is far from admiltino-\\nthe correctness of the assertion,) a valid ground of national and exclusive\\nclaim to all the country situated between the 4 2d and 49th parallels of\\nlatitude, then must any preceding discovery of the same country, by an\\nindividual of any other nation, invest such nation with a more valid,\\nbecause a prior, claim to that country.\\nNow, to set aside, for the present, Drake, Cook, and Vancouver, who all\\nof them either took possession of, or touched at, various points of the coast\\nin question. Great Britain can show that in 17S8 that is, four years\\nbefore Gray entered the mouth of the Columbia River Mr. Meares,*\\na lieutenant of the royal navy, who had been sent by the East India\\nCompany on a trading expedition to the north-west coast of America,\\nhad already minutely explored that coast, from the 49th degree to the 45th\\ndegree north latitude; had taken formal possession of the Straits of De\\nFuca, in the name of his sovereign had purchased land, trafficked and\\nformed treaties with the natives; and had actually entered the bay of the\\nColumbia, to the northern headland of which he gave the name of Cape\\nDisappointment a name which it bears to this day.\\nDixon, Scott, Duncan, Strange, and other private British traders, had\\nalso visited these shores and countries several years before Gray but the\\nsingle example of Meares suffices to quash Gray s claim to prior discovery.\\nTo the other navigators above mentioned, therefore, it is unnecessary to\\nrefer more particularly.\\nIt may be worth while, however, to observe, with regard to Meares,\\nthat his account of his voyages was published in London in August,\\n1790; that is, two years before Gray is even pretended to have entered\\nthe Columbia.\\nTo that account are appended, first, extracts from his locr-book\\nsecondly, maps of the coasts and harbors which he visited, in which every\\nSee p. 177.\\n57", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0479.jp2"}, "480": {"fulltext": "450 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [H.\\npart of the coast in question, including the hay of the Columbia, {into\\nwhich the log expressly states that Meares entered,) is minutely laid down,\\nits delineation tallying, in almost every particular, with Vancouver s sub-\\nsequent survey, and with the description found in all the best maps of\\nthat part of the world, adopted at this moment; thirdly, the account in\\nquestion actually contains an engraving, dated in August, 1790, of the\\nentrance of De Fuca s Straits, executed after a design taken in June,\\n1788, by Meares himself.\\nWith these physical evidences of authenticity, it is as needless to\\ncontend for, as it is impossible to controvert, the truth of Meares s\\nstatement.\\nIt was only on the 17th of September, 1788, that the Washington,\\ncommanded by Mr. Gray, first made her appearance at Nootka.\\nIf, therefore, any claim to these countries, as between Great Britain\\nand the United States, is to be deduced from priority of the discovery, the\\nabove exposition of dates and facts suffices to establish that claim in favor\\nof Great Britain, on a basis too firm to be shaken.\\nIt must, indeed, be admitted that Mr. Gray, finding himself n the\\nbay formed by the discharge of the waters of the Columbia into the\\nPacific, was the first to ascertain that this bay formed the outlet oi a\\ngreat river a discovery which had escaped Lieutenant Meares, when,\\nin 1788, four years before, he entered the same bay.\\nBut can it be seriously urged that this single step in the progress of\\ndiscovery not only wholly supersedes the prior discoveries, both of the\\nbay and the coast, by Lieutenant Meares, but equally absorbs the subse-\\nquent exploration of the river by Captain Vancouver, for near a hundred\\nmiles above the point to which Mr. Gray s ship had proceeded, the formal\\ntaking possession of it by that British navigator,* in the name of his\\nsovereign, and also all the other discoveries, explorations, and temporary\\npossession and occupation of the ports and harbors on the coast, as well\\nof the Pacific as within the Straits of De Fuca, up to the 49th parallel\\nof latitude?\\nThis pretension, however, extraordinary as it is, does not embrace\\nthe whole of the claim which the United States build upon the limited\\ndiscovery of Mr. Gray, namely, that the bay of which Cape Disappoint-\\nment is the northernmost headland, is, in fact, the embouchure of a\\nriver. That mere ascertainment, it is asserted, confers on the United\\nStates a title, in exclusive sovereignty, to the whole extent of country\\ndrained by such river, and by all its tributary streams.\\nIn support of this very extraordinary pretension, the United States\\nallege the precedent of grants and charters accorded in former times to\\ncompanies and individuals, by various European sovereigns, over several\\nparts of the American continent. Amongst other instances are adduced\\nthe charters granted by Elizabeth, James I., Charles II., and George II.,\\nto sundry British subjects and associations, as also the grant made by\\nLouis XIV. to De Crozat over the tract of country watered by the\\nMississippi and its tributaries.\\nBut can such charters be considered an acknowledged part of the\\nlaw of nations? Were they any thing more, in fact, than a cession to\\nthe grantee or grantees of whatever rights the grantor might suppose\\nSee p. 248.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0480.jp2"}, "481": {"fulltext": "H.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 451\\nhimself to possess, to tlie exclusion of other subjects of the same sov-\\nereign? charters binding and restraining those only who were within\\nthe jurisdiction of the grantor, and of no force or validity against the\\nsubjects of other states, until recognized by treaty, and thereby becom-\\ning a part of international law.*\\nHad the United States thought proper to issue, in 1790, by virtue of\\ntheir national authority, a charter granting to Mr. Gray the whole extent\\nof country watered, directly or indirectly, by the River Columbia, such a\\ncharter would, no doubt, have been valid in Mr. Gray s favor, as against\\nall other citizens of the United States. But can it be supposed that it\\nwould have been acquiesced in by either of the powers. Great Britain\\nand Spain, which, in that same year, were preparing to contest by arms\\nthe possession of the very country which would have been the subject of\\nsuch a grant\\nIf the right of sovereignty over the territory in question accrues to\\nthe United States by Mr. Gray s discovery, how happens it that they never\\nprotested against the violence done to that right by the two powers, who,\\nby the convention of 1790, regulated their respective rights in and over a\\ndistrict so belonging, as it is now asserted, to the United States?\\nThis claim of the United States to the territory drained by the Co-\\nlumbia and its tributary streams, on the ground of one of their citizens\\nhaving been the first to discover the entrance of that river, has been here\\nso far entered into, not because it is considered to be necessarily entitled\\nto notice, since the whole country watered by the Columbia falls within\\nthe provisions of the convention of 1790, but because the doctrine above\\nalluded to has been put forward so broadly, and with such confidence, by\\nthe United States, that Great Britain considered it equally due to herself\\nand to other powers to enter her protest against it.\\nThe United States further pretend that their claim to the country in\\nquestion is strengthened and confirmed by the discovery of the sources of\\nthe Columbia, and by the exploration of its course to the sea by Lewis\\nand Clarke, in 1805-6.\\nIn reply to this allegation, Great Britain affirms, and can distinctly\\nprove, that, if not before, at least in the same and subsequent years,\\nher North-Western Trading Company had, by means of their agent, Mr.\\nThomson, already established their posts among the Flat-head and Koo-\\ntanie tribes, on the head-waters of the northern or main branch of the\\nColumbia, and were gradually extending them down the principal stream\\nof that river; thus giving to Great Britain, in this particular, again, as in\\nthe discovery of the mouth of the river, a title to parity at least, if not\\npriority, of discovery, as opposed to the United States. It was from those\\nposts, that, having heard of the American establishment forming in 1811,\\nat the mouth of the river, Mr. Thomson hastened thither, descending the\\nriver, to ascertain the nature of that establishment. t\\nSome stress having been laid by the United States on the restitution\\nto them of Fort George by the British, after the termination of the last\\nwar, which restitution they represent as conveying a virtual acknowledg-\\nment by Great Britain of the title of the United States to the country in\\nwhich that post was situated, it is desirable to state, somewhat in detail,\\nthe circumstances attending that restitution.\\nSee p. 350. t See p. 291, 297.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0481.jp2"}, "482": {"fulltext": "452 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [H.\\nIn the year 1815, a demand for the restoration of Fort George was\\nfirst made to Great Britain, by the American government, on the plea\\nthat the first article of the treaty of Ghent stipulated the restitution\\nto the United States of all posts and places whatsoever, taken from them\\nby the British during the war, in which description Fort George (Astoria)\\nwas included.\\nFor some time the British government demurred to comply with the\\ndemand of the United States, because they entertained doubts how far it\\ncould be sustained by the construction of the treaty.\\nIn the first place, the trading post called Fort Astoria (or Fort\\nGeorge) was not a national possession in the second place, it was not\\na military post and, thirdly, it was never captured from the Americans\\nby the British.\\nIt was, in feet, conveyed in regular commercial transfer, and ac-\\ncompanied by a bill of sale, for a sum of money, to the British company,\\nwho purchased it, by the American company, who sold it of tlidr oion\\nfree ivill.\\nIt is true that a British sloop of war had, about that time, been sent\\nto take possession of that post, but she arrived subsequently to the trans-\\naction above mentioned, between the two companies, and found the British\\ncompany already in legal oceupation of their self-acquired property.\\nIn consequence, however, of that ship having been sent out with\\nhostile views, although those views were not carried into effect, and in\\norder that not even the shadow of a reflection might be cast upon the\\ngood faith of the British government, the latter determined to give the\\nmost liberal extension to the terms of the treaty of Ghent, and, in 1818,\\nthe purchase which the British company had made in 1813 was restored\\nto the United States.*\\nParticular care, however, was taken, on this occasion, to prevent\\nany misapprehension as to the extent of the concession made by Great\\nBritain.\\nViscount Castlereagh, in directing the British minister at Washington\\nto intimate the intention of the: British government to Mr. Adams, then\\nsecretary of state, uses these expressions, in a despatch dated 4th of\\nFebruary, 1818:\\nYou will observe,, that, whilst this government is not disposed to\\ncontest with the American government the point of possession as it\\nstood in the Columbia River at the moment of the rupture, they are not\\nprepared to admit the validity of the title of the government of the United\\nStates to this settlement.\\nIn signifying, therefore, to Mr. Adams the full acquiescence of your\\ngovernment in the reoccupation of the limited position which the United\\nStates held in that river at the breaking out of the war, you icill at the\\nsame time assert, in suitable terms, the claim of Great Britain to that terri-\\ntory, upon which the American settlement must be considered as an\\nencroachment.\\nThis instruction was executed verbally by the person to whom it\\nwas addressed.\\nThe following is a transcript of the act by which the fort was\\ndelivered up, by the British, into the hands of Mr. Prevost, the Amer-\\nican agent\\nSee p. 309.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0482.jp2"}, "483": {"fulltext": "H.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 453\\nIn obedience to the command of H. R. H. the prince regent,\\nsiffnijicd in a despatch from the 7-i^ht honorable the Harl Bathurst,\\naddressed to the partners or agents of the North- West Company, bearing\\ndate the 27th of January, 1818, and in obedience to a subsequent order,\\ndated the 26th July, from W. H. Slieritf, Esq., captain of H. M. ship\\nAndromache, We, the undersigned, do, in conformity to the first article\\nof the treaty of Ghent, restore to the government of the United States,\\nthrough its agent, J. P. Prevost, Esq., the settlement of Fort George,\\non the Columbia River.\\nGiven under our hands, in triplicate, at Fort George, (Columbia\\nRiver,) this Gth day of October, 1818.\\nF. HiCKEY, Captain II. M. ship Blossom.\\nJ. Keith, of the N. W. Co.\\nThe following is the despatch from Earl Bathurst to the partners of\\nthe North- West Company, referred to in the above act of cession\\nDowning Street, 27th January, 1818.\\nIntelligence having been received that the United States sloop of\\nwar Ontario has been sent by the American government to establish a\\nsettlement on the Columbia River, which was held by that state, on\\nthe breaking out of the last war, I am to acquaint you, that it is the\\nprince regent s pleasure {without, however, admitting the right of that\\ngovernment to the possession in question) that, in pursuance of the first\\narticle of the treaty of Ghent, due facility sliould be given to the reoccu-\\npation of the said settlement by the officers of the United States; and I am\\nto desire that you would contribute as much as lies in your power to\\nthe execution of his royal highness s commands.\\nI have, c. c.,\\nBathurst.\\nTo the Partners or Agents of the North-West Company,\\nresiding on the Columbia River.\\nThe above documents put the case of the restoration of Fort Astoria\\nin too clear a light to require further observation.\\nThe case, then, of Great Britain, in respect to the country west of the\\nRocky Mountains, is shortly this\\nAdmitting that the United States have acquired all the rights which\\nSpain possessed, up to the treaty of Florida, either in virtue of discovery,\\nor, as is pretended, in right of Louisiana, Great Britain maintains that the\\nnature and extent of those rights, as well as of the rights of Great Britain,\\nare fixed and defined by the convention of Nootka; that these rights are\\nequal for both parties and that, in succeeding to the rights of Spain,\\nunder that convention, the United States must also have succeeded to the\\nobligations which it imposed.\\nAdmitting, further, the discovery of Mr. Gray, to the extent already\\nstated, Great Britain, taking the whole line of the coast in question, with\\nits straits, harbors, and bays, has stronger claims, on the ground of prior\\ndiscovery, attended with acts of occupancy and settlement, than the\\nUnited States.\\nWhether, therefore, the United States rest their claims upon the title", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0483.jp2"}, "484": {"fulltext": "454 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [H.\\nof Spain, or upon that of prior discovery, or upon both, Great Britain is\\nentitled to place her claims at least upon a parity with those of the\\nUnited States.\\nIt is a fact, admitted by the United States, that, with the exception\\nof the Columbia River, there is no river which opens far into the interior,\\non the whole western coast of the Pacific Ocean.\\nIn the interior of the territory in question, the subjects of Great\\nBritain have had, for many years, numerous settlements and trading\\nposts several of these posts on the tributary streams of the Columbia,\\nseveral upon the Columbia itself, some to the northward, and others to\\nthe southward, of that river; and they navigate the Columbia as the sole\\nchannel for the conveyance of their produce to the British stations nearest\\nthe sea, and for the shipment of it from thence to Great Britain. It is\\nalso by the Columbia and its tributary streams that these posts and\\nsettlements receive their annual supplies from Great Britain.\\nIn the whole of the territory in question, the citizens of the United\\nStates have not a single settlement or trading post. They do not use\\nthat river, either for the purpose of transmitting or receiving any produce\\nof their own, to or from other parts of the world.\\nIn this state of the relative rights of the two countries, and of the\\nrelative exercise of those rights, the United States claim the exclusive\\npossession of both banks of the Columbia, and, consequently, that of the\\nriver itself; offering, it is true, to concede to British subjects a conditional\\nparticipation in that navigation, but subject, in any case, to the exclusive\\njurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States.\\nGreat Britain, on her part, oifers to make the river the boundary;\\neach country retaining the bank of the river contiguous to its own ter-\\nritories, and the navigation of it remaining forever free, and upon a foot-\\ning of perfect equality to both nations.\\nTo carry into effect this proposal, on our part. Great Britain would\\nhave to give up posts and settlements south of the Columbia. On the\\npart of the United States, there could be no reciprocal withdrawing from\\nactual occupation, as there is not, and never has been, a single American\\ncitizen settled north of the Columbia.\\nThe United States decline to accede to this proposal, even when\\nGreat Britain has added to it the further offer of a most excellent harbor,\\nand an extensive tract of country on the Straits of De Fuca a sacrifice\\ntendered in the spirit of accommodation, and for the sake of a final\\nadjustment of all differences, but which, having been made in this spirit,\\nis not to be considered as in any degree recognizing a claim on the part\\nof the United States, or as at all impairing the existing right of Great\\nBritain over the post and territory in question.\\nSuch being the result of the recent negotiation, it only remains for\\nGreat Britain to maintain and uphold the qualified rights which she now\\npossesses over the whole of the territory in question. These rights are\\nrecorded and defined in the convention of Nootka.* They embrace the\\nright to navigate the waters of those countries, the right to settle in and\\nover any part of them, and the right freely to trade with the inhabitants\\nand occupiers of the same.\\nThese rights have been peaceably exercised ever since the date of\\nSee considerations on the Nootka convention, at p. 213.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0484.jp2"}, "485": {"fulltext": "H.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 455\\nthat convention that is, for a period of near forty years. Under that\\nconvention, valuable British interests have grown up in those countries.\\nIt is fully admitted that the United States possess the same rights,\\nalthough they have been exercised by them only in a single instance,\\nand have not, since the year 1813, been exercised at all. But beyond\\nthese rights they possess none.\\nTo the interests and establishments which British industry and enter-\\nprise have created. Great Britain owes protection. That protection will\\nbe given, both as regards settlement and freedom of trade and navigation,\\nwith every attention not to infringe the coordinate rights of the United\\nStates; it being the earnest desire of the British government, so long\\nas the joint occupancy continues, to regulate its own obligations by the\\nsame rule which governs the obligations of any other occupying party.\\nFully sensible, at the same time, of the desirableness of a more\\ndefinite settlement, as between Great Britain and the United States, the\\nBritish government will be ready, at any time, to terminate the present\\nstate of joint occupancy by an agreement of delimitation; but such\\narrangement only can be admitted as shall not derogate from the rights\\nof Great Britain, as acknowledged by treaty, nor prejudice the advantages\\nwhich British subjects, under the same sanction, now enjoy in that part\\nof the world.\\n(2.)\\nAmerican Counter-Statement annexed to the Protocol of the seventh Con-\\nference, hy Mr. Gallatin, the Plenipotentiary of the United States.\\nThe American plenipotentiary has read with attention the exposition\\nof the claims and views of Great Britain in regard to the territory west\\nof the Rocky or Stony Mountains, annexed by the British plenipotentia-\\nries to the protocol of the last conference, and assures them that it will\\nreceive from his government all the consideration to which it is so justly\\nentitled.\\nHe will not make any observations on that part of the exposition, which,\\nas explanatory of the views of the British government in reference to\\na continued joint occupancy, he can only refer to his government. The\\nremarks he will now offer are necessarily limited to the respective claims\\nof the two countries, and to the proposals for a definitive engagement\\nwhich have been made by each party.\\nGreat Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any portion of the\\nterritory in question. Her claim extends to the whole, but is limited to\\na right of joint occupancy in common with other states, leaving the right\\nof exclusive dominion in abeyance. She insists that hers and Spain s\\nconflicting claims were finally adjusted by the convention of Nootka, in\\n1790; that all the arguments and pretensions, whether resting upon prior-\\nity of discovery, or derived from any other consideration, were definitively\\nset at rest by that convention that, from its date, it was only in its text\\nand stipulations that the title, either on her part or on that of Spain, was\\nto be traced and that it was agreed by that convention, that all the parts\\nof the north-west coast of America, not previously occupied by either", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0485.jp2"}, "486": {"fulltext": "456 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [H.\\nparty, should thenceforward be equally open to the subjects of both, for\\nall purposes of commerce and settlement, the sovereignty remaining in\\nabeyance.\\nIt is then declared, that, in reference either to the rights derived to the\\nUnited States from Spain, by virtue of the treaty of 1819, or to that supposed\\nto be derived from the acquisition of Louisiana, which province did, in the\\nyear 1790, belong to Spain, the United States have, with these rights,\\nnecessarily succeeded to the limitations by which they were defined, and\\nthe obligations under which they were to be exercised, in conformity to\\nthe stipulations of the Nootka convention; whence it is gener;illy in-\\nferred, that, whilst it is fully admitted that the United States possess the\\nsame rights as Great Britain over the country in question, namely, to\\nnavigate its waters, to settle in any part of it, and freely to trade with the\\ninhabitants and occupiers of the same, beyond these rights, the United\\nStates possessed none, and that they cannot, therefore, claim exclusive\\nsovereignty over any part of the said territory.\\nIt will, in the first place, be observed, that, admitting that convention\\nto be still in force, and of whatever construction it may be susceptible,\\nthis compact between Spain and Great Britain could only bind the parties\\nto it, and can affect the claim of the United States so far only as it is de-\\nrived from Spain. If, therefore, they have a claim in right of their own\\ndiscoveries, explorations, and settlements, as this cannot be impaired by\\nthe Nootka convention, it becomes indispensably necessary, in order to\\ndefeat such claim, to show a better prior title on the part of Great Britain,\\nderived from some other consideration than the stipulations of that con-\\nvention. But, on examining that instrument, it will be found to be ap-\\nparently merely of a commercial nature, and in no shape to affect the\\nquestion of distinct jurisdiction and exclusive sovereignty.\\nIt was agreed, by that convention, that the respective subjects of the\\ntwo parties should not be disturbed or molested, either in navigating or\\ncarrying on their fisheries in the Pacific Ocean or in the South Seas, or\\nin landing on the coast of those seas, in places not already occupied, for\\nthe purpose of carrying on their commerce with the natives of the coun-\\ntry, or of making settlements there. And further, that in all places\\nwherever the subjects of either shall have made settlements since\\nthe month of April, 1789, or shall hereafter make any, the subjects of\\nthe other shall have free access, and shall carry on their trade without any\\ndisturbance or molestation.\\nIt is difficult to believe, on reading those provisions, and recollecting\\nin what cause the convention originated, that any other settlements could\\nhave been contemplated than such as were connected with the commerce\\nto be carried on with the natives. Indeed, it is as being only of a com-\\nmercial nature, that the Nootka convention may be positively asserted to\\nbe now in force the commercial treaties between Great Britain and\\nSpain having, subsequent to the war which had intervened, been alone\\nrenewed by the treaty of July, 1814.\\nAdmitting, however, that the word settlement was meant in its most\\nunlimited sense, it is evident that the stipulations had not for object to\\nsettle the territorial claims of the parties, and had no connection with an\\nultimate partition of the country, for the purpose of permanent coloni-\\nzation.\\nThose stipulations permitted promiscuous aind intermixed settlements", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0486.jp2"}, "487": {"fulltext": "H-] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 457\\nevery where, and over the whole face of the country, to the subjects of\\nboth parties, and even declared every such settlement, made by either\\nparty, in a degree common to the other. Such a state of things is clearly\\nincompatible with distinct jurisdiction and sovereignty. The convention,\\ntherefore, could have had no such object in view as to fix the relations of\\nthe contracting powers in that respect. On that subject it established or\\nchanged nothing, but left the parties where it found them, and in posses-\\nsion of all such rights, whether derived from discovery, or from any other\\nconsideration, as belonged to each, to be urged by each, whenever the\\nquestion of permanent and separate possession and sovereignty came to\\nbe discussed between them.\\nIt is, indeed, expressly admitted that the convention provided for com-\\nmerce and settlements, leaving the sovereignty in abeyance. And Great\\nBritain, at this time, claims only a right of joint occupancy, in common\\nwith otljer nations, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in abeyance. It\\nis not perceived how it can, at the same time, be asserted that the argu-\\nments and pretensions of both parties were definitively set at rest by the\\nconvention, and that it is only in its text and stipulations that the title on\\neither side is now to be traced.\\nCommerce and settlements might, indeed, be made by either party,\\nduring the joint occupancy, without regard to their respective pretension\\nor title, from whatever consideration derived. But since the sovereignty,\\nsince the right of exclusive dominion, has been left in abeyance, that ricrht\\nover any pnrt of the country, to whichever party belonging, has not been\\nextinguished, but only suspended, and must revive to its full extent when-\\never that joint occupancy may cease.\\nWhenever, therefore, a finnl line of demarkation becomes the subject\\nof discussion, the United States have a right, notwithstanding, and in\\nconformity to the Nootka convention, to appeal, in support of their claims,\\nnot only to their own discoveries, but to all the rights derived from the\\nacquisition of Louisiana, and from their treaty of 1819 with Spain, in the\\nsame manner as if that convention had never been made. The question\\nto be examined is, whether those claims are supported by the laws and\\nusages of nations.\\nIt may be admitted, as an abstract principle, that, in the origin of soci-\\nety, first occupancy and cultivation were the foundation of the rights of\\nprivate property and of national sovereignty. But that principle, on which\\nprincipally, if not exclusively, it would seem that the British goverinnent\\nwishes to rely, could be permitted, in either case, to operate alone, and\\nwithout restriction, so long only as the extent of vacant territory was\\nsuch, in proportion to population, that there was ample room for every\\nindividual, and for every distinct community or nation, without danger of\\ncollision vvith others. As, in every society, it had soon become necessary\\nto make laws, regulating the manner in which its members should be\\npermitted to occupy and to acquire vacant land within its acknowledged\\nboundaries, so, also, nations found it indispensable for the preservation\\nof peace, and for the exercise of distinct jurisdiction, to adopt, particu-\\nlarly after the discovery of America, some general rules, which should\\ndetermine the important previous question, Who had a right to occupy?\\nThe two rules generally, perhaps universally, recognized and conse-\\ncrated by the usage of nations, have flowed from the nature of the subject.\\nBy virtue of the first, prior discovery gave a right to occupy, provided\\n58", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0487.jp2"}, "488": {"fulltext": "458 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [H.\\nthat occupancy took place within a reasonable time, and was ultimately\\nfollowed by permanent settlements, and by the cultivation of the soil.\\nIn conformity with the second, the right derived from prior discovery\\nand settlement was not confined to the spot so discovered or first settled.\\nThe extent of territory which would attach to such first discovery or set-\\ntlement might not, in every case, be precisely determined. But tiiat the\\nfirst discovery, and subsequent settlement, within a reasonable time, of\\nthe mouth of a river, particularly if none of its branches had been ex-\\nplored prior to such discovery, gave the right of occupancy, and, ulti-\\nmately, of sovereignty, to the whole country drained by such river and its\\nseveral branches, has been generally admitted. And, in a question be-\\ntween the United States and Great Britain, her acts have, with propriety,\\nbeen appealed to, as showing that the principles on which they rely accord\\nwith her own.\\nIt is, however, now contended that the British charters, extending, in\\nmost cases, from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Seas, must be* consid-\\nered as cessions of the sovereign to certain grantees, to the exclusion only\\nof his other subjects, and as of no validity against the subjects of other\\nstates. This construction does not appear either to have been that in-\\ntended at the time by the grantors, nor to have governed the subsequent\\nconduct of Great Britain.\\nBy excepting from the grants, as was generally the case, such lands as\\nwere already occupied by the subjects of other civilized nations, it was\\nclearly implied that no other exception was contemplated, and that the\\ngrants were intended to include all the unoccupied lands within their re-\\nspective boundaries, to the exclusion of all other persons or nations what-\\nsoever. In point of fact, the whole country drained by the several rivers\\nemptying into the Atlantic Ocean, the mouths of which were within those\\ncharters, has, from Hudson s Bay to Florida, and, it is believed, without\\nexception, been occupied and held by virtue of those charters. Not only\\nhas this principle been fully confirmed, but it has been notoriously en-\\nforced, much beyond the sources of the rivers on which the settlements\\nwere formed. The priority of the French settlements on the rivers flow-\\ning westwardly from the Alleghany Mountains into the Mississippi, was\\naltogether disregarded; and the rights of the Atlantic colonies to extend\\nbeyond those mountains, as growing out of the contiguity of territory,\\nand as asserted in the earliest charters, was effectually and successfully\\nenforced.\\nIt is true, that the two general rules which have been mentioned might\\noften conflict with each other. Thus, in the instance just alluded to, the\\ndiscovery of the main branch of the Mississippi, including the mouth of\\nthat river, and the occupation of the intervening province of Louisiana by\\nanother nation, gave rise, at last, to a compromise of those conflicting\\nclaims, and induced Great Britain to restrain hers within narrower limits\\nthan those originally designated.\\nBut it is the peculiar character of the claim of the United States, that\\nit is founded on both principles, which, in this case, unite both in its sup-\\nport, and convert it into an incontestable right. It is in vain that, in\\norder to avert that conclusion, an attempt is made to consider the several\\ngrounds on which that right is urged, as incompatible one with the other,\\nas if the United States were obliged to select only one, and to abandon\\nthe others. In different hands, the several claims would conflict one with", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0488.jp2"}, "489": {"fulltext": "H.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 459\\nthe other. Now, united in the same power, they support each other.\\nThe possessors of Louisiana might have contended, on the ground of con-\\ntiguity, for the adjacent territory on the Pacific Ocean, with the dis-\\ncoveries of the coast and of its main rivers. The several discoveries of\\nthe Spanish and American navigators might separately have been consid-\\nered as so many steps in the progress of discovery, and giving only\\nimperfect claims to each party. All those various claims, from whatever\\nconsideration derived, are now brought united against the pretensions of\\nany other nation.\\n1st. The actual possession and populous settlements of the valley of\\nthe Mississippi, including Louisiana, and now under one sovereignty, con-\\nstitute a strong claim to the westwardly extension of that province over\\nthe contiguous vacant territory, and to the occupation and sovereignty of\\nthe country as far as the Pacific Ocean. If some trading factories on the\\nshores of Hudson s Bay have been considered, by Great Britain, as giving\\nan exclusive right of occupancy as far as the Rocky Mountains if the\\ninfant settlements on the more southern Atlantic shores justified a claim\\nthence to the South Seas, and which was actually enforced to the Missis-\\nsippi, that of the millions already within reach of those seas cannot con-\\nsistently be resisted. For it will not be denied that the extent of\\ncontiguous territory, to which an actual settlement gives a prior right,\\nmust depend, in a considerable degree, on the magnitude and population\\nof that settlement, and on the facility with which the vacant adjacent land\\nmay, within a short time, be occupied, settled, and cultivated, by such\\npopulation, as compared with the probability of its being thus occupied\\nand settled from any other quarter.\\nIt has been objected that, in the grant of Louisiana toCrozat, by Louis\\nXIV., that province is described as the country drained by the wa-\\nters emptying, directly or indirectly, into the Mississippi, excluding\\nthereby, by implication, the country drained by the waters emptying into\\nthe Pacific.\\nCrozat s grant was not for the whole of the province of Louisiana, as it\\nwas afterwards extended by France herself, and as it is now held by the\\nUnited States. It was bounded, in that grant of 1712, by Carolina to the\\neast, by New Mexico to the west, and on the north by the Illinois, which\\nwere then part of Canada. The most northerly branches of the Missis-\\nsippi embraced in the grant were tJie Ohio, at that time called Wabash\\nby the French, and the Missouri, the true course of which was not\\nknown at that time, and the sources of which were not supposed to ex-\\ntend north of the 42d parallel of latitude. No territory on the west of\\nthe Mississippi was intended to be included in the grant north of that par-\\nallel and as New Mexico, which bounded it on the west, was understood\\nto extend even farther north, it was impossible that any territory should\\nhave been included west of the sources of the rivers emptying into the\\nMississippi.\\nAll the territory north of the42d parallel of latitude, claimed by France,\\nwas included at that time, not in Louisiana, but in the government of New\\nFrance, as Canada was then called. And by referring to the most authen-\\ntic French maps, it will be seen that New France was made to extend\\nover the territory drained, or supposed to be drained, by rivers entering\\ninto the South Seas. The claim to a westwardly extension to those seas,\\nwas thus early asserted as part, not of Louisiana, but of New France.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0489.jp2"}, "490": {"fulltext": "460 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [H.\\nThe king had reserved to himself, in Crozat s grant, the right of enlarging\\nthe government of Louisiana. This was done by an ordonnance dated in\\nthe year 1717, which annexed the Illinois to it and, from tliat time, the\\nprovince extended as far as the most northern limit of the French posses-\\nsions in North America, and thereby west of Canada or New France.\\nThe settlement of that northern limit still further strengthens the\\nclaim of the United States to the territory west of the Rocky Moun-\\ntains.\\nThe limits between the northerly possessions of Great Britain, in\\nNorth America, and those of France, in the same quarter, namely, Can-\\nada and Louisiana, were determined by commissioners appointed in pur-\\nsuance of the treaty of Utrecht. From the coast of Labrador to a certain\\npoint north of Lake Superior, those limits were fixed according to certain\\nmetes and bounds, and from that point the line of demarkation was\\nagreed to extend indetinilely due west, along the 49th parallel of north\\nlatitude. It was in conformity with that arrangement that the United\\nStates did claim that parallel as the northern boundary of Louisiana. It\\nhas been, accordingly, thus settled, as far as the Stony Mountains, by the\\nconvention of 1818, between the United States and Great Britain; and\\nno adequate reason can be given why the same boundary should not be\\ncontinued as far as the claims of the United States do extend that is to\\nsay, as far as the Pacific Ocean. This argument is not weakened by the\\nfict, that the British settlements west of the Stony Mountains are solely\\ndue to the extension of those previously formed on the waters emptying\\ninto Hudson s Bay and it is from respect to a demarkation, considered as\\nbinding on the parties, that the United States had consented to confine\\ntheir claim to the 49th parallel of latitude, namely, to a territory of the\\nsame breadth as Louisiana east of the Stony Mountains, although, as\\nfounded on prior discoveries, that claim would have extended much farther\\nnorth.\\n2dly. The United States have an undoubted right to claim, by virtue\\nboth of the Spanish discoveries and of their own. Setting aside all those\\nwhich are not supported by authentic evidence, some of the most impor-\\ntant were made by Spanish navigators prior to Cook s voyage. In 1774,\\nPerez, in the Spanish corvette Santiago, discovered Nootka Sound, in\\nlatitude 49\u00c2\u00b0 30 and sailed to the 55th degree, discovering Lougara\\nIsland and Perez (now called Dixon s) Entrance, north of Queen Char-\\nlotte Island. In 1775, Quadra, in the Spanish schooner Felicidad, of\\nwhich Maurelle was pilot, discovered various ports between the 5oth\\nand 58th degrees, and explored the coast from 42\u00c2\u00b0 to 54\u00c2\u00b0, landing at\\nseveral places, imposing names to some, and not being, at any time,\\nhardly more than ten leagues from the shore.\\nIn other Spanish voyages of a subsequent date, those of Arteaga and\\nQuadra in 1779, and of Martinez and Ilaro in 1786, various other parts\\nof the north-west coast were explored, as far north as the GOth degree of\\nnorth latitude.\\nThe Straits of Fuca were discovered, or again found, in 1787, by Cap-\\ntain Bnrclay, of the Imperial Eagle, a vessel fitted out at Ostend. The\\nentrance was, in 1788, again visited by the English Captains Meares and\\nDuncan. In the same year. Captain Gray, of the American sloop Wash-\\nington, (who arrived at Nootka in September, coming from the south,\\nwhere he had landed,) penetrated fifty miles up the straits. They were", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0490.jp2"}, "491": {"fulltext": "H-] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 461\\nexplored in 1791, by the Spanish Captains Quimpa and Eliza, beyond the\\n50th degree of latitude. Their complete survey, and the discovery of\\nthe northern outlet, in 1792, are due principally to Captain Vancouver,\\nwho sailed through them in company with the Spanish vessels Sutil and\\nMexicana.\\nThe discovery, which belongs exclusively to the United States, and in\\ntheir own right, is that of the River Columbia.\\nThe continuity of the coast from the 4 2d to the 48th degree of latitude,\\nhad been ascertained by the voyage of Quadra, in 1775, and confirmed\\nby that of Captain Cook in 1778. The object of discovery thenceforth,\\nwas that of a large river, which should open a communication with\\nthe interior of the country. This had escaped Quadra, who had sailed in\\nsight of the entrance afterwards discovered. Meares failed likewise in his\\nattempt, in the year 1788, to make the discovery. Captain Vancouver\\nwas not more fortunate. After having also sailed along the coast, from\\nsouth to north, to the 48th degree, he recorded in his journal of the 29th\\nApril, 1792, which he had too much probity afterwards to alter, his opin-\\nion that there was no large river south of 48 but only small creeks. On\\nthe ensuing day he met at sea with Captain Gray, then commanding the\\nAmerican ship Columbia, who informed him of the existence of the\\nriver, at the mouth of which he (Gray) had been for several days without\\nbeing able to enter it.\\nCaptain Vancouver proceeded to Fuca s Straits, and Captain Gray\\nreturned to the south, where he completed his discovery, liaving, on the\\n11th May, entered the river which bears the name of his ship, and as-\\ncended it upwards of twenty miles. He then, having also discovered\\nGray s Harbor, went to Nootka Sound, where he again met with Captain\\nVancouver, to whom he communicated his discoveries, and gave him a\\nrough chart of the river. With this information, one of Captain Vaticou-\\nver s officers was sent to take a survey of Gray s Harbor, and another that\\nof the Columbia River, which he ascended about eight miles higher up\\nthan Gray.\\nYet, in order to found a claim derived from a share in the discovery,\\nthat of Captain Gray is called only a stcj) in the progress of discovery\\nand it is attempted to divide its merit between him, Meares, and Captain\\nVancouver s officer.\\nIt must again be repeated, that the sole object of discovery was\\nthe river, and, coming from sea, the mouth of the river. Meares\\nonly followed Quadra s track. Had he suggested or suspected the ex-\\nistence of a river, when he was near its entrance, it would have been a\\nstep in the progress of discovery. So far from it, that, in his map, he has\\nlaid the presumed mouth of the great river of the west, of the tradi-\\ntional Oregon, of the real Columbia, in the Straits of Fuca. The very\\nnames which he imposed, Cape Disappointment and Deception Bay, attest\\nhis failure.\\nCaptain Vancouver, having completed his survey of that part of the\\ncoast, with a conviction that no large river emptied there into the ocean,\\nwould not have explored it again, had he not received the information from\\nCaptain Gray of his discoveries. And, in fact, in his second visit to that\\nquarter, lie surveyed, or caused to be surveyed, only the harbor and the\\nriver which had been indicated to him. The lieutenant sent to the Co-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0491.jp2"}, "492": {"fulltext": "462 PROOFS AND lLLUSTRATIOx\\\\S. [H*\\nlumbia, and who never would have gone there had it not been for Captain\\nGray s information, performed, no doubt, with fidelity, the mechanical\\nduty of taking the soundings one hundred miles up its course. In that\\nconsists his sole merit in the discovery he had not the slightest share.\\nThe important services rendered to navigation and to science, by that offi-\\ncer and by Captain Vancouver, are fully acknowledged; and their well-\\nearned reputation cannot be increased by ascribing to them what exclu-\\nsively belongs to another.\\nLouisiana having been actjuired by the United States in 1803, an\\nexpedition was inunediately ordered by government to examine its west-\\nern districts. In the course of this. Captains Lewis and Clarke ascended\\nthe Missouri to its source, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and ex-\\nplored the course of the Columbia, from its most eastern sources to its\\nmouth, where they arrived on the 6th of November, 1805. There they\\nerected the works called Fort Clatsop, and wintered in 1805-1806. And\\nthus was the discovery of the river commenced and completed by\\nthe United States, before, as it is firmly believed, any settlement had\\nbeen made on it, or any of its branches been explored, by any other\\nnation.\\nThis is corroborated by the statement of the British plenipotentiaries.\\nAfter having given, as the date of Lewis and Clarke s exploration, not\\nthe year 1805, but the years 1805-1806, they assert that, if not before, at\\nleast in the same and subsequent years, Mr. Thomson had already estab-\\nlished a post on the head-waters of the northern or main branch of the\\nColumbia. Had that post been established in 1805, before Lewis and\\nClarke s exploration, another and more distinct mode of expression would\\nhave been adopted. But it cannot be seriously contended that, if Mr.\\nThomson had, in that year, reached one of the sources of the Colum-\\nbia, north of the 50th degree of latitude, this, compared with the\\ncomplete American exploration, would give to Great Britain a title\\nto parity, at least, if not priority of discovery, as opposed to the United\\nStates.\\nIn the year 1810, Mr. Astor, a citizen of the United States, fitted out\\ntwo expeditions for the mouth of the Columbia one by sea, and the other\\nby land, from the Missouri. In March, 181 1, the establishment of Astoria\\nwas accordingly commenced near the mouth of the river, before any Brit-\\nish settlement had been made south of the 49th parallel of latitude.\\nFrom that principal post, several other settlements were formed one of\\nthem, contrary to the opinion entertained by the British plenipotentiaries,\\nat the mouth of the Wanahata, several hundred miles up, and on the right\\nbank of the Columbia.\\nThese establishments fell into the hands of the British during the\\nwar and that of Astoria has since been formally restored, in conformity\\nwith the treaty of Ghent. On the circumstances of that restitution, it is\\nsufficient to observe, that, with the various despatches from and to the\\nofficers of the British government, the United States have no concern\\nthat it is not stated how the verbal communications of the British minister\\nat Washington were received, nor whether the American government\\nconsented to accept the restitution, with th^ reservation, as expressed in\\nthe despatches to that minister from his government and that the only\\nwritten document affijcting the restoration, known to be in possession of", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0492.jp2"}, "493": {"fulltext": "H.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 463\\nthat of the United States, is the act of restoration itself, wliich contains\\nno exception, reservation, or protest, whatever.\\nIt has thus been established, that the Columbia River was iirst discov-\\nered by the United States that that first discovery was attended by a com-\\nplete exploration of the river, from its most easterly source to the nerlh,\\nbefore any such exploration had been made by any other nation by a\\nsimultaneous actual occupation and possession, and by subsequent estab-\\nlishments and settlements made within a reasonable time, and which have\\nbeen interrupted only by the casualties of war.\\nThis, it is contended, gives, according to the acknowledged law and\\nusages of nations, a right to the whole country drained by that river and\\nby its tributary streams, which could have been opposed only by the con-\\nflicting claim derived from the possession of Louisiana. Both, united and\\nstrengthened by the other Spanish and American discoveries along the\\ncoast, (and, without reference to the cession of the pretensions of Spain,\\nderived from other considerations,) establish, it is tirmly believed, a\\nstronger title to the country above described, and along the coast as far\\nnorth, at least, as the 49th parallel of latitude, than has ever, at any for-\\nmer time, been asserted by any nation to vacant territory.\\nBefore the subject is dismissed, it may be proper to observe, that the\\nUnited States had no motive, in the year 1790, to protest against the\\nNootka convention, since their exclusive right to the territory on the\\nPacific originated in Gray s discovery, which took place only in 1792.\\nThe acquisition of Louisiana, and their last treaty with Spain, are still\\nposterior.\\nOn the formality called taking possession, though no actual pos-\\nsession of the country is taken, and on the validity of sales of land and\\nsurrender of sovereignty by Indians, who are for the first time brought\\ninto contact with civilized men who have no notion of what they mean\\nby either sovereignty or property in land who do not even know what\\ncultivation is with whom it is difficult to communicate, even upon visible\\nobjects the American plenipotentiary thinks that he may abstain from\\nmaking any remarks.\\nWhilst supporting their claim by arguments, which they think conclu-\\nsive, the United States have not been inattentive to the counter claims of\\nGreat Britain.\\nThey, indeed, deny that the trading posts of the North- West Company\\ngive any title to the territory claimed by America, not only because no\\nsuch post was established within the limits claimed when the first Ameri-\\ncan settlement was made, but because the title of the United States is con-\\nsidered as having been complete, before any of those traders had appeared\\non the waters of the Columbia. It is also believed, that mere factories,\\nestablished solely for the purpose of trafficking with the natives, and with-\\nout any view to cultivation and permanent settlement, cannot, of them-\\nselves, and unsupported by any other consideration, give any better title to\\ndominion and absolute sovereignty, than similar establishments made in a\\ncivilized country.\\nBut the United States have paid due regard to the discoveries by\\nwhich the British navigators have so eminently distinguished themselves,\\nto those, perhaps not less remarkable, made by land from the upper\\nlakes of the Pacific, and to the contiguity of the possessions of Great", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0493.jp2"}, "494": {"fulltext": "464 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [H.\\nBritain, on the waters of Hudson s Bay, to the territory bordering on that\\nocean. Above all, they have been earnestly desirous to preserve and\\ncherish, not only the peacetul, but the friendly relations, which happily\\nsubsist between the two countries. And, with that object in view, their\\noffer of a permanent line of demarkation has been made, under a perfect\\nconviction that it was attended with the sacrifice of a portion of what they\\nmight justly claim.\\nViewed as a matter of mutual convenience, and with equal desire, on\\nboth sides, to avert, by a definitive line of delimitation, any possible cause\\nof collision in that quarter, every consideration connected with the sub-\\nject may be allowed its due weight.\\nIf the present state of occupancy is urged, on the part of Great\\nBritain, the probability of the manner in which the territory west of the\\nRocky Mountains must be settled, belongs also essentially to the subject.\\nUnder whatever nominal sovereignty that country may be placed, and\\nwhatever its ultimate destinies may be, it is nearly reduced to a certainty,\\nthat it will be almost exclusively peopled by the surplus population of\\nthe United States. The distance from Great Britain, and the expense in-\\ncident to emigration, forbid the expectation of any being practicable,\\nfrom that quarter, but on a comparatively small scale. Allowing the rate\\nof increase to be the same in the United States, and in the North Ameri-\\ncan British possessions, the difference in the actual population of both is\\nsuch, that the progressive rate which would, within forty years, add three\\nmillions to these, would, within the same time, give a positive increase of\\nmore than twenty millions to the United States. And if circumstances,\\narising from localities and habits, have given superior facilities to British\\nsubjects, of extending their commerce with the natives, and to that expan-\\nsion which has the appearance, and the appearance only, of occupancy,\\nthe slower but sure progress and extension of an agricultural population,\\nwill be regulated by distance, by natural obstacles, and by its own amount.\\nThe primitive right of acquiring property and sovereignty, by occupancy\\nalone, admitting it to be unlimited in theory, cannot extend beyond the\\ncapacity of occupying and cultivating the soil.\\nIt may also be observed, that, in reality, there were but three na-\\ntions which had both the right and the power to colonize the territory\\nin question Great Britain, the United States, and Spain, or now the\\nnew American states. These are now excluded, in consequence of the\\ntreaty of 1819. The United States, who have purchased their right for a\\nvaluable consideration, stand now in their place, and, on that ground, in\\nthe view entertained of the subject by the British government, are, on a\\nfinal partition of the country, fairly entitled to two shares.\\nUnder all the circumstances of the case, as stated on both sides, the\\nUnited States offer a line, which leaves to Great Britain by far the best\\nportion of the fur trade, the only object, at this time, of the pursuits of\\nher subjects in that quarter, and a much greater than her proportionate\\nshare of the country, with a view to its permanent settlement, if the rela-\\ntive geographical situation, and means of colonizing, of both parties are\\ntaken into consideration. From the 42d degree of north latitude to\\nthe Observatory Inlet, in about 55\u00c2\u00b0 30 there is a front on the Pacific\\nof almost fourteen degrees of latitude, which the 49th parallel divides\\ninto two nearly equal parts. The mouth of the Columbia River, if", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0494.jp2"}, "495": {"fulltext": "I-] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 465\\naccepted as a boundary, would leave less than one third to the United\\nStates.\\nThe offer of the free navigation of that river, when the whole territory,\\ndrained by all its tributary streams, including the northernmost branches,\\nmight have been justly claimed, would have also given to Great Britain,\\nin time of peace, all the commercial advantages which it can afford to\\nthe Americans.\\nIn the case of a war, (which God forbid,) whatever might be the result\\non shore, the line proposed by Great Britain, even with the addition of\\nthe detached and defenceless territory she offered, would leave the sea\\nborder at her mercy, and the United States without a single port; whilst\\nthe boundary proposed by them might, during that period, deprive Great\\nBritain only of the use of the port at the mouth of the Columbia, and\\nwould leave her in the secure possession of numerous seaports, perhaps less\\nconvenient, but still affording ample means of communication with the\\ninterior. That line, indeed, with such slight reciprocal modifications as\\nthe topography of the country may indicate, would establish the most\\nnatural and mutually-defensible boundary that can be found, and, for that\\nreason, the least liable to collision, and the best calculated to perpetuate\\npeace and harmony between the two powers.\\nI.\\nDocuments relating to the Hudson s Bat Company.\\nThis company was incorporated by a charter from King Charles II.\\nof England, issued on the 16th of May, 1669; a few extracts from which\\nwill be sufficient to show the powers of the company and the extent of its\\nterritories under that grant.\\nHis Majesty s Royal Charter to the Governor and Company of Hud-\\nson s Bay.\\nCharles the Second, by the grace of God, king of England, c., to\\nall to whom these presents shall come, Greeting Whereas our dearly\\nbeloved cousin, Prince Rupert [and seventeen others, whose names and\\ntitles follow] have, at their own great cost and charges, undertaken an ex-\\npedition for Hudson s Bay, in the north-west parts of America, for the dis-\\ncovery of a new passage into the South Sea, and for the finding of some\\ntrade for furs, minerals, and other considerable commodities and by such\\ntheir undertaking have already made such discoveries as do encourao-e them\\nto proceed farther in performance of their said design, by means whereof\\nthere may probably arise great advantage to us and our kingdoms; and\\n59", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0495.jp2"}, "496": {"fulltext": "466 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [L\\nwhereas the said undertakers, for their further encouragement in the said\\ndesign, have humbJy besought us to incorporate them, and to grant imto\\nthem and their successors the whole trade and commerce of all those\\nseas, straits and bays, rivers, lakes, creeks and sounds, in whatsoever lati-\\ntude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of the straits commonly\\ncalled Hudson s Straits, together with all the lands, countries, and terri-\\ntories, upon the coasts and confines of the seas, straits, bays, lakes, rivers,\\ncreeks, and sounds, aforesaid, which are not now actually possessed by\\nany of our subjects, or by the subjects of any other Christian prince\\nor state\\nNow, know ye, that we, being desirous to promote all endeavors that\\nmay tend to the public good of our people, and to encourage the said\\nundertaking, have, of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere\\nmotion, given, granted, ratified, and confirmed, and by these presents, for\\nus and our successors, do give, grant, ratify, and confirm, unto our said\\ncousin, Prince Rupert, ,c., that they and such others as shall be ad-\\nmitted into the said society, as is hereafter expressed, shall be one body\\ncorporate and politic, in deed and in name, by the name of The Governor\\nand Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson s Bay,\\nand at all times hereafter, shall be personable, and capable in\\nlaw, to have, purchase, receive, possess, enjoy, and retain lands, rents,\\nprivileges, liberties, jurisdiction, franchises, and hereditaments, of what\\nkind, nature, or quality soever they be, to them and their successors.\\nBy succeeding sections of the charter, provisions are made for the\\nelection of a governor, a deputy governor, and a committee of seven\\nmembers, who are to have the direction of all voyages, sales, and other\\nbusiness of the company for the election of new members and for\\nholding, at particular periods, a general court of the company. The\\nfirst company and their successors are made lords proprietors of the\\nterritories above mentioned, holding the lands in free and common\\nsocage, and not incapite, or by knights service; and they are em-\\npowered to make all laws and regulations for the government of their\\npossessions, which may be reasonable, and not contrary or repugnant,\\nbut as near as may be agreeable, to the laws, statutes, and customs, of\\nEngland. The whole trade, fishery, navigation, minerals, c., of the\\ncountries, is granted to the company exclusively all others of the king s\\nsubjects being forbidden to visit, haunt, frequent, trade, traffic, or\\nadventure, therein, under heavy penalties; and the company is more-\\nover empowered to send ships, and to build fortifications, for the de-\\nfence of its possessions, as well as to make war or peace with all nations\\nor people, not Christian, inhabiting those territories, which are declared\\nto be thenceforth reckoned and reputed as one of his majesty s plan-\\ntations or colonies, in America, called Rupert s Land.\\nThus it will be seen, that the Hudson s Bay Company possessed by its\\ncharter almost sovereign powers over the vast portion of America drained\\nby streams entering Hudson s Bay. With regard to the other countries\\nin British America, north and west of Canada, not included in the Hud-\\nson s Bay Company s possessions, and which were termed, generally, the\\nIndian countries, an act was passed on the 11th of August, 1803, in the\\n43d year of the reign of King George HI., entitled,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0496.jp2"}, "497": {"fulltext": "L] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 467\\n(2.)\\nAn Act for extending the Jurisdiction of the Courts of Justice in the\\nProvinces of Loioer and Upper Canada to the Trial and Punishment\\nof Persons guilty of Crimes and Offences within certain Parts of\\nNorth America, adjoining to the said Provinces.\\nBy this act, offences committed within the Indian territories were to\\nbe tried in the same manner as if committed within the provinces of\\nLower and Upper Canada the governor of Lower Canada may em-\\npower persons to act as justices of the peace for the Indian territories,\\nfor committing offenders until they are conveyed to Canada for trial, 6lc.\\nThis act remained in force until July 2d, 1821 when was passed,\\n(3.)\\nAn Act for regulating the Fur Trade, and establishing a Criminal and\\nCivil Jurisdiction, loithin certain Parts of North America*\\nWhereas the competition in the fur trade between the Governor and\\nCompany of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson s Bay, and cer-\\ntain associations of persons trading under the name of The North-West\\nCompany of Montreal, has been found, for some years past, to be pro-\\nductive of great inconvenience and loss, not only to the said company and\\nassociations, but to the said trade in general, and also of great injury to\\nthe native Indians, and of other persons, subjects of his majesty And\\nwhereas the animosities and feuds arising from such competition have\\nalso, for some years past, kept the interior of America, to the northward\\nand westward of the provinces of Upper and Loicer Canada, and of the\\nterritories of the United States of America, in a state of continued disturb-\\nance: And whereas many breaches of the peace, and violence, extending\\nto the loss of lives, and considerable destruction of property have continu-\\nally occurred therein And whereas, for remedy of such evils, it is expe-\\ndient and necessary that some more effectual regulations should be estab-\\nlished for the apprehending, securing, and bringing to justice, all persons\\ncommitting such offences, and that his majesty should be empowered\\nto regulate the said trade And whereas doubts have been entertained,\\nwhether the provisions of an act passed in the forty-third year of the reign\\nof his late jnajesty, King George the Third, intituled An Act for extend-\\ning the jurisdiction of the courts of justice in the provinces oi Lower and\\nUpper Canada to the trial and punishment of persons guilty of crimes and\\noffences within certain parts of North America, adjoining to the said prov-\\ninces, extended to the territories granted by charter to the said governor\\nand company and it is expedient that such doubts should be removed,\\nand that the said act should be further extended Be it therefore\\nenacted, by the king s most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and\\nconsent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present\\nParliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That, from and\\nSee p. 325.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0497.jp2"}, "498": {"fulltext": "468 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [L\\nafter the passing of this act, it shall be lawful for his majesty, his heirs or\\nsuccessors, to make grants or give his royal license, under the hand and\\nseal of one of his majesty s principal secretaries of state, to any body cor-\\nporate or company, or person or persons, of or for the exclusive privilege\\nof trading with the Indians in all such parts o? North America as shall be\\nspecified in any such grants or licenses respectively, not being part of\\nthe lands or territories heretofore granted to the said Governor and Com-\\npany of Adventurers of -Ewo^/anr/ trading to Hudsoti s Bay, and not being\\npart of any of his majesty s provinces in North America, or of any lands\\nor territories belonging to the United States oi America and all such\\ngrants and licenses shall be good, valid, and effectual, for the purpose of\\nsecuring to all such bodies corporate, or companies, or persons, the sole\\nand exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in all such parts of\\nNorth Amei-ica, (except as hereinafter excepted,) as shall be specified in\\nsuch grants or licenses, any thing contained in any act or acts of Parlia-\\nment, or any law, to the contrary notwithstanding.\\nII. Provided always, and be it further enacted. That no such grant\\nor license, made or given by his majesty, his heirs or successors, of any\\nsuch exclusive privileges of trading with the Indians in such parts of\\nNorth America as aforesaid, shall be made or given for any longer period\\nthan twenty-one years and no rent shall be required or demanded for or\\nin respect of any such grant or license, or any privileges given thereby\\nunder the provisions of this act, for the first period of twenty-one years\\nand from and after the expiration of such first period of twenty-one years,\\nit shall be lawful for his majesty, his heirs or successors, to reserve such\\nrents in any future grants or licenses to be made to the same or any other\\nparties, as shall be deemed just and reasonable, with security for the pay-\\nment thereof; and such rents shall be deemed part of the land revenues\\nof his majesty, his heirs and successors, and be applied and accounted for\\nas the other land revenues of his majesty, his heirs or successors, shall,\\nat the time of payment of any such rent being made, be applied and ac-\\ncounted for.\\nIII. And be it further enacted. That, from and after the passing of\\nthis act, the Governor and Company of Adventurers trading to Hudson s\\nBay, and every body corporate, and company, and person, to whom every\\nsuch grant or license shall be made or given, as aforesaid, shall respec-\\ntively keep accurate registers of all persons in their employ in any parts\\nof North America, and shall, once in each year, return to his majesty s sec-\\nretaries of state accurate duplicates of such registers, and shall also enter\\ninto such security as shall be required by his majesty for the due execu-\\ntion of all processes, criminal and civil, as well within the territories\\nincluded in any such grant, as within those granted by charter to the\\nGovernor and Company of Adventurers trading to Hudson s I^ay, and for\\nthe producing or delivering into safe custody, for purpose of trial, of all\\npersons in their employ or acting under their authority, who shall be\\ncharged with any criminal offence, and also for the due and faithful\\nobservance of all such rules, regulations, and stipulations, as shall be con-\\ntained in any such grant or license, either for diminishing or preventing\\nthe sale or distribution of spirituous liquors to the Indians, or for pro-\\nmoting their moral and religious improvement, or for any other object\\nwhich his majesty may deem necessary for the remedy or prevention of\\nthe other evils which have hitherto been found to exist.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0498.jp2"}, "499": {"fulltext": "L] proofs and illustrations. 469\\nIV. And whereas, by a convention entered into between his majesty\\nand the United States of ^/\u00c2\u00abc/-/fa, it was stipulated and agreed that any\\ncountry on the north-west coast o( America to the westward of tlic Stoiii/\\nMountains, should be free and open to the citizens and subjects of the\\ntwo powers, for the term of ten years from the date of the signature of\\nthat convention Be it therefore enacted, That nothing in this act con-\\ntained shall be deemed or construed to authorize any body corporate,\\ncompany, or person, to whom his majesty may have, under the provisions\\nof this act, made a grant or given a license of exclusive trade with the\\nIndians in such parts oi North America as aforesaid, to claim or exercise\\nany such exclusive trade within the limits specified in the said article, to\\nthe prejudice or exclusion of any citizens of the said United States of\\nAmerica, who may be engaged in the said trade Provided always, that\\nno British subject shall trade with the Indians within such limits without\\nsuch grant or license as is by this act required.\\nV. And be it declared and enacted. That the said act, passed in the\\nforty-third year of the reign of his late majesty, intituled An Act for ex-\\ntending the jtirisdiction of the courts of justice in the provinces q/ Lower\\nawr/ Upper Canada, to the trial and punishment of persons guilty of crimes\\nand ojfences toithin certain parts of North America adjoining to the said\\nprovinces, and all the clauses and provisoes therein contained, shall be\\ndeemed and construed, and it is and are hereby respectively declared, to\\nextend to and over, and to be in full force in and through, all the territo-\\nries heretofore granted to the Company of Adventurers of England trading\\nto Hudson s Bay any thing in any act or acts of Parliament, or this act,\\nor in any grant or charter to the company, to the contrary notwithstanding.\\nVI. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the passing of\\nthis act, the courts of judicature now existing, or which may be hereafter\\nestablished in the province of Upper Canada, shall have the same civil\\njurisdiction, power, and authority, as well in the cognizance of suits as in\\nthe issuing process, mesne and final, and in all other respects whatsoever,\\nwithin the said Indian territories, and other parts of America not within\\nthe limits of either of the provinces of Lower or Upper Canada, or of any\\ncivil government of the United States, as the said courts have or are\\ninvested with within the limits of the said provinces of Lower or Upper\\nCanada respectively and that all and every contract, agreement, debt,\\nliability, and demand whatsoever, made, entered into, incurred, or arising\\nwithin the said Indian territories and other parts of America, and all and\\nevery wrong and injury to the person, or to property, real ox personal, com-\\nmitted or done within the same, shall be, and be deemed to be, of the same\\nnature, and be cognizable by the same courts, magistrates, or justices of the\\npeace, and be tried in the same manner, and subject to the same conse-\\nquences, in all respects, as if the same had been made, entered into, incurred,\\narisen, committed, or done, within the said province of Upper Canada any\\nthing in any act or acts of Parliament, or grant, or charter, to the contrary\\nnotwithstanding: Provided always, thiit all such suits and actions relating\\nto lands, or to any claims in respect of land, not being within the province\\nof Upper Canada, shall be decided according to the laws of that part of\\nthe United Kingdom called England, and shall not be subject to or afiectcd\\nby any local acts, statutes, or laws, of the legislature of Upper Canada.\\nVII. And be it further enacted, That all process, writs, orders, judg-\\nments, decrees, and acts whatsoever, to be issued, made, delivered, given,\\nand done, by or under the authority of the said courts, or either of them,", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0499.jp2"}, "500": {"fulltext": "470 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [L\\nshall have tne same force, authority, and effect, within the said Indian\\nterritory and other parts o^ America as aforesaid, as the same now have\\nwithin the said province of Upper Canada.\\nVIII. And be it further enacted. That it shall be lawful for the gov-\\nernor, or lieutenant-governor, or person administering the government\\nfor the time being, of Lower Canada, by commission under his hand and\\nseal, to authorize all persons who shall be appointed justices of the peace\\nunder the provisions of this act, within the said Indian territories, or other\\nparts oi America as aforesaid, or any other person who shall be specially\\nnamed in any such commission, to act as a commissioner within the same,\\nfor the purpose of executing, enforcing, and carrying into effect, all such\\nprocess, writs, orders, judgments, decrees, and acts, which shall be issued,\\nmade, delivered, given, or done, by the said courts of judicature, and which\\nmay require to be enforced and executed within the said Indian territo-\\nries, or such other parts oi North America as aforesaid; and in case any\\nperson or persons whatsoever residing or being within the said Indian\\nterritories, or such other parts of America as aforesaid, shall refuse to\\nobey or perform any such process, writ, order, judgment, decree, or act,\\nof the said courts, or shall resist or oppose the execution thereof, it shall\\nand may be lawful for the said justices of the peace or commissioners,\\nand they, or any of them, are, and is, hereby required, on the same being\\nproved before him, by the oath or affidavit of one credible witness, to\\ncommit the said person or persons so offending as aforesaid to custody,\\nin order to his or their being conveyed to Upper Canada and that it\\nshall be lawful for any such justice of the peace or commissioner, or any\\nperson or persons acting under his authority, to convey, or cause to be\\nconveyed, such person or persons so offending as aforesaid to Upper Can-\\nada, in pursuance of such process, writ, order, decree, judgment, or act;\\nand such person and persons shall be committed to jail by the said court,\\non his, her, or their being so brought into the said province of Upper\\nCanada, by which such process, writ, order, decree, judgment, or act, was\\nissued, made, delivered, given, or done, until a final judgment or decree\\nshall have been pronounced in such suit, and shall have been duly per-\\nformed, and all costs paid, in case such person or persons shall be a party\\nor parties in such suit, or until the trial of such suit shall have been con-\\ncluded, in case such person or persons shall be a witness or witnesses\\ntherein Provided always, that, if any person or persons, so apprehended as\\naforesaid, shall enter into a bond recognizance to any such justice of the\\npeace or commissioner, with two sufficient sureties, to the satisfaction of\\nsuch justice of the peace or commissioner, or the said courts, conditioned\\nto obey and perform such process, writ, order, judgment, decree, or act, as\\naforesaid, then and in such case it shall and may be lawful for the said\\njustice of the peace or commissioner, or the said courts, to discharge\\nsuch person or persons out of custody.\\nIX. And be it further enacted, That, in case such person or persons\\nshall not perform and fulfil the condition or conditions of such recogni-\\nzance, then and in such case it shall and may be lawful for any such\\njustice or commissioner, and he is hereby required, to assign such recog-\\nnizance to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, in any suit in which such process,\\nwrit, order, decree, judgment, or act, shall have been issued, made, deliv-\\nered, given, or done, who may maintain an action in the said courts in his\\nown name against the said sureties, and recover against such sureties the\\nfull amount of such loss or damage as such plaintiff shall prove to have", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0500.jp2"}, "501": {"fulltext": "L] proofs and illustrations. 471\\nbeen sustained by him, by reason of the original cause of action in respect\\nof which such process, writ, order, decree, judgment, or act, of the said\\ncourts were issued, made, delivered, given, or done, as aforesaid, notwith-\\nstanding any thing contained in any charter granted to the said Governor\\nand Company of Adventurers of England trading to Hudson s Bay.\\nX. And be it further enacted. That it shall be lawful for his majesty,\\nif he shall deem it convenient so to do, to issue a commission or com-\\nmissions to any person or persons to be and act as justices of the peace\\nwithin such parts o^ America as aforesaid, as well within any territories\\nheretofore granted to the Com})any of Adventurers o{ England trading to\\nHudson s Bay, as within the Indian territories of such other parts of\\nAmerica as aforesaid and it shall be lawful for the court in the province\\nof Upper Canada, in any case in which it shall appear expedient to have\\nany evidence taken by commission, or any facts or issue, or any cause or\\nsuit, ascertained, to issue a commission to any three or more of such jus-\\ntices to take such evidence, and return the same, or try such issue, and\\nfor that purpose to hold courts, and to issue subpoenas or other processes\\nto compel attendance of plaintiffs, defendants, jurors, witnesses, and all\\nother persons requisite and essential to the execution of the several pur-\\nposes for which such commission or commissions had issued, and with\\nthe like power and authority as are vested in the courts of the said\\nprovince of Upper Canada; and any order, verdict, judgment, or decree,\\nthat shall be made, found, declared, or published, by or before any court\\nor courts held under and by virtue of such commission or commissions,\\nshall be considered to be of as full effect, and enforced in like manner, as\\nif the same had been made, found, declared, or published, within the juris-\\ndiction of the court of the said province and at the time of issuing such\\ncommission or commissions shall be declared the place or places where\\nsuch commission is to be opened, and the courts and proceedings there-\\nunder held and it shall be at the same time provided how and by what\\nmeans the expenses of such commission, and the execution thereof, shall\\nbe raised and provided for.\\nXI. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for his majesty,\\nnotwithstanding any thing contained in this act, or in any charter granted\\nto the said Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading to\\nHudson s Bay, from time to time, by any commission under the great\\nseal, to authorize and empower any such persons so appointed justices of\\nthe peace as aforesaid, to sit and hold courts of record for the trial of\\ncriminal offences and misdemeanors, and also of civil causes; and it shall\\nbe lawful for his majesty to order, direct, and authorize, the appointment\\nof proper officers to act in aid of such courts and justices within the juris-\\ndiction assigned to such courts and justices, in any such commission\\nany thing in this act, or in any charter of the Governor and Company of\\nMerchant Adventurers o{ England trading to Hudson s Bay, to the con-\\ntrary notwithstanding.\\nXII. Provided always, and be it further enacted. That such courts\\nshall be constituted, as to the number of justices to preside therein, and\\nas to such places within the said territories of the said company, or any\\nIndian territories, or other parts of North America as aforesaid, and the\\ntimes and manner of holding the same, as his^majesty shall from time to\\ntime order and direct but shall not try any offender upon any charge\\nor indictment for any felony made the subject of capital punishment, or", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0501.jp2"}, "502": {"fulltext": "472 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [L\\nfor any offence, or passing sentence affecting the life of any offender, or\\nadjudge or cause any offender to suffer capital punishment or transporta-\\ntion, or take cognizance of or try any civil action or suit, in which the\\ncause of such suit or action shall exceed in value the amount or sum of\\ntwo hundred pounds; and in every case of any offence subjecting the per-\\nson committing the same to capital punishment or transportation, the\\ncourt or any judge of any such court, or any justice or justices of the\\npeace, before whom any such offender shall be brought, shall commit such\\noffender to safe custody, and cause such offender to be sent in such custody\\nfor trial in the court of the province of Upper Canada.\\nXIII. And be it further enacted, That all judgments given in any\\ncivil suit shall be subject to appeal to his majesty in council, in like\\nmanner as in other cases in his majesty s province of Upper Canada, and\\nalso in any case in which the right or title to any land shall be in\\nquestion.\\nXIV. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained\\nshall be taken or construed to affect any right, privilege, authority, or\\njurisdiction, which the Governor and Company of Adventurers trading to\\nHudson s Bay are by law entitled to claim and exercise under their\\ncharter but that all such rights, privileges, authorities, and jurisdictions,\\nshall remain in as full force, virtue, and effect, as if this act had never\\nbeen made any thing in this act to the contrary notwithstanding.\\nShortly before the passage of this act, the Hudson s Bay Company was\\nunited with the North-West Company, or rather the latter was merged in\\nthe former; and on the 21st of December, I82I, the king made a\\n(4.)\\nGrant of the exclusive Trade with the Indians of North America to\\nthe Hudson s Bay Company,\\nof which the following are the terms\\nAnd whereas the said Company of Adventurers of England, trading\\ninto Hudson s Bay, and certain associations of persons trading under the\\nname of the North-West Company of Montreal, have respectively extended\\nthe fur trade over many parts of North America, which had not been\\nbefore explored And whereas the competition in the said trade has\\nbeen found, for some years past, to be productive of great inconvenience\\nand loss, not only lo the said company and associations, but to the said\\ntrade in general, and also of great injury to the native Indians, and of\\nother persons our subjects And whereas the said Governor and Company\\nof Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson s Bay, and William Mc-\\nGillivray, of Montreal, in the province of Lower Canada, Esquire, Simon\\nMcGillivray, of Suffolk Lane, in the city of London, merchant, and Edward\\nEllice, of Spring Gardens, in the county of Middlesex, Esquire, have\\nrepresented to us, that they have entered into an agreement on the 26th\\nday of March last, for putting an end to the said competition, and carry-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0502.jp2"}, "503": {"fulltext": "I.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 473\\ning on the said trade for twenty-one years, commencing with the outfit of\\n1821, and ending with the returns of 1841, to be carried on in tlie name\\nof the said Governor and Company exclusively And whereas the said\\nGovernor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E.\\nEllice, have humbly besought us to make a grant, and give our royal\\nlicense to them jointly, of and for the exclusive privilege of trading with\\nthe Indians in North America, under the restrictions and upon the terms\\nand conditions specified in the said recited act\\nNow, know yc, that we, being desirous of encouraging the said trade,\\nand remedying the evils which have arisen from the competition which\\nhas heretofore existed therein, do grant and give our royal license, under\\nthe hand and seal of one of our principal secretaries of state, to the said\\nGovernor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. El-\\nlice, for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians, in all such\\nparts of North America, to the northward and westward of the lands and\\nterritories belonging to the United States of America, as shall not form\\npart of any of our provinces in North America, or of any lands or terri-\\ntories belonging to the said United States of America, or to any European\\ngovernment, state, or power and we do by these presents give, grant,\\nand secure, to the said Governor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S.\\nMcGillivray, and E. Ellice, jointly, the sole and exclusive privilege, for\\nthe full period of twenty-one years from the date of this our grant, of\\ntrading with the Indians in all such parts of North America as aforesaid,\\n(except as thereinafter excepted And we do hereby declare that no rent\\nshall be required or demanded for or in respect of this our grant and\\nlicense, or any privileges given thereby, for the said period of twenty-one\\nyears, but that the said Governor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S.\\nMcGillivray, and E. Ellice, shall, during the period of this our grant and\\nlicense, keep accurate registers of all persons in their employ, in any parts\\nof North America, and shall once in each year return to our secretary\\nof state accurate duplicates of all such registers, and shall also enter into\\nand give security to us, our heirs and successors, in the penal sum of five\\nthousand pounds, for insuring, as far as in them may lie, the due execu-\\ntion of all the criminal processes, and of any civil process, in any suit,\\nwhere the matter in dispute shall exceed two hundred pounds, by the\\nofficers and persons legally empowered to execute such processes, within\\nall the territories included in this our grant, and for the producing and\\ndelivering into safe custody, for purposes of trial, any persons in their\\nemploy or acting under their authority, within the said territories, who\\nmay be charged with any criminal offence.\\nAnd we do hereby require that the said Governor and Company, and\\nW. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, shall, as soon as the same\\ncan be conveniently done, make and submit, for our consideration and\\napproval, such rules and regulations for the management and carrying on\\nthe said fur trade with the Indians, and the conduct of the persons\\nemployed by them therein, as may appear to us to be effectual, for gradu-\\nally diminishing or ultimately preventing the sale and distribution of\\nspirituous liquors to the Indians, and for promoting their moral and\\nreligious improvement. And we do hereby declare that nothing in\\nthis our grant contained shall be deemed or construed to authorize the\\nsaid Governor and Company, or W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E.\\nEllice, or any person in their employ, to claim or exercise any trade with\\n60", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0503.jp2"}, "504": {"fulltext": "474 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [I.\\nthe Indians on the north-west coast of America, to the westward of the\\nStony Mountains, to the prejudice or exclusion of any citizen of the\\nUnited States of America, who may be engaged in the said trade Pro-\\nvided always, that no British subjects other than and except the said\\nGovernor and Company, and the said W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and\\nE. Eilice, and the persons authorized to carry on exclusive trade by them\\non grant, shall trade with the Indians within such limits, during the\\nperiod of this our grant.\\nUnder this license, the parties to whom it was granted continued their\\noperations until 16-24, when the claims of the North-West Company were\\nextinguished by mutual consent the Hudson s Bay Company then became\\nthe sole possessor of the privileges conceded, which were enjoyed by that\\nbody until the expiration of the grant. Previous to that period, 1838,\\na new grant was made to the company, entitled,\\n(5.)\\nCrown Grant to the Hudson s Bay Company of the exclusive Trade\\nwith the Indians in certain Parts of North America, for a Term of\\ntwenty-one Years, and upon Surrender of a former Grant\\nwhich, after recapitulating the terms of the first grant, continues thus\\nAnd whereas the said Governor and Company have acquired to\\nthemselves all the rights and interests of the said W. McGillivray, S.\\nMcGillivray, and E. Eilice, under the said recited grant, and the said\\nGovernor and Company have humbly besought us to accept a surrender\\nof the said grant, and in consideration thereof to make a grant to them,\\nand give to them our royal license and authority of and for the like\\nexclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in North America, for the\\nlike period, and upon similar terms and conditions to those specified and\\nreferred to in the said recited grant Now, know ye, that, in consideration\\nof the surrender made to us of the said recited grant, and being desirous\\nof encouraging the said trade, and of preventing as much as possible a\\nrecurrence of the evils mentioned or referred to in the said recited grant,\\nas also in consideration of the yearly rent hereinafter reserved to us, we\\ndo hereby grant and give our license, under the hand and seal of one of\\nour principal secretaries of state, to the said Governor and Company, and\\ntheir successors, for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in\\nall such parts of North America, to the northward and to the westward\\nof the lands and territories belonging to the United States of America, as\\nshall not form part of any of our provinces in North America, or of any\\nlands or territories belonging to the said United States of America, or to\\nany European government, state, or power, but subject, nevertheless, as\\nhereinafter mentioned And we do, by these presents, give, grant, and\\nsecure, to the said Governor and Company, and their successors, the sole\\nand exclusive privilege, for the full period of twenty-one years from the\\ndate of this our grant, of trading with the Indians in all such parts of\\nNorth America as aforesaid, (except as hereinafter mentioned And we", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0504.jp2"}, "505": {"fulltext": "1.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTUATIONS. 475\\ndo hereby declare that no rent shall be required or demanded for or in\\nrespect of this our grant and license, or any privileges given thereby for\\nthe first four years of the said term of twenty-one years and we do hereby\\nreserve to ourselves, our heirs and successors, for the remainder of the\\nsaid term of twenty-one years, the yearly rent or sum of five shillings, to be\\npaid by the said Governor and Company, or their successors, on the 1st\\nday of June, in every year, into our exchequer, on the account of us, our\\nheirs and successors And we do hereby declare that the said Governor\\nand Company, and their successors, shall, during the period of this our\\ngrant and license, keep accurate registers of all persons in their employ\\nin any parts of North America, and shall, once in each year, return to\\nour secretary of state accurate duplicates of such registers; and shall also\\nenter into and give security to us, our heirs and successors, in the penal\\nsum of five thousand pounds, for insuring, as far as in them may lie, or as\\nthey can by their authority over the servants and persons in their employ,\\nthe due execution of all criminal and civil processes by the officers and\\npersons legally empowered to execute such processes within all the terri-\\ntories included in this our grant, and for the producing or delivering into\\ncustody, for the purposes of trial, all persons in their employ or acting\\nunder their authority, within the said territories, who shall be charged with\\nany criminal offence And we do also hereby require that the said Gov-\\nernor and Company, and their successors, shall, as soon as the same can\\nconveniently be done, make and submit for our consideration and approval,\\nsuch rules and regulations for the management and carrying on the said\\nfur trade with the Indians, and the conduct of the persons employed by\\nthem therein, as may appear to us to be effectual for diminishing or pre-\\nventing the sale or distribution of spirituous liquors to the Indians, and\\nfor promoting their moral and religious improvement But we do hereby\\ndeclare that nothing in this our grant contained shall be deemed or con-\\nstrued to authorize the said Governor and Company, or their successors,\\nor any persons in their employ, to claim or exercise any trade with the\\nIndians on the north-west coast of America, to the westward of the\\nStony Mountains, to the prejudice or exclusion of any of the subjects of\\nany foreign states, who, under or by force of any convention for the time\\nbeing, between us and such foreign states respectively, may be entitled to,\\nand shall be engaged in, the said trade: Provided, nevertheless, and we\\ndo hereby declare our pleasure to be, that nothing herein contained shall\\nextend or be construed to prevent the establishment by us, our heirs, or\\nsuccessors, within the territories aforesaid, or any of them, of any colony\\nor colonies, province or provinces, or for annexing any part of the afore-\\nsaid territories to any existing colony or colonies to us in right of our\\nimperial crown belonging, or for constituting any such form of civil\\ngovernment, as to us may seem meet, within any such colony or col-\\nonies, or provinces\\nAnd we do hereby reserve to us, our heirs and successors, full power\\nand authority to revoke these presents, or any part thereof, in so far as\\nthe same may embrace or extend to any of the territories aforesaid, which\\nmay hereafter be comprised within any colony or colonies, province or\\nprovinces, as aforesaid\\nIt being, nevertheless, hereby declared that no British subjects, other\\nthan and except the said Governor and Company, and their successors,\\nand the persons authorized to carry on exclusive trade by them, shall", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0505.jp2"}, "506": {"fulltext": "476 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [K.\\ntrade with the Indians during the period of this our grant, within the\\nlimits aforesaid, or within that part thereof- which shall not be com-\\nprised within any such colony or province as aforesaid.\\nK.\\nTkeaties and Conventions relative to the North-West\\nTerritories of North America.\\nConvention between Great Britain and Spain, [commonly called the\\nNooTKA Treaty,) signed at the Escurial, October 28 A, 1790.\\nArticle 1. The buildings and tracts of land situated on the north-\\nwest coast of the continent of North America, or on the islands adjacent\\nto that continent, of which the subjects of his Britannic majesty were dis-\\npossessed about the month of April, 1789, by a Spanish officer, shall be\\nrestored to the said British subjects.\\nArt. 2. A just reparation shall be made, according to the nature of\\nthe case, for all acts of violence or hostility which may have been com-\\nmitted subsequent to the month of April, 1789, by the subjects of either\\nof the contracting parties against the subjects of the other; and, in case\\nany of the said respective subjects shall, since the same period, have been\\nforcibly dispossessed of their lands, buildings, vessels, merchandise, and\\nother property, whatever, on the said continent, or on the seas and islands\\nadjacent, they shall be reestablished in the possession thereof, or a just com-\\npensation shall be made to them for the losses which they have sustained.\\nArt. 3. In order to strengthen the bonds of friendship, and to pre-\\nserve in future a perfect harmony and good understanding, between the\\ntwo contracting parties, it is agreed that their respective subjects shall not\\nbe disturbed or molested, either in navigating, or carrying on their fish-\\neries, in the Pacific Ocean or in the South Seas, or in landing on the\\ncoasts of those seas in places not already occupied, for the purpose of\\ncarrying on their commerce with the natives of the country, or of making\\nsettlements there the whole subject, nevertheless, to the restrictions\\nspecified in the three following articles.\\nArt. 4. His Britannic majesty engages to take the most effectual\\nmeasures to prevent the navigation and the fishery of his subjects in the\\nPacific Ocean or in the South Seas from being made a pretext for illicit\\ntrade with the Spanish settlements and, with this view, it is moreover\\nexpressly stipulated that British subjects shall not navigate, or carry on\\ntheir fishery, in the said seas, within the space of ten sea leagues from\\nany part of the coasts already occupied by Spain.\\nArt. 5. As well in the places which are to be restored to the British\\nsubjects, by virtue of the firsts article, as in all other parts of the north-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0506.jp2"}, "507": {"fulltext": "K.] PROOIS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 477\\nwestern coasts of North America, or of the islands adjacent, situate to the\\nnorth of the parts of the said coast already occupied by Spain, wherever\\nthe subjects of either of the two powers shall have made settlements since\\nthe month of April, 1789, or shall hereafter make any, the subjects of the\\nother shall have free access, and shall carry on their trade without any\\ndisturbance or molestation.\\nArt. 6. With respect to the eastern and western coasts of South\\nAmerica, and to the islands adjacent, no settlement shall be formed here-\\nafter by the respective subjects in such part of those coasts as are situated\\nto the south of those parts of the same coasts, and of the islands adjacent,\\nwhich are already occupied by Spain provided, that the said respective\\nsubjects shall retain the liberty of landing on the coasts and islands so\\nsituated for the purpose of their fishery, and of erecting thereon huts and\\nother temporary buildings serving only for those purposes.\\nArt. 7. In all cases of complaint or infraction of the articles of the\\npresent convention, the officers of either party, without permitting them-\\nselves to commit any violence or act of force, shall be bound to make\\nan exact report of the affair and of its circumstances to their respective\\ncourts, who will terminate such differences in an amicable manner.\\n(2.)\\nConvention between the United States of America and Great Britain,\\nsigned at London, October 20 A, 1818.\\nArticle 2. It is agreed that a line drawn from the most north-western\\npoint of the Lake of the Woods, along the 49th parallel of north latitude,\\nor, if the said point shall not be in the 49th parallel of north latitude, then\\nthat a line drawn from the said point due north or south, as the case may\\nbe, until the said line shall intersect the said parallel of north latitude,\\nand from the point of such intersection due west along and with the said\\nparallel, shall be the line of demarkation between the territories of the\\nUnited States and those of his Britannic majesty and that the said line\\nshall form the northern boundary of the said territories of the United\\nStates, and the southern boundary of the territories of his Britannic\\nmajesty, from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains.\\nArt. 3. It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either\\nparty on the north-west coast of America, westward of the Stony Moun-\\ntains, shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the naviga-\\ntion of all rivers within the same, be free and open for the term of\\nten years from the date of the signature of the present convention, to the\\nvessels, citizens, and subjects, of the two powers it being well understood\\nthat this agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim\\nwhich either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of\\nthe said country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any other\\npower or state to any part of the said country the only object of the\\nhigh contractng parties, in that respect, being to prevent disputes and\\ndifferences among themselves.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0507.jp2"}, "508": {"fulltext": "478 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [BL\\n(3.)\\nTreaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits, between the United States and\\nSpain, {^commonly called the Florida Treaty,) signed at Washing-\\nton, February 22f/, 1819.\\nArticle 3. The boundary line between the two countries west of the\\nMississippi shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the River\\nSabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western bank of that river,\\nto the 32d degree of latitude; thence, by aline due north, to the degree\\nof latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Natchitoches, or Red River\\nthen, following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to the degree of\\nlongitude 100 west from London and 23 from Washington then crossing\\nthe said Red River, and running thence, by a line due north, to the\\nRiver Arkansas thence following the course of the southern bank of the\\nArkansas, to its source in latitude 42 north; and thence, by that parallel\\nof latitude, to the South Sea; the whole being as laid down in Melish s\\nmap of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the 1st\\nof January, 1818. But, if the source of the Arkansas River shall be found\\nto fall north or south of latitude 42, then the line shall run from the said\\nsource due south or north, as the case may be, till it meets the said par-\\nallel of latitude 42, and thence, along the said parallel, to the South Sea;\\nall the islands in the Sabine, and the said Red and Arkansas Rivers,\\nthroughout the course thus described, to belong to the United States but\\nthe use of the waters and the navigation of the Sabine to the sea, and of\\nthe said Rivers Roxo and Arkansas, throughout the extent of the said\\nboundary, on their respective banks, shaJl be common to the respective\\ninhabitants of both nations.\\nThe two high contracting parties agree to cede and renounce all their\\nrights, claims, and pretensions, to the territories described by the said\\nline that is to say, the United States hereby cede to his Catholic majesty,\\nand renounce forever, all their rights, claims, and pretensions, to the terri-\\ntories lying west and south of the above-described line; and, in like man\\nner, his Catholic majesty cedes to the said United States all his rights,\\nclaims, and pretensions, to any territories east and north of the said line\\nand for himself, his heirs, and successors, renounces all claim to the said\\nterritories forever.\\n(4.)\\nConvention between the United States and Russia, signed at St. Peters-\\nburg, on the yV of April, 1824.\\nArticle 1. It is agreed that, in any part of the great ocean, commonly\\ncalled the Pacific Ocean, or South Sea, the respective citizens or subjects\\nof the high contracting powers shall be neither disturbed nor restrained,\\neither in navigation or in fishing, or in the power of resorting to the\\ncoasts, upon points which may not already have been occupied, for the\\npurpose of trading with the natives; saving always the restrictions and\\nconditions determined by the following articles.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0508.jp2"}, "509": {"fulltext": "K.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 479\\nArt. 2. With the view of preventing the rights of navigation and of\\nfishing, exercised upon the great ocean by the citizens and subjects of\\nthe high contracting powers, from becoming the pretext for an illicit\\ntrade, it is agreed that the citizens of the United States shall not resort to\\nany point where there is a Russian establishment, without the permission\\nof the governor or commander and that, reciprocally, the subjects of\\nRussia shall not resort, without permission, to any establishment of the\\nUnited States upon the north-west coast.\\nArt. 3. It is, moreover, agreed that hereafter there shall not be\\nformed by the citizens of the United States, or under the authority of the\\nsaid States, any establishment upon the north-west coast of America, nor\\nin any of the islands adjacent, to the north of 54 degrees and 40 minutes\\nof north latitude and that, in the same manner, there shall be none\\nformed by Russian subjects, or under the authority of Russia, south of\\nthe same parallel.\\nArt. 4. It is, nevertheless, understood that, during a term of ten\\nyears, counting from the signature of the present convention, the ships of\\nboth powers, or which belong to their citizens or subjects, respectively,\\nmay reciprocally frequent, without any hinderance whatever, the interior\\nseas, gulfs, harbors, and creeks, upon the coast mentioned in the pre-\\nceding article, for the purpose of fishing and trading with the natives\\nof the country.\\nArt. 5. AH spirituous liquors, fire-arms, other arms, powder, and\\nmunitions of war of every kind, are always excepted from this same com-\\nmerce permitted by the preceding article and the two powers engage,\\nreciprocally, neither to sell, nor suffer them to be sold, to the natives, by\\ntheir respective citizens and subjects, nor by any person who may be\\nunder their authority. It is likewise stipulated, that this restriction shall\\nnever afford a pretext, nor be advanced, in any case, to authorize either\\nsearch or detention of the vessels, seizure of the merchandise, or, in fine,\\nany measures of constraint whatever, towards the merchants or the crews\\nwho may carry on this commerce the high contracting powers recipro-\\ncally reserving to themselves to determine upon the penalties to be\\nincurred, and to inflict the punishments in case of the contravention of\\nthis article by their respective citizens or subjects.\\n(6.)\\nConvention between Great Britain and Russia, signed at St. Peters-\\nburg, February 4^|, 1825.\\nArticle 1. It is agreed that the respective subjects of the high con-\\ntracting parties shall not be troubled or molested in any part of the ocean\\ncommonly called the Pacific Ocean, either in navigating the same, in\\nfishing therein, or in landing at such parts of the coast as shall not have\\nbeen already occupied, in order to trade with the natives, under the\\nrestrictions and conditions specified in the following articles.\\nArt. 2. In order to prevent the right of navigating and fishing, exer-\\ncised upon the ocean by the subjects of the high contracting parties, from\\nbecoming the pretext for an illicit commerce, it is agreed that the subjects", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0509.jp2"}, "510": {"fulltext": "480 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [K\\nof his Britannic majesty shall not land at any place where there may be a\\nRussian establishment, without the permission of the governor or com-\\nmandant; and, on the other hand, that Russian subjects shall not land,\\nwithout permission, at any British establishment on the north-west coast.\\nArt. 3. The line of demarkation between the possessions of the high\\ncontracting parties, upon the coast of the continent, and the islands of\\nAmerica to the north-west, shall be drawn in the manner following Com-\\nmencing from the southernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales s\\nIsland, which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north\\nlatitude, and between the 131st and the 133d degree of west longitude,\\n(meridian of Greenwich,) the said line shall ascend to the north along\\nthe channel called Portland Channel, as far as the point of the continent\\nt\\\\ where it strikes the 56th degree of north latitude. From this last-men-\\ntioned point, the line of demarkation shall follow the summit of the moun-\\n^.tains situated parallel to the coast, as far as the point of intersection of the\\n_g 141st degree of west longitude, (of the same meridian.) And, finally,\\nJ from the said point of intersection, the said meridian line of the 141st\\ndegree, in its prolongation as far as the Frozen Ocean, shall form the\\n\u00c2\u00bb5 limit between the Russian and British possessions on the continent of\\nX America to the north-west.\\ns Art. 4. With reference to the line of demarkation laid down in the\\nij^ preceding article, it is understood\\njj- 1st. That the island called Prince of Wales s Island shall belong\\nwholly to Russia.\\n2d. That whenever the summit of the mountains which extend in a\\nVj; direction parallel to the coast, from the 56th degree of north latitude to\\nthe point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude, shall prove\\nto be at the distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the\\n3 limit between the British possessions and the line of coast which is to\\nbelong to Russia, as above mentioned, shall be formed by a line parallel to\\nH the windings of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of\\nS ten marine leagues therefrom.\\n~J Art. 5. It is, moreover, agreed that no establishment shall be formed\\n,5 by either of the two parties within the limits assigned by the two preced-\\ning articles to the possessions of the other consequently, British subjects\\nsj shall not form any establishment either upon the coast, or upon the border\\nof the continent comprised within the limits of the Russian possessions, as\\ndesignated in the two preceding articles and, in like manner, no estab-\\nlishment shall be formed by Russian subjects beyond the said limits.\\nArt. 6. It is understood that the subjects of his Britannic majesty,\\nfrom whatever quarter they may arrive, whether from the ocean or from\\nthe interior of the continent, shall forever enjoy the right of navigating\\nfreely, and without any hinderance whatever, all the rivers and streams\\nwhich, in their course towards the Pacific Ocean, may cross the line of\\ndemarkation upon the line of coast described in article 3 of the present\\nconvention.\\nArt. 7. It is also understood that, for the space of ten years from the\\nsignature of the present convention, the vessels of the two powers, or\\nthose belonging to their respective subjects, shall mutually be at liberty\\nto frequent, without any hinderance whatever, all the inland seas, the\\ngulfs, havens, and creeks, on the coast, mentioned in article 3, for the\\npurposes of fishing and of trading with the natives.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0510.jp2"}, "511": {"fulltext": "K.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTKATIONS. 481\\nArt. 8. The port of Sitka, or Novo Archangelsk, shall be open to the\\ncommerce and vessels of British subjects for the space of ten years from\\nthe date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention. In\\nthe event of an extension of this term of ten years being granted to any\\nother power, the like extension shall be granted also to Great Britain.\\nArt. 9. The above-mentioned liberty of commerce shall not apply to\\nthe trade in spirituous liquors, in fire-arms, or other arms, gunpowder, or\\nother warlike stores; the high contracting parties reciprocally engaging\\nnot to permit the above-mentioned articles to be sold or delivered, in any\\nmanner whatever, to the natives of the country.\\nArt. 10. Every British or Russian vessel navigating the Pacific\\nOcean, which may be compelled by storms or by accident to take shelter\\nin the ports of the respective parties, shall be at liberty to refit therein,\\nto provide itself with all necessary stores, and to put to sea again, without\\npaying any other than port and lighthouse dues, which shall be the same\\nas those paid by national vessels. In case, however, the master of such\\nvessel should be under the necessity of disposing of a part of his merchan-\\ndise in order to defray his expenses, he shall conform himself to the regu-\\nlations and tariffs of the place where he may have landed.\\nArt. 11. In every case of complaint on account of an infraction of\\nthe articles of the present convention, the civil and military authorities\\nof the high contracting parties, without previously acting, or taking any\\nforcible measure, shall make an exact and circumstantial report of the\\nmatter to their respective courts, who engage to settle the same in a\\nfriendly manner, and according to the principles of justice.\\n(6.)\\nConvention between the United Slates and Great Britain, signed at\\nLondon, August 6th, 1827.\\nArticle 1. All the provisions of the third article of the convention\\nconcluded between the United States of America and his majesty the king\\nof the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on the 20th of\\nOctober, 1818, shall be, and they are hereby, further indefinitely extended\\nand continued in force, in the same manner as if all the provisions of the\\nsaid article were herein specifically recited.\\nArt. 2. It shall be competent, however, to either of the contracting\\nparties, in case either should think fit, at any time after the 20th of Octo-\\nber, 1828, on giving due notice of twelve months to the other contracting\\nparty, to annul and abrogate this convention and it shall, in such case,\\nbe accordingly entirely annulled and abrogated, after the expiration of the\\nsaid term of notice.\\nArt. 3. Nothing contained in this convention, or in the third article\\nof the convention of the 20th October, 1818, hereby continued in force,\\nshall be construed to impair, or in any manner affect, the claims which\\neither of the contracting parties may have to any part of the country west-\\nward of the Stony or Rocky Mountains.\\n61", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0511.jp2"}, "512": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0512.jp2"}, "513": {"fulltext": "GENERAL INDEX.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0513.jp2"}, "514": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0514.jp2"}, "515": {"fulltext": "GENERAL INDEX.\\nAdams, John Q., United States minister\\nat St. Petersburg, correspondence with\\nthe Russian government respecting\\nAmerican traders on the north-west\\ncoast, 275. Secretary of state of tlie\\nUnited States; negotiations with Spain\\non tlie southern and western limits of\\nthe United States, 316. Correspond-\\nence with the Russian minister at\\nWashington on the ukase of 1821,\\n332. Instructions to Mr. Rush, United\\nStates minister at London, on claims\\nof the United States, in 1823, 340.\\nPresident of the United States message\\nrecommending the adoption of measures\\nrespecting Oregon, 344.\\nAguilar, Martin de, voyage and supposed\\ndiscovery of a great river on the north-\\nwest coast, 92.\\nAlarcon, Hernando, voyage up the Cali-\\nfornian Gulf and the Colorado River, 60.\\nAleutian Islands described, 41. Discov-\\nered, 135.\\nAliaska described, 38. Discovered, 132.\\nAmerica. This name first given to Brazil\\nin 1503. Never used by Spanish govern-\\nment and historians until recently, 43.\\nAnian, Strait of, said to have been dis-\\ncovered by Cortereal, probably the same\\nnow called Hudson s Strait, 47. Voy-\\nages in search of it, 78. Sec Urdaiieta,\\nLadrillero, Maldonado, Fontc, Vizcaino.\\nArcher, William S., his speech in the\\nSenate of the United States on the bill\\nfor the occupation of Oreo-on, 385, 386,\\n388.\\nArteaga, Ignacio, voyage, 125.\\nAshlej William 11., conducts trading\\nexpeditions from St. Louis to the\\nRocky Mountain regions, 357.\\nAstoria established, 296. Described, 299\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094313. Ceded to North- West Compa-\\nny, 303. Taken by British, 304. Re-\\nstored to the United States, 309. Burnt,\\n313. See Pacific Fur Company.\\nAtlantis, Island, placed by Bacon on the\\nnorth-west coast, 97.\\nB.\\nBaranof, Alexander, governor of Russian\\nAmerica, his character, 271. Founds\\nSitka, 270. His mode of conducting\\nnegotiations, 302. Seizes part of Cali-\\nfornia, 327. Attempts to seize one of\\nthe Sandwich Islands, 328.\\nBecerra, Diego, voyage from Mexico by\\norder of Cortes, 54.\\nBenton, Thomas H., his speech in the\\nSenate of the United States on the bill\\nfor the occupation of Oregon, 384.\\nBenyowsky, Augustus, a Polish exile in\\nKamtchatka, performs the first voyage\\nfrom that country to Canton, 138.\\nBering, Alexander, first voyaoe from\\nKamtchatka to the Arctic ^ea, 129.\\nSecond voyage, 129. Third and last\\nvoyage, 130. Reaches the American\\ncontinent, 131. Shipwreck and death,\\n133.\\nBering s Strait discovered, 129. Described,\\n4.\\nBerkeley, Captain, rediscovers the Strait\\nof Fuca murder of part of his crew oif\\nDestruction Island, 171.\\nBerrien, John M., his speech in the Senate\\nof the United States on the bill for the\\noccupation of Oregon, 385.\\nBillings, Joseph, engaged by the empress\\nof Russia to explore the North Pacific,\\n162. His voyage produces no valuable\\nresults, 221\\nBodega y Quadra, Juan Francisco de, first\\nvoyage, under Heceta, from Mexico,\\nalong the north-west coast, 117. Impor-\\ntance of his discoveries, 123. Second\\nvoyage, under Arteaga, 125. (See Mau-\\nrelle.) Commissioner to treat with Van-\\ncouver at Nootka, 231. (See Nootka\\nConvention.) Letter to Captains Gray\\nand Ingraham, 242, 443. Death, 255.\\nBrobdignag, placed by Swift on the north-\\nwest coast, near Columbia River, 97.\\nBroughton, William, sent by Vancouver\\nto survey tlie lower part of the Co-\\nlumbia liiver, 247. Unfairness to the\\nAmericans, 248. Sent to England, 249.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0515.jp2"}, "516": {"fulltext": "486\\nGENERAL INDEX.\\nCommands an exploring expedition in\\nthe North Pacific, 256. Finds Nootka\\nSound deserted, 257.\\nBulfinch s Harbor discovered by Captain\\nGray, of Boston, 235. Examined by\\nVancouver s lieutenant, Whidbey, 246.\\nDescribed, 22.\\nc.\\nCaamano, Jacmto, voyage in the North-\\nWest Archipelago, 241.\\nCabeza-Vaca, Alvaro Nuiiez, journey from\\nFlorida to the Californian Gulf, 57.\\nCabot, John, and Sebastian, voyages, 47.\\nCabrillo, Juan Rodriguez, exploring voy-\\nage from Mexico, and death, 64.\\nCalhoun, John C, his speech in the Sen-\\nate of the United States on the bill for\\nthe occupation of Oregon, 383.\\nCalifornia, origin of the name unknown,\\n55.\\nCalifornia, Peninsula of, described, 13.\\nDiscj/eredj fruitless attempts of the\\nSpaniards to settle, 90, 98. Jesuits\\nengage to civilize the inhabitants, 99.\\nTheir partial success, 100. Their His-\\ntory of California, 101. Expulsion of\\nthe Jesuits, 106.\\nCalifornia, Continental, or New, described,\\n15. Discovered, 58. Settled by the\\nSpaniards, 109. Clahned by Mexico,\\n317. Attempted msurrection in, 367.\\nRecent events in, 368.\\nCalifornia, Gulf of, described, 12. Dis-\\ncovered, 54. Examined by Ulloa, 58;\\nand by Alarcon, 60.\\nCarver, Jonathan, travels in the central\\nregions of North America, 141. Pre-\\ntended discovery of a river called Ore-\\ngon^ flowing into the Pacific, 142. His\\naccounts chiefly derived from old French\\ntravellers, 144.\\nCavendish, Thomas, voyage around the\\nworld takes and burns a Spanish ship\\nnear the coast of California, 77.\\nCermerion, Sebastian, wrecked on the\\ncoast of California, 68.\\nChoate, Rufus, his speech in the Senate of\\nthe United States on the bill for the oc-\\ncupation of Oregon, 385.\\nCibola, a country or city north-west of\\nMexico, discovered by Friar Marcos de\\nNiza, 59. Supposed position, 62. Ex-\\npedition of Vazquez de Coronado to\\nconquer it, 61.\\nClarke. .See Lewis and Clarke.\\nClarke River discovered, 286. Described,\\n23.\\nColnett, James, engaged by Meares to\\ncommand the Argonaut, 189. Made\\nprisoner by the Spaniards at Nootka,\\nand sent to Mexico, 195. Liberated by\\norder of the viceroy of Mexico, 200.\\nColumbia. American trnding ship, fitted\\nout at Boston, 179. Sails under Ken-\\ndrick to the North Pacific, 180. Puta\\ninto Juan Fernandez in distress, 181.\\nReaches Nootka Sound, 181. Sails for\\nCanton and the United States, under\\nCaptain Gray, 200. Second voyage\\nunder Gray, 229. Winters at Clyo-\\nquot, 230. Discovery of the Columbia\\nRiver, 235. See Gray and Vancouver.\\nColumbia River, (called, also, Oregon,)\\ndescribed, 21. Mouth seen by the Span-\\nish commander Heceta, 120. Meares\\nseeks for it in vain, and denies its ex-\\nistence, 177. Mouth seen by the Amer-\\nican Captain Gray, 181. Gray first en-\\nters the river, 236. Lower part explored\\nby the British Lieutenant Broughton,\\n247, who unfairly pretends to have dis-\\ncovered it, 248. Head-waters discov-\\nered by Lewis and Clarke, who trace\\nthe river thence to the sea, 285. British\\nplenipotentiaries claim the discovery for\\nMeares, 178.\\nConvention of 1790, between Great Brit-\\nain and Spain, see Nootka Convention.\\nOf 1818, between Great Britain and the\\nUnited States, concluded, 315, 477. Re-\\nnewed in 1827 for an indefinite period,\\n354. Reflections on, 389. Of 1824,\\nbetween the United States and Russia,\\nconcluded, 341, 478. Virtually abro-\\ngated by Russia, 342.\\nCook, James, undertakes a voyage of\\ndiscovery in the North Pacific; his in-\\nstructions, 147. Discovers the Sand-\\nwich Islands, 150. Reaches Nootka\\nSound, 151. Passes through Bering s\\nStraits, 1.56. Killed at the Sandwich\\nIslands, 157. Importance of his dis-\\ncoveries, 158. Knew no particulars\\nof the recent Spanish voyages, 149\\nthough he knew that such voyages\\nhad been made, 152.\\nCoronado, Francisco Vazquez, expedition\\nfrom Mexico, to conquer the rich coun-\\ntries sup^josed to lie farther north-west,\\n61.\\nCortereal, Caspar, discovers Labrador;\\nStrait of Anian said to have been\\nfound by him, leading from the At-\\nlantic north-west to the Pacific, 47.\\nCortes, Hernando, conquers Mexico, and\\nproposes to explore the coasts of that\\ncountry, 50. Expeditions made by his\\norder on the Pacific, 53. Leads an\\nexpedition into California, 55. Super-\\nseded in the government of Mexico, to\\nwhich country he returns, 56. Claims\\nthe right to make conquests in America\\nreturns to Spain, and dies, 60.\\nD\\nDixon, George, voyage in the North Pa-\\ncific, 169. Dispute with Meares, 218.\\nDouglas, William, master of the Iphige-\\nnia voyage under Meares to the North", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0516.jp2"}, "517": {"fulltext": "GENERAL INDEX.\\n487\\nPacific, 172. Taken prisoner by tlie\\nSpaniards at Nootka, 191. Released,\\nDrake, Francis, voyage around the world,\\n72. Arrives in the North Pacific, and\\nlands on the American coast, 73. Re-\\nceives from the natives the crown of\\nthe country, which he calls New Albi-\\non, and returns to England, 74. Re-\\nview of accounts of his voyage in the\\nNorth Pacific, 75. Part of the coast\\nprobably seen by him, 76.\\nDuffin, Robert, mate of Meares s vessel,\\nenters the Strait of Fuca, 176. Testi-\\nmony respecting events at Nootka, 244.\\nFalkland Islands, dispute between Great\\nBritain and Spain respecting them,\\n111. Lord Palmerston s letter to the\\nminister of Buenos Ayres on the sub-\\nject of their occupation by Great Brit-\\nain, 111\u00e2\u0080\u0094313, 374.\\nFidalgo, Salvador, voyage of, 220.\\nFleurieu, Clairet de, his Introduction to\\nthe Journal of Marchand s voyage, 223.\\nAdmits the discovery of the Washing-\\nton or North Marquesas Islands by\\nIngraham, 228.\\nFlorida, the name applied originally by\\nthe Spaniards to the whole eastern side\\nof America, north of the Mexican\\nGulf, 55. Expeditions through it un-\\nder Narvaez, 57, and Soto, 65. Ceded\\nto the United States, 316.\\nFonte, Admiral, supposed voyage, in the\\nNorth Pacific, by a person so named,\\n84.\\nForsyth, John, secretary of state of the\\nUnited States, instructions respecting\\nthe meaning of the convention witli\\nRussia, 362. Endeavors to procure in-\\nformation respecting the north-west\\ncoast, 376.\\nFox, Charles J., his speech in Parliament\\non the Nootka convention, 212.\\nFuca, Juan de, voyage in the North\\nPacific, and supposed discovery of a\\nnew passage leading to the Atlantic,\\n87, 407.\\nFuca, Strait of, described, 22. Discovered\\nby Juan de Fuca, 87. Search for it by\\nHoceta, 119. By Cook, 150. Found by\\nBerkeley, 171. Rediscovery claimed by\\nMeares, 175. Entered by Gray, T.Mt,\\n234. Kendrick passes through it, 200,\\n217. Surveyed by Vancouver, and Ga-\\nliano, and Valdes, 238\\nFurs and fur trade, general account, 411.\\nSee Russian American Company, Hud-\\nson s Bay Company, and North- West\\nCompany.\\nG.\\nGallatin, Albert, minister plenipotentiary\\nof the United States at London ne-\\ngotiations at London, 314, 344. Coun-\\nter statement respecting the claims of\\nthe United States, presented by him to\\nBritish commissioners, 347, 455.\\nGali, Francisco, his voyage, 68.\\nGaliano and Valdes, their voyage through\\nthe Strait of Fuca, 240. Journal pub-\\nlished by the Spanish government;\\nIntroduction to that Journal reviewed,\\n241.\\nGray, Robert, first voyage to the North\\nPacific, in command of the trading sloop\\nWashington, from Boston, 180. Sees\\nan opening supposed to be the mouth of\\nthe Columbia River, 181. First exam-\\nines the east coast of Washington s or\\nQueen Charlotte s Island, 199. Enters\\nthe Strait of Fuca, 200. Returns to\\nBoston in the ship Columbia, 200.\\nSecond voyage to the North Pacific, in\\nthe Columbia, 226, 229. Meets Van-\\ncouver near the entrance of the Strait of\\nFuca, and makes known his discovery\\nof the mouth of a great river, 233. Dis-\\ncovers Bulfinch s Harbor, 235. Enters\\nthe great river, wliicli he names the\\nColumbia, 236. Makes known his dis-\\ncovery to the Spanish commandant at\\nNootka, 237. Letter of Gray and In-\\ngraham to the Spanish commandant,\\nrespecting the occurrences at Nootka\\nin 1789, 242, 413. Returns to the Unit-\\ned States, 237.\\nH.\\nHarmon, D. W., important evidence\\nafforded by him respecting the first\\ntrading posts established by the British\\nwest of the Rocky Mountains, 291.\\nHawaii. See Owyhee.\\nHearne, Samuel, discoveries in the territo-\\nry west of Hudson s Bay, 1 45. Reaches\\nthe Arctic Sea, at the mouth of Cop-\\npermine River, 146.\\nHeceta, Bruno, voyage along the north-\\nwest coast of America, in 1775, 117.\\nDiscovers a river, called by him Rio de\\nSail Roque, now called the Coluvibia,\\n120.\\nHenderson, John, speech in the Senate of\\nthe United States on the bill for the\\noccupation of Oregon, 382.\\nHovvel s account of the negotiation at\\nNootka between Vancouver and Qua-\\ndra, 245.\\nHudson, Henry, discovers Hudson s Bay,\\n97.\\nHudson s Bay Company establislied by\\ncharter, 97. Efforts to discover a\\nSv", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0517.jp2"}, "518": {"fulltext": "488\\nGENERAL INDEX.\\nnorth-west passage, 141. Disputes with\\nthe N orth-West Company, 260, 324.\\nUnion of these two companies, 326.\\nReceives a grant of exclusive trade in\\nthe Indian territories, 326. General\\nview of its system and establishments,\\n397. Papers relating to it, 465.\\nHudson s Strait, probably the same called\\nby the Portuguese the Strait of Jinmn^AK\\nHunt, Wilson P., chief agent of the Pa-\\ncific Fur Company, 2!)5. His negotia-\\ntions with Governor Baranof at Sitka,\\n302.\\nHuntingdon, Jabez W., speech in the\\nSenate of the United States on the bill\\nfor the occupation of Oregon, 382.\\nIngraham, Joseph, mate of the ship Co-\\nlumbia, in her first voyage from Boston\\nto the north-west coast, 180. Returns\\nto the Pacific as master of the brig\\nHope, and discovers the Washing-\\nton or North Marquesas Islands, 226.\\nAt the Sandwich Islands, 227. At\\nQueen Charlotte s Island, 227. At Ma-\\ncao, where he meets Marchand, and\\ncommunicates his discovery of the\\nWashington Islands, the priority of\\nwhich is admitted by Marchand and\\nFleurieu, 228. At Nootka, where he\\nwrites a letter, signed by himself and\\nGray, respecting the proceedings at\\nthat place in 1789, 242. Copy of that\\nletter, 414. Unfair synopsis of it by\\nVancouver, 244. His journal, 231. His\\ndeath, 237.\\nJ.\\nJesuits undertake the reduction of Cali-\\nfornia, 99. Their system and establish-\\nments, 100. Their History of Califor-\\nnia, 101. Expelled from the Spanish\\ndominions, 106. Results q^ their labors\\nin California, 107.\\nJesup, Thomas S., quartermaster-general\\nof the United States report on the\\nbest means of occupying Oregon, 336.\\nEffect of that report on the negotia-\\ntions in Europe, 337.\\nJewitt, J. R., his captivity among the In-\\ndians at Nootka, 268.\\nK.\\nKamtchatka described, 39. Conquered\\nby the Cossacks, 128! Its position on\\nthe Pacific ascert;iined, 129.\\nKendrick, John, commands the first trad-\\ning expedition from the United States\\nto the North Pacific, 179. Arrives at\\nNootka, ISl. Sails in the sloop Wash\\nington through the Strait of Fuca,\\n200, 217. The first who engaged in\\nthe transportation of sandal-wood from\\nthe Sandwich Islands to Canton, 228.\\nHis purchases of lands from the Indians\\nat Nootka accidentally killed, 229.\\nKodiak Island, 37. Settlement on it by\\nthe Russians, 161.\\nKrenitzin and Levaschef, voyage of, 137.\\nKrusenstern, A. J. von, commands a\\nRussian exploring expedition to the\\nPacific, 272. His great merit as a navi-\\ngator his journal of the expedition\\nefficient in the reform of abuses in\\nRussian America, 274\\nLadrillero, Juan, an old Spanish pilot,\\nwho pretended to have made a northern\\nvoyage from the Atlantic to the Pacific,\\n79.\\nLedyard, John, corporal of marines in\\nCook s expedition, 149. Escapes from\\na British ship, off the coast of Connecti-\\ncut, 162. Endeavors to obtain means\\nto engage in the fur trade attempts\\nto go by land from Paris to Kamt-\\nchatka arrested at Irkutsk, and\\nforced to return attempts to discover\\nthe source of the Nile, and dies at\\nCairo, 163.\\nLewis, Meriwether, and John Clarke,\\ncommissioned by President Jefferson to\\nexplore the Missouri and Columbia\\ncountries, 284. Voyage up the Mis-\\nsouri to its sources passage through\\nthe Rocky Mountains, 28-5. Descend\\nthe Columbia to the Pacific; winter\\nat the mouth of the Columbia, 286.\\nReturn to the United States, 287. Gen-\\neral results of their expedition their\\nJournal written by Lewis melancholy\\ndeath of Lewis, 288.\\nLewis, or Snake, or Sahaptin River,\\nprincipal southern branch of the Co-\\nlumbia, discovered by Lewis and Clarke,\\n287. Described, 24.\\nLinn, Lewis F., his bill and speeches in\\nthe Senate of the United Stales on the\\noccupation of Oregon, 379, 387.\\nLouisiana, settled by the French grant-\\ned by Lcuis XIV. to Crozat, 227 and\\nafterwards to Law, 228. Ceded by\\nFrance to Spain retroceded by Spain\\nto France, and sold by France to tiie\\nUnited States, 279. Its extent at dif\\nferent times, 280. Comprehended no\\nterritory west of the Rocky Mountains,\\n283. Nortli( rn boundary not deter-\\nmined by coiinnissarles agreeably to the\\ntreaty of Utrecht, as generally sup-\\nposed, 281, 436.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0518.jp2"}, "519": {"fulltext": "GENERAL INDEX.\\n489\\nM.\\nMacDougal, Duncan, partner in the Pa-\\ncific Company, 294. Sells the estab-\\nlishments to the North-West Company,\\n303. See Astoria.\\nMacDuffie, George, speech in the Senate\\nof the United States on the bill for the\\noccupation of Oregon, 38 2.\\nMacKenzie, Alexander, explores the north-\\nwestern parts of America J reaches tlie\\nArctic Sea, 263. Reaches the Pacific,\\n264. MacKenzie River discovered by\\nMacKenzie, 263.\\nMacRoberts, Samuel, speech in the Senate\\nof the United States on the bill for the\\noccupation of Oregon, 382.\\nMagellan, Fernando, sails from the Atlan-\\ntic through Magellan s Strait into the\\nPacific, and across the latter ocean to\\nIndia, 48.\\nMalaspina, Alexandro, explores the coasts\\nnear Mount St. Elias, in search of a\\npassage supposed to communicate with\\nthe Atlantic arrested and imprisoned\\non his return to Spain; his name not\\nmentioned in the account of his voyage\\notficially published at Madrid, 222.\\nMaldonado, Lorenzo Ferrer de, account\\nof his pretended voyage from the At-\\nlantic to the Pacific, 79.\\nMaquinna, chief of Nootka, 167. Grants\\nland to Meares for his temporary use,\\n174. Denies that the British had bought\\nlands or erected buildings at Nootka,\\n242. Takes the ship Boston, of Boston,\\nand murders nearly all her crew, 268.\\nMarchand, Etienne, commands the ship\\nSolide, from Marseilles, in her voyage\\naround the world, 223. Sees the islands\\nwhich had been previously discovered\\nby Ingraham, of which he sent an ac-\\ncount to France, claiming the discovery.\\nIngraham s claim admitted by Fleu-\\nrieu, the editor of Marchand s Journal;\\nJournal of Marchand s voyage, edited\\nby Fleurieu; general character of the\\nwork, 223. See Fleurieu.\\nMarcos de Niza, a Franciscan friar, pre-\\ntends to have discovered a rich and\\npopulous country, called Cibola, north-\\nwest of Mexico, 59.\\nMarquesas Islands, discovered by Menda-\\nna, 95. North Marquesas or Washing-\\nton Islands, discovered by Ingraham,\\n226. These islands occupied by the\\nFrench, 374.\\nMartinez, Estevan, pilot to Perez, in the\\nSantiago; pretends to have rediscovered\\nthe Strait of Fuca, 116. Commands\\nin a voyage of observation to the coasts\\noccupied by the Russians, 185. Or-\\ndered by the viceroy of Mexico to oc-\\ncupy Nootka Sound, 187. Arrives at\\nNootka, 191. Seizes the Iphigenia,\\n62\\nbut afterwards releases her, 192. Seizes\\nthe North-West America, 194. Seizes\\nthe Argonaut, and imprisons her cap-\\ntain, 195. Seizes the Princess Royal,\\n198, Reflections oi\\\\ these acts, 197.\\nReturns to Mexico, 198.\\nMauielle, Antonio, pilot, under Bodega,\\nin his voyages along the north-west\\ncoasts, 117 125. His Journal of the\\nfirst of these voyages, translated and\\nprinted at London, 117. Importance\\nof this work, 123. His Journal of the\\nother voyage, 125.\\nMeares, John, his first voyage to the\\nnorth-west coast, 166. His second voy-\\nage, under tjie Portuguese flag, with\\nthe Felice and Iphigenia, 172. In-\\nstructed to take any vessels which\\nmay attempt to molest him, but not in-\\nstructed to form any establishment or\\npurchase lands, 173. Reasons for his\\nsailing under the Portuguese flag, 174.\\nArrives in the telice at Nootka, where\\nhe obtains from Maquinna the use of a\\npiece of ground, afterwards claimed by\\nhim as purchased, 174. Receives from\\nBerkeley an account of the rediscovery\\nof the Strait of Fuca, by the latter, 171.\\nYet claims the merit of the rediscovery\\nhimself, 175. Seeks in vain for the\\ngreat River San Roque, (the Columbia,)\\nas laid down on Spanish charts, 176.\\nDeclares that no such river exists, 177.\\nYet the British government claims the\\ndiscovery of the Columbia for him, 178,\\n440. His account of the arrival of the\\nsloop Washington at Nootka, 181. Re-\\nturns to China, 180. Sent to London,\\nto complain of the seizure of the vessels\\nat Nootka, by the Spaniards, 202. His\\nmemorial to the British government,\\n203. Its numerous falsehoods and in-\\nconsistencies, 172, 175, 178, 193, 211.\\nMendocino, Cape, 19. Discovered, 65.\\nMendoza, Antonio de, sent as viceroy to\\nsupersede Cortes in the government of\\nMexico, 56. Attempts to discovernew\\ncountries in America, 57.\\nMendoza, Diego Hurtado, commands the\\nships sent by Cortes to explore the Pa-\\ncific coasts of America, 53.\\nMetcalf, voyage c fires on the natives\\nat Mo wee, 224. Young Metcalf and\\nhis crew murdered by the natives of\\nOwyhee, 225.\\nMoncachtabi;, an Indian, his account of a\\ngreat river,tiowing from the central parts\\nof North America to the Pacific, 145.\\nMonroe, James, secretary of state of the\\nUnited States, declares to the British\\nminister the intention of his govern-\\nment to secure the possession of the\\nmouth of the Columbia, agreeably to\\nthe treaty of Ghent, 307. President\\nof the United States; his message, de-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0519.jp2"}, "520": {"fulltext": "490\\nGENERAL INDEX.\\ndaring the American continents not\\nsubject to colonization by European\\nnations, 335.\\nMonterey discovered by Cabrillo, and so\\nnamed by Vizcaino, 92. Colony es-\\ntablished there by the Spaniards, 109.\\nTaken by a Buenos Ayrean privateer,\\n365. Taken by an American squad-\\nron, under Captain Jones, 367.\\nMorehead, James T., speech in the Sen-\\nate of the United States on the bill\\nfor the occupation of Oregon, 381.\\nN.\\nNavarrete, Martin F. de, chief of the Hy-\\ndrographical Department at Madrid his\\nlabors with regard to the history of ear-\\nly voyages of discovery in America, 84.\\nNootka Sound discovered by the Span-\\niards under Perez, and called Port San\\nLorenzo, 113. Cook enters it with\\nhis ships, and calls it King George s\\nSound, 153. The principal rendezvous\\nof the fur trader for some time, 167.\\nProceedings of Meares at Nootka, 174.\\nThe Spaniards determine to occupy it,\\n187. Proceedings of the Spaniards\\nunder Martinez, 191. Claims of the\\nBritish to the possession of the country\\nexamined, 242, 256. The Spaniards\\nabandon it, 257. Capture of the ship\\nBoston by the natives, and murder of\\nher crew, 268.\\nNootka treaty, or convention of 1790,\\nbetween Great Britain and Spain, 477.\\nDiscussions which led to it, 202 209.\\n(See Meares.) Review of its stipula-\\ntions, 213, 258. Expired in 1796, 258,\\n318. Not to be regarded as a definitive\\nsettlement of principles, 340. Its con-\\ntinual subsistence asserted by Great\\nBritain, 349.\\nNorth- West Fur Trading Company of\\nMontreal founded; its system, 261.\\nFirst posts established by it west of the\\nRocky Mountains, 291. Purchases the\\nestablishments of the Pacific Company,\\n304. Disputes with the Hudson s Bay\\nCompany, 323. Union of the two com-\\npanies, 325.\\no.\\nOregon, river, so called by Carver, sup-\\nposed to flow from the central parts of\\nNorth America to the Pacific, 142. (See\\nCarver.) Name applied to the country\\ndrained by the Columbia, 359. De-\\nscription of Oregon, 21.\\nOssinobia, name given by Lord Selkirk\\nto the country purchased by him on\\nthe Red River, 324.\\nOwyhee, or Hawaii, the largest of the\\nSandwich Islands, discovered by Cook,\\n157.\\nP.\\nPerez, Juan, voyage from Mexico along\\nthe north-west coast to the 54th degree\\nof latitude, 114. Discovers Nootka\\nSound, called by him Port San Loren-\\nzo, 116, 153.\\nPerouse, Francois G. de la, voyage along\\na part of the north-west coast, 163.\\nPhelps, Samuel S., his speech in the\\nSenate of the United States on the bill\\nfor the occupation of Oregon, 381.\\nPhilippine Islands conquered by the\\nSpaniards, 67.\\nPoletica, Chevalier de, Russian minister\\nin the United States; correspondence\\nwith the American government respect-\\ning the ukase of 1821, 332.\\nPromuschleniks, general name for the\\nRussians employed in the service of the\\nRussian American Trading Company,\\n270.\\na.\\nQuadra and Vancouver s Island, 29, 240.\\nQuadra. See Bodega.\\nQueen Charlotte s or Washington s Is-\\nland, discovered by Perez, 115. Not\\nseen by Cook, 153, 170. Seen by La\\nPerouse, 164 and by Dixon, who gave\\nit its present name, 164. Its west coast\\nfirst explored by Gray, who names it\\nWashington s Island, 199. Described,\\n29,\\nQueen Charlotte s Sound, name first given\\nto the northern entrance of the Strait\\nof Fuca, 240.\\nR.\\nRives, William C, his speech in the Sen-\\nate of the United States on the bill for\\nthe occupation of Oregon, 384.\\nRocky Mountains described, 5. First\\ncalled the Shining Mountains, or Moun-\\ntains of Bright Stones, 143, 262.\\nRush, Richard, minister plenipotentiary\\nof the United States at London discus-\\nsion with Lord Castlereagh respecting\\nthe restoration of Astoria, 308. His\\nfirst negotiation respecting the claims\\nof the United States, 314. Concludes\\na convention on the subject in 1818,\\n315. His second negotiation on the\\nsubject, 336. Talent and industry dis-\\nplayed by him, 340.\\nRussia, government proposes an arrange-\\nment with the United States respecting\\nthe trade of American vessels in the\\nNorth Pacific, 275. Forbids foreign", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0520.jp2"}, "521": {"fulltext": "GENERAL INDEX.\\n491\\nvessels from trading in the North Pa-\\ncific, 332. (See Ukase.) Convention\\nwith the United States, 342. Treaty\\nwith Great Britain, 343. Convention\\nwith the United States virtually abro-\\ngated by that treaty, 343. Refuses to\\nrenew the fourth article of the conven-\\ntion with the United States, 362.\\nRussian American Company established\\nby charter, 269. Its territories, 36.\\nIts system, 270. Abuses in the admin-\\nistration of its possessions, 271. Many\\nabuses removed, 274. Renewal of its\\ncharter great improvement in its sys-\\ntem, 364. Leases a part of its terri-\\ntories to the Hudson s Bay Company,\\n364.\\nRussians conquer Northern Asia, 127.\\nTheir discoveries in the North Pacific,\\n131, et seq.\\ns.\\nSan Diego, 17. Discovered by Vizcaino,\\n92. The first Spanish colony on the west\\ncoast of California planted there, 109.\\nSan Francisco Bay, 17. The northern-\\nmost spot on the west coast of America\\noccupied by the Spaniards previous to\\nMay, 1789, 248.\\nSan Lucas, Cape, the southern extremity\\nof California, 15.\\nSan Roque, river so called by the Span-\\niards, the same now called the Colum-\\nbia, discovered, 120, 430.\\nSandwich Islands described, 39. Dis-\\ncovered by Cook, 157. Frequented by\\nthe Fur Traders, 1G8. Capture of the\\nschooner Fair American by the na-\\ntives, 225. Pretended cession of Owy-\\nhee to Great Britain by Tamahamaha,\\n251. Tamahamaha sovereign of the\\nwhole group, 268. Death of Tama-\\nhamaha, 329. Christianity introduced\\ninto the islands, 330. Proceedings of\\nthe American missionaries language\\nof the islands, 330. E.xpulsion of the\\nCatholic missionaries, and their rein-\\nstatement, 371. The British occupy the\\nislands temporarily, 373. Diminution\\nof the native population, 374. See\\nCook, Tamahamaha, Metcalf, Vancou-\\nver, Ingraham.\\nSanta Barbara Islands, 17. Discovered\\nby Cabrillo, 64.\\nSchelikof, Gregory, establishes Russian\\ncolonies on the coasts and islands of\\nAmerica, 161. The founder of the\\nRussian American Company, 269.\\nSevier, Ambrose, speech in the Senate of\\nthe United States on the bill for the\\noccupation of Oregon, 382.\\nSitka, or New Archangel, capital of Rus-\\nsian America, 37. Founded by Ba-\\nranof, 270.\\nSnake River. See Lewis River.\\nSouth Pass in the Rocky Mountains, 6.\\nDiscovered by Ashley, 357.\\nSutil and Mexicana, voyage of, 239, 241.\\nSee Galiano and Valdes.\\nTamahamaha, a chief of note in Owyhee,\\n168. King of Owyhee, 249. Pretend-\\ned cession of the sovereignty of his\\nisland to the British, 251. Acquires the\\ndominion over all the islands, 268. His\\nacuteness in trade, 269, 296. His death\\nand character, 329.\\nTchirikof, Alexei, voyages of, 129, 130,\\n133. See Bering.\\nTreaty of partition between Spain and\\nPortugal in 1494, 46. Of Saragossa,\\nbetween the same powers, in 1529, 49.\\nThe American treaty between Spain\\nand England, in 1670, 102. Treaty of\\nUtrecht, between Great Britain and\\nFrance, in 1713, 140. No line of bound-\\nary between the possessions of those\\npowers settled by that treaty, 140, 281,\\n436. Family Compact, in 1762, be-\\ntween France and Spain, 103. Dis-\\nsolved, 207. Treaty of Versailles, be-\\ntween England, France, Spain, and\\nPortugal, in 1763, 102, 278. Nootka\\ntreaty, of 1790, between Great Britain\\nand Spain, 209, 258, 318, 476. Treaty\\nof ISOO, by which Spain ceded Louis-\\niana to France, 276, 279. Treaty of\\n1803, by which France ceded Louis-\\niana to the United States, 276, 279.\\nTreaty of Ghent, in 1814, between the\\nUnited States and Great Britain, 306.--\\nFlorida treaty between the United\\nStates and Spain, in 1819, 31G, 478.\\nTreaty between Great Britain and Rus-\\nsia, in 1825, 342, 479. Treaty between\\nthe United Slates and Great Britain,\\nsettling boundaries east of the Lake of\\nthe Woods, 377. See Conventions.\\nTyler, John, president of the United\\nStates message respecting the Sand-\\nwich Islands, 372. Message respecting\\nOregon, 378.\\nu.\\nUkase of the Russian government, pro-\\nhibiting vessels of other nations from\\nfrequenting the North Pacific coasts,\\n322. Correspondence respecting it, be-\\ntween the secretary of state of the\\nUnited States and the Russian plenipo-\\ntentiary, at Washington, 333. Protest of\\nthe British government against it, 335.\\nUlloa, Francisco, voyage through the\\nGulf of California and along the west\\ncoast, 58.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0521.jp2"}, "522": {"fulltext": "492\\nGENERAL INDEX.\\nUUoa, Antonio, secret information afford-\\ned by him to the Spanish government,\\nrespecting the state of the Spanish\\nprovinces in South America, in 1740,\\n105.\\nUnalashka Island, 38. Visited by Cook,\\n155, who there first meets with Rus-\\nsians, 156.\\nUnited States, first voyages of their citi-\\nzens to the Pacific and to China, 179.\\nFirst voyages to the north-west coast\\nof America, 180. Their citizens alone\\ncan occupy Oregon, 403.\\nUrdaiieta, Andres de, discovers the mode\\nof crossing the Pacific from west to\\neast, 67. Supposed to have discovered\\na northern passage between the Atlan-\\ntic and Pacific, 78.\\nUtah Salt Lake, 20.\\nV.\\nVancouver, George, sails from England\\non an exploring voyage to the Pacific,\\nand as commissioner on the part of\\nGreat Britain to receive the lands and\\nbuildings to be restored by Spain,\\nagreeably to the Nootka convention,\\n217. Reaches the north-west coast\\nof America, 232. Declares that no\\nriver or harbor of consequence is to be\\nfound between the 40th and the 4Sth\\ndegree of latitude, 233. Meets Gray,\\nand receives from him an account of\\nthe discovery of a great river, 232,\\nwhich he disbelieves, 233. Enters the\\nStrait of Fuca; explores Admiralty In-\\nlet, and takes possession of the whole\\nsurrounding territory, 238. Remarks\\non this act; meets Galiano and Val-\\ndes, and continues the survey of the\\nstrait, 239. Passes through the strait,\\nand arrives at Nootka, 240. Claims\\nthe discovery of the Washington or\\nNorth Marquesas Islands for Hergest,\\nthough he knew them to have been\\nfirst seen by the Americans, 242. Ne-\\ngotiations with the Spanish commis-\\nsioner Quadra, 242. Claims the whole\\nterritory around Nootka for Great Brit-\\nain, 243. His unfair synopsis of the\\nletter of Gray and Ingraham, 244, 417,\\nReceives accounts and charts of Gray s\\ndiscoveries from Quadra; sends Brough-\\nton to examine Columbia River, 247.\\nAt the Sandwich Islands, executes per-\\nsons falsely charged- with the murder\\nof his officers, 249. Examines a large\\nportion of the north-west coasts, and\\nreturns to the Sandwich Islands, 250.\\nPretended cession of Owyhee to him\\nfor his sovereign, 251. Circumstances\\nconnected with that affair, 252. Re-\\nturns to the north-west coast, of which\\nhe completes the survey, 254. Names\\ngiven by him to places, 255. Returns\\nto England his death great value\\nof his journal; his hatred of Ameri-\\ncans, and constant injustice towards\\nthem, 256.\\nVizcaino, Sebastian, exploring voyage\\nalong the north-west coast, 91. De-\\nsires to found colonies on those coasts,\\n94. Death, 95.\\nw.\\nWashington s or Queen Charlotte s Is-\\nland, east coast first explored by Gray,\\n199.\\nWashington or North Marquesas Islands,\\ndiscovered by Ingraham, 226. Discov-\\nery claimed by Marchand, who, how-\\never, admits the priority of Ingraham s\\nclaim, 228. Discovery claimed by Van-\\ncouver for Hergest, 242. Occupied by\\nthe French, 374.\\nWebster, Daniel, secretary of state of the\\nUnited States, concludes a treaty with\\nLord Ashburton, settling the boundaries\\neast of the Lake of tire Woods, 378.\\nWhidbey surveys Bulfinch s Harbor, 246.\\nWiccanish, king of Nittinat, 167.\\nWilkes, Charles, his voyage of explora-\\ntion in the Pacific, 376: 3*1 r\\nWillamet, river and valley, 26. First\\nsettlements of citizens of the United\\nStates there, 361.\\nWoodbury, Levi, speech in the Senate\\nof the United States on the bill for the\\noccupation of Oregon, 381.\\nWyeth, Nathaniel, endeavors to establish\\ntrading posts on the Columbia, 359.\\nGreat value of his accounts of Oregon,\\n360.", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0522.jp2"}, "523": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0523.jp2"}, "524": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0524.jp2"}, "525": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0525.jp2"}, "526": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0526.jp2"}, "527": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0527.jp2"}, "528": {"fulltext": "c^^ k~^:\\nJt^:: C:C^^^^\\n3^ :R?5J 2 C\\nCCCfT\\n1\\nmm:\\n\u00c2\u00abM\u00c2\u00ab\\nf^^r Crc-\\n-CC\\n4 Gc;rc\\n^.c eye\\netc\\nI", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0528.jp2"}, "529": {"fulltext": "*c: cc\\ns\\nc c\\nc\\nc c\\nc c t\\nim^^\\ncc\\nC^Cec-\\nCTCfcc\\nCO\\nfe\\n(Of\\nC$C(\\nzee c^\\nCc\\nr r\\nt?\u00e2\u0082\u00act\\n^-m\\nfo\\n0 f COT\\nC\u00e2\u0082\u00ac\\nrcc\\nr^ m", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0529.jp2"}, "530": {"fulltext": "r s-- c:\\netc\\nLIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n017 187 221 2\\ncc\\nCC cr c\\ncc 4c: c\\nC\\nM^:^^^m\\n^^l^\\n_^\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0^i: cv^e\\nC\u00c2\u00ab/^\\n5^l ct -c:- c\\nk:c:.c c^\\n?^C c cc\\nC^:. .^C^c^\\na;r ace\\nzi;. .c;\u00c2\u00ab\\n:.C; cr,ci;\\n\u00c2\u00abf c c\\niGCcC\\nj ccc:.\\nc C\\nCvC:\\nmi^iM\\nCJc\u00c2\u00ab-\\nc^-.^ CC-\\nCC\\nfC CS^d CC\\na c\\no c i\\nC C\\nzi~ c\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0cc o:c:-", "height": "3497", "width": "2064", "jp2-path": "historyoforegonc02gree_0530.jp2"}}