re-assertion of this principle, especially in reference to North America, is
at this day but the promulgation of a policy which no European power
should cherish the disposition to resist." — Message of Mr. Polk to Con-
gress, December, 1845.
* " The proposition thus offered and rejected, repeated the offer of
the parallel of 49° of north latitude, which had been made by two pre-
ceding administrations, but without proposing to surrender to Great Bri-
tain, as they had done, the free navigation of the Columbia River." — Ibid.
f " Upon the whole : From the most careful and ample examination
which the undersigned has been able to bestow upon the subject, he is
satisfied that the Spanish American title, now held by the United States,
embracing the whole territory between the parallels of 42° and 54° 40',
is the best title in existence to this entire region ; and that the claim of
Great Britain to any portion of it has no sufficient foundation. Even
British Geographers have not doubted our title to the territory in dispute.
There is a large and splendid globe now in the Department of State,
recently received from London, and published by Malby and Company,
3
H 1 8 T B T OF THE
action with the principle which was proclaimed by-
Mr. Monroe, and which Mr. Polk himself had so
forcibly reiterated, especially when his offer ex-
tended privileges to Great Britain never offered by
his predecessors, consisting in the use of free ports
en the southern extremity of Vancouver's Island.
But when the proposition which he made to Great
Britain was almost insultingly rejected," there was
no reason why that boundary should be accepted
l.\ our Government, it' tendered by England. I
know it lias keen asserted by high authority, that
Mr. Polk could not refuse a proposition which he
had himself offered to that power. If the offer
made by the Executive had been accepted, then it
would have been binding, but it was rejected, and
then withdrawn; the two Governments, therefore,
â– manufacturers and publishers to the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge,' which assigns this territory to the United States.
â– Notwithstanding such was and still is the opinion of the President,
yet in the spirit of compromise and < cession, and in deference to the
predecessors, the undersigned, in ohedience to his instruc-
proposed to the British Plenipotentiary to settle the controversy by
dividing the territory in dispute by the -19th parallel of latitude, offering
to make free to Great Britain any port or ports on Van-
I land south of this latitude which the British Government might
The British Plenipotentiary has correctly suggested that the free
1 the Columbia River was not embraced in this proposal to
Britain; but, on the other hand, the use of free ports on the
milir-m extremity oi this island had not been included in former offers."
'â– v â– -</ of State to the British Minister, August 30lh,
- The English Ambassador expressed the wish that the Government
of the United States would make 'some further proposal for the settle-
tion, more consistent with fairness and equity,
and with the reasonable expectations of the British Government.' "—Mr.
Pom's M i Congress, December, 1845.
POLK ADMINISTRATION. 35
occupied the same position which they did before
it was made. The argument is, that we could not
refuse an offer we were blind enough to make our-
selves. All agree that the President could not
have made a more liberal proposition ; and still, in
1818 and in 1826, our Government tendered to
Great Britain the 49th° of north latitude, together
with the free navigation of the Columbia Kiver
south of that line. Now if we were bound to
accept as liberal an offer as we had made, we
should be forced to accede to the proposition which
we proposed in 1818 and in 1826. If that would
not have been admissible, then the argument fails
to exculpate the administration.
The announcement by Mr. Polk that our title
was good to the whole of the Oregon Territory,
was supported by the facts which were fully illus-
trated in that celebrated debate in Congress, which
Mr. Adams pronounced the ablest he had ever
listened to. The territory west of the Rocky
Mountains, and between latitude 42° and 61°, un-
questionably belonged to Spain prior to the Ncotka
Convention between that country and England, in
1790; and it is important to ascertain whether
Spain conveyed the sovereignty which she pos-
sessed in Oregon to Great Britain by the terms of
that convention. To determine that fact it is only
necessary to examine the third, fourth, and fifth
articles * By the third article it was simply agreed
* " Art. 3. In order to strengthen the bonds of friendship, and to pre-
serve in future a perfect harmony and good understanding between the
two contracting parties, it is agreed that their respective subjects shall
TO RT OF T H B
that the subj ' < ] wt w< 1 1 1 igl i c< 1 1 1 tracti ug parties
should ! ' right of trading with the Indians
and navigating the waters in that portion of the
world, and to make settlements, subject to thi
strictions specified in the subsequent articles. Ar-
1 that the subjects of Great Britain
should no1 navigate or carry on their fishery within
'rom any part of the coasts occupied
' l. It is difiicult to imagine what rights
aid have had where such particular
uard the privileges of Span-
5th stated that all islands,
and if the northwestern coasts of North
the north of the part* of the
! idy occupied by Spain, should be
! either in navigating or carrying on
or in the South seas, or in landing on the
as in places not already occupied, for the purpose of
carrying on their commerce with the natives of the country, or of making
—the whole subject, nevertheless, to the restrictions
i in the two following articles."
His Britannic Majesty engages to take the most effectual
enl the navigation and the fishing of his subjects in the
from being made a pretext for illicit
iments; and wi ew, it is moreover
ted, that British subjects shall not navigate, or carry on
. within the space of ten sea leagues from
already occi
'I in the places which arc to be restored to the British
' arl cle, is in all other parts of the north-
i, or of the islands adjacent, situate to
; the parts of the said ci mpied by Spain,
ler of the two powers shall have made
\|uil. 1789, or shall hereafter make any, the
ind shall carry on their trade
with"' m."
POLK ADMIKISTEATION. 37
open to the subjects of both nations to cany on
their trade without disturbance or molestation. It
becomes important to ascertain what was the most
northern point "occupied" by Spain in 1700. Lieu-
tenant Meares, a subject of Great Britain, estab-
lishes conclusively that eighteen months before the
convention of 1790 was signed, the Spaniards occu-
pied Nootka,* and that place is north of latitude
49£°. All that England can make, then, out of
that convention, is a joint right of trade with Spain
in the country north of latitude 49^°. At the
time this treaty was made between England and
Spain, the former power was only anxious to enable
her subjects to trade with the Indians, and engage
in the fisheries ; there is not the slightest evidence
to be gathered from the terms of the convention,
that she was desirous of securing for her subjects
the permcment possession of the country. This is
apparent from the fact that the principal object of
the convention appears to have been to place restric-
tions upon the right of trade and fishing, so that
the subjects of the two nations might not interfere
with each other, and the limits of these rights were
defined by the settlement of the two powers. This
convention contained no provisions impairing the
sovereignty of Spain.
All the rights which Spain possessed upon the
* Meares' expressions are that Martinez " took possession of the
lands belonging- to your memorialist, hoisting thereon the standard of
Spain, and performing such ceremonies as your memorialist is informed
are visual on such occasions. He then proceeded to build batteries, store-
houses, &c." — Memorial of Lieut. Meares to the British Government.
HISTOEY OF TB E
northwest coast were ceeded by that power to the
United States by the treaty of L819*
The title which we acquired to that country
from Spain does not preclude us from joining to it
the claim which was made by the United States
upon the ground of discoveries, explorations, and
settlements. In May. L792, Captain Grey, in the
ship Columbia from Boston, entered the month of
the Columbia River, sailed up the stream for sev-
eral miles, and gave it the name which it has since
borne. It is true that the British commissioners in
L826, in the statement annexe;! to the protocol
of the sixth conference, asserted that Lieutenant
Meares, in 17 VN \ entered the bay of the Columbia.
That he had never entered the mouth of the Co-
lumbia River is evident from the statement which
he made in his journaLf Tradition had located
the mouth of that stream in the latitude where it
was afterwards found by Captain Grey, and Lieu-
tenant Meares having failed to discover it, expressed
his dissatisfaction by giving to the promontory
" The two high contracting parties agree to cede and renounce all
claims, and pretensions to the territories described by the
said line: that is to say, the United States hereby cede to his Catholic
• : ""1 ren< ce tor ever all their rights, claims, and pretensions to
- lying west and south of the above described line, (42°,)
and in :r his Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States all
nd claims and pretensions to any territory east and north of
â– hue. and for himself, his heirs, and successors, renounces all
-Treaty of 1819, between the United
s Spain.
H now s ifely assert thai there is no such river as that of St.
laid down in the Spanish charts." — Journal of Lieut.
POLK ADMINISTRATION. 39
the name of Cape Disappointment, and the bay
obtained the appellation of Deception Bay. But
admitting that he did discover the mouth of the
Columbia Biver, the Portuguese and not the Eng-
lish were entitled to its benefits.*
The next question is, whether we followed up
our discovery soon enough by exploration and set-
tlement, to perfect our title ; and in coming to a
conclusion upon this subject, we must take into con-
sideration the great distance to that country, and
the obstacles which nature has thrown in our way.
The valley of the Mississippi was not then, as now,
thronged with a hardy and adventurous population.
Those vast prairies which spread out far to the west-
ward, had never been traversed by the white man.
The solitude of those gloomy forests had never been
disturbed by any thing but the Indian warwhoop, and
* " For the expedition in question, two vessels were fitted out at the
Portuguese port of Macao, near Canton, in China, from which, as already
mentioned, several voyages had been previously made to the northwest
coasts of America, in search of firs. They were both placed under the
direction of John Meares, a lieutenant in the British navy, on half pay.
who sailed in the ship Felice, as supercargo ; the other vessel, the brig
Iphigenia, also carried a British subject, William Douglass, in the same
capacity ; both vessels, were, however, commanded, ostensibly at least, by
Portuguese captains ; they were both furnished with passports and other
papers in the Portuguese language, granted by the Portuguese autho-
rities of Macao, and showing them to be the property of Juan Cavallo, a
Portuguese merchant of that place. The instructions for the conduct of
the voyage were written only in the Portuguese language, and contained
nothing whatsoever calculated to afford the slightest grounds for suspi-
cion that other than Portuguese subjects were interested in the enter-
prise. Finally, the vessels sailed from Macao on the 1st of January,
1788, under the Portuguese flag, and there is no sufficient proof that any
other was displayed by them during the expedition." — Greenhoiv's His-
iory of Oregon, p. 172.
HISTORY OF T EE
the trackless regions of the Rocky Mountains
the grisly bear roamed unmolested. With all these
difficulties, common sense would lead us readily to
lusion, that in the exploration and settle-
• of Oreeron, it was done in a reasonablt time.
the discovery of the mouth of the St. Roc by
Captain Grey. In Ma}', 1804, Lewis and Clark,
missioned by the Government of the United
States, began the ascent of the Missouri, and on the
15th of November, 1 805, they arrived at the mouth
of the Columbia. This was evidence to the nations
of the earth, that our Government had asserted her
title to the territory. Tn March, 1811, Astoria was
»ny sent from New-York.
From tin 4 admissions and acts of England, our
title to the whole of < >regon can be adduced. First.
When the negotiations of 1818 were in progress
i this country and England, no claim was
1 by the latter power to the territory of Ore-
eron under the Nookta Convention. As eager as the
English an- to seize every pretext for the extension
of their boundaries, it is not to be supposed that
ild suffer any opportunity to pass, without
apprising the nations of the earth of the rights
which they possess.
Second. Astoria was surrendered to the United
States underlie, firsl article of the Treaty of Ghent,
and \\:t> accepted by the American Commissioner*
mmands of liis Royal Highness, the Prince
tch from the Right Honorable the Karl Ba-
; '" 'I' 1 ' pml rents of the Northwest Company,
I I - and in obedience to a subsequent
POLK ADMINISTRATION. 41
Third. In 1819 we acquired all the rights of
Spain to the northwest coast, north of the 42d de-
gree of north latitude, without any protest upon
the part of Great Britain, who well knew that Spain
claimed the sovereignty of the soil as far north as
latitude 61°.
Fourth. By the convention between the United
States and Russia in 1821, the boundary between
the two powers was fixed in latitude 51° 40'*. We
thus ceded to Russia 6° and 20', or an extent of
country along the coast of 360 miles. If England
order, dated the 26th of July, from W. A. Sheriff, Esq., captain of his
Majesty's ship Andromache, we the undersigned, do, in conformity to the
first article of the Treaty of Ghent, restore to the Government of the Uni-
ted States, through its agent, J. B. Prevost, Esq., the settlement of Fort
George, on the Columbia river.
" Given under our hands, in triplicate, at Fort George, (Columbia
river,) this 6th day of October, 1818.
"F. HTCKEY,
" Captain of his Majesty's ship Blossom.
"J. KEITH,
" Of the Northwest Company."
" I do hereby acknowledge to have this day received, in behalf of the
Government of the United States, the possession of the settlement desig-
nated above, in conformity to the first article of the Treaty of Ghent.
Given under my hand, in triplicate, at Fort George, (Columbia river,) this
6th day of October, 1818.
"J. B. PREVOST,
" Agent of the United States."
* " It is moreover agreed, that, hereafter, there shall not be formed by
the citizens of the United States, or under the authority of the United
States, any establishment upon the northwest coast of America, nor in
any of the islands adjacent to the north of fifty-four degrees and forty
minutes of north latitude ; and in the same manner, there shall be none
formed by Russian subjects, or under the authority of Russia, south of the
same parallel." — Convention between the United States and Russia, 1824.
42 HISTORY OF THE
had p ss ssed title to this soil, would she have calmly
and quietly suffered it to be traded off by one power
lother \
Fifth. So far from objecting to the establishment
of the boundary between the United States and
ia, upon the parallel of 54° 4-0', and a conse-
quent conveyance to Russia of G° of territory
which we obtained from Spain, England, in 1825,
established her boundary with Russia, making the
parallel of .VI 40' the basis. By that convention
England obtained from Russia an extent of country
three hundred and sixty miles in length, which the
I ; tans derived from the United States — the latter
| er holding under Spain. And yet the English
Governmenl dispute the validity of our Spanish
title*
Sixth. By the convention of 1818, England had
a j«>int righl <>r trade with the United States, in the
territories possessed by both powers west of the
â– 'riii' line of demarkation between the possessions of the
ting parties upon the coast of the continent, and the islands
to the northwest, shall be drawn in the manner following:
Commencing from the northernmost point of the Island called Prince of
^ id, which point lies in ike parallel of 54° 40' north latitude,
and between the 131sl and 133d degree of west longitude (meridian of
1 T le said line shall ascend to the north along the channel
Portland channel, as far as the point of the continent where it
degn e of north latitude. From this last mentioned point
ie of demarkation shall follow the summit of the mountains situate
far as the point of intersection of the 141st degree
the same meridian). And, finally, from the said
the d meridian line of the 141st degree, in its pro-
far as the Frozen Ocean, shall form the limit between Rus-
"â– i 11 " 01 ona on the continent of America to the north-
." — Treaty i: and and Russia, 1825.
POLK ADMINISTRATION. 43
Stony Mountains.* The convention of 182*7, in-
definitely extended and continued in force the con-
vention of 1818, giving, however, to either of the
contracting parties the right to abrogate it upon
giving to the other party twelve months' notice.
England, under the convention of 1818, had a
right to trade between the 42d and the 61st degrees
of north latitude, as our title embraced the terri-
tory between these parallels. But between the
conventions of 1818 and 1827, the convention of
1824 was adopted between Eussia and the United
States, by which we transferred the soil north of
54° 40' to Russia, and consequently when the con-
vention of 1827 was adopted, England had not the
right of trade even, north of 54° 40'. It is not to
be supposed that England, if she had rights in Ore-
gon at that time, would have suffered them to be so
grossly violated.
But there is another treaty which precludes
Great Britain from setting up a claim to territory
west of the Mississippi river. By the seventh arti-
cle of the treaty between Great Britain and France
* " It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party
on the northwest coast of America, westward of the Stony Mountains,
shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of
all rivers within the same, be free and open for the term of ten years from
the date of the signature of the present convention, to the vessels, citi-
zens, and subjects of the two powers ; it being well understood that this
agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim which
either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of said
country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any other power or
State to any part of the said country, the only object of the high contract-
ing parties, in that respect, being to prevent disputes and differences
among themselves."
44 H I STORY OF TB E
in 1763, the boundary between the two countries in
, world was feed irrevocably in the middle
of \\_ ij.pi river, from its source to the river
le, and from thence by a line drawn along
middle of this river, and the lakes Maurepas
hartrain, to the sea." In 1803, France
conveyed to the United States whatever rights she
uired to the territory lying west of the Missis-
sippi river from England, by the treaty of Hi
A determination to enforce the claim which we
had to the territory of Oregon, had been solemnly
announced in various forms by the Government of
the United States. The recommendation contained
in the Pr< message to Congress, to give no-
I Britain that the joint occupancy of
the territory of Oregon should cease, was discus
reat length in Congress. A debate remarkable
its ability, and the display of varied and exten-
quirements, followed the introduction of reso-
lving the twelve months' notice, in pursu-
ance of the convention of L82T. Masterly inacti-
was proclaimed by the distinguished Senator
h Carolina, as the true policy of the Uni-
Pecuniary interests and sectional feel-
ing characterized the progress of that discussion.
Fears were manifested that the country would be
involved in a war with Great Britain, resulting in
"The confines between the dominions of his Britannic Majesty in
that (the o itinent of America) shall be fixed irrevoca-
Mi along the middle of the river Mississippi, from its
Iberville, and froi bj a line drawn along the
â– this river, and the repas and Pontchartrain, to the
and Great Britain.
POLK ADMINISTRATION. 45
the destruction of our commerce, and financial em-
barrassment and ruin. Southern representatives
gave indications of a willingness to surrender a por-
tion of the territory, to destroy the growing ascen-
dency of the north. The characteristics of the
members from the two great sections of the Con-
federacy seemed to have changed, and impassioned
eloquence, and fiery denunciation breathed through
every sentence which was uttered by the represen-
tatives from the Northern States ; while a tempori-
zing, if not a timid policy, controlled many of the
representatives from the South. After a long and
protracted discussion, the resolutions passed the
House of Representatives on the 9th of February,
1846,* 163 members voting in the affirmative, and
54 in the negative. Of the affirmative votes, 124
were democrats, and 39 were whigs: 38 whigs
voted in the negative, and 16 democrats. It will
* " Joint resolution of notice to Great Britain to" annul and abrogate
" the convention between Great Britain and the United States, of the sixth
of August, eighteen hundred and twenty-seven, relative to the country
" on the northwest coast of America, westward of the Stony Mountains,
commonly called Oregon.
" Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America, in Congress assembled, that the President of the Uni-
ted States cause notice to be given to the Government of Great Britain,
that the convention between the United States of America and Great
Britain, concerning the territory of the northwest coast of America, west
of the Stony or Rocky Mountains, of the sixth day of August, eighteen
hundred and twenty-seven, signed at London, shall be annulled and abro-
gated twelve months after giving said notice.
" Resolved, That nothing herein contained is intended to interfere with
the right and discretion of the proper authorities of the two contracting
parties, to renew or pursue negotiations for an amicable settlement of the
controversy respecting the Oregon territory." — Resolutions tvhich passed
the House of Representatives, U. S., February 9th, 1849.
HISTORY OF THE
be discovered that a large majority of those who
! for the resolutions were democrats, while a
large majority of those who recorded their names
in the negative, were whigs.
The resolutions were transmitted to the Senate
and were amended in that body by a vote of 30 to
24, and, as amended, they passed the Senate on the
16th of April, 1846. Forty Senators voting in the
affirmative and fourteen in the negative.* It will
be discovered that there was a striking difference
between the resolutions passed by the House and
by the Senate. The former were mandatory, and
directed the President to cause notice to be given,
while the latter threw upon the Executive the en-
tile responsibility of performing that act. The
House resolutions specified that it was not the in-
tention of that body to interfere with the right
and discretion of the proper authorities to renew
or pursue negotiations for an amicable settlement
of the controversy respecting the Oregon territory.
The resolutions of the Senate asked the earnest
and immediate attention of both Governments to
renewed efforts for the amicable settlement of all
'. therefore, steps be taken for the abrogation of the said con-
vention of the 6th of August, 1827, in the mode prescribed in its second
article, and that the attention of the Governments of both countries may
more earnestly and immediately directed to renewed efforts for the
amicable .-••ttlement of all their differences and disputes in respect to the