CHAPTER IX

1792-1846

AMERICAN TITLE TO THE COUNTRY-THE SPANISH SEA COAST DISCOVERIES-THE PAPER TITLES OF SPAIN, FRANCE AND ENGLAND GRAY'S DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER-THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA THE DOCTRINE OF CONTIGUOUS SETTLEMENT THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPLORATION-THE PURCHASE OF THE

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SPANISH TITLE THE CAMPAIGN OF FIFTY-FOUR FORTY OR FIGHT"-THE TREACHERY OF PRESIDENT POLK-OREGON SAVED BY THE AMERICAN SETTLERS.

The vast region west of the Rocky mountains fronting on the Pacific ocean from the northern boundary of California up to Alaska became known to the world under the name of "Oregon," about the year 1770. And the first tangible acts to obtain title to this vast territory date back to the voyages of Spanish explorers in 1774; followed by the English navigator, Cook, in 1776, the year the American colonists declared themselves independent of Great Britain. Sixteen years after the Englishmen filed a discovery claim to the country, Captain Robert Gray, the American trader, discovered the Columbia river, which practically drains the whole region and laid the foundation for the claim of the United States.

Here then are the claims of the three nations-Spain, England and the United States-mere paper titles, founded on the trifling incidents of landing on the sea coast of a vast country of then unknown extent. Neither of these parties had contributed anything whatever to the value of the country, or to any extent worth mentioning, made known to the world its resources, population or boundaries. The law or custom, upon which any shadow of title to the country could be founded by either of these parties, was nothing more than the comity of courtesy conceded among the maritime nations of the world down to that period; a right, comity, or courtesy which was always ignored and repudiated by the strongest, whenever it was their interest to do so.

The Indians were the original possessors of the country, and held their title from occupancy for unknown thousands of years. But all three of these socalled civilized nations united to deny and overthrow the title of the native barbarian. To deny the title of the Indian, because he was ignorant, superstitious and a barbarian or savage, was to found rights on educational opportunities rather than upon the foundation set forth by the American Declaration of Independence. To deny the rights of the Indian, and then concede his humanity by offering him the teachings of the Bible, was an inconsistency too absurd for argument. And so the moralist and publicists were forced to take grounds with the defenders of African slavery and boldly proclaim the doctrine that neither the red man nor the black man had any rights which the white man was bound to respect.

And so this conclusion gives a clear field to consider what nation had the title to the vast region of old Oregon under the facts hereinafter stated.

On the 25th of January, 1774, about two and a half years before the American Declaration of Independence, the Spanish sloop of war, Santiago, sailed from San Blas, Mexico, under command of Lieut. Juan Perez. The Spanish viceroy in Mexico directed Perez to sail northward along the Oregon coast up to sixty degrees of north latitude; which would be a few miles above the extreme southern limit of the present United States territory of Alaska. And from that point Perez was directed to survey the coast southward to Monterey (now in California), and landing at convenient places take possession of the same in the name of the King of Spain. Under these orders Perez sailed with the king's ship, and the king's men on June 16th, 1774. On the 13th of July, he made the land in fifty-four degrees north (now known as Queen Charlotte's Island), and named the point Cape Santa Margarita—the Cape North of our geography-then rounded the north point of the island and sailed into Dixon's Channel. From this point Perez turned south, coasting along the shore and trading with the natives. On the 9th of August he made' the land on the west coast of Vancouver Island at the point known as Nootka Sound. From Nootka Sound again coasting southward, the pilot claimed to have seen what is recognized now as the opening to the Straits of Fuca, and still further south made out, and named Mount Olympus, passed Cape Mendocino and the Oregon coast August 21st, and reached Monterey on August 27, 1774.

On the return of Perez, the Mexican viceroy decided to send another expedition to the north, and made preparations to send the schooner Senora along with the Santiago, giving to Captain Bruno Heceta the command of the Santiago, and to Angala the command of the little schooner. This expedition sailed from San Blas for the north, and on June 10, 1775, made a landing on the coast in an open roadstead at forty-one degrees, ten minutes north, a little below the present south boundary of Oregon. Here they spent nine days and claimed the country for Spain. Again sailing north, the expedition made land the second time at forty-eight degrees, twenty-six minutes north, which is a little south of the entrance to the Straits of Fuca. From this point they cruised southward looking for the straits. On the 14th of July, in latitude forty-seven degrees, twenty minutes north, which is a little north of Gray's Harbor in the state of Washington, seven men of the crew of the Senora in their only boat landed on the mainland to get fresh water and were overpowered by the natives and all killed; and the schooner itself was surrounded by hundreds of Indians in canoes who made unsuccessful attempts to board her. Here Heceta desired to return to California, but was overruled by Perez, Bodega and Maurelle, and the expedition again sailed northward, making their next landing at forty-nine degrees, and thirty minutes north, which is thirty miles north of the present north boundary of the United States, but being on the west side of Vancouver Island, is still on British territory. From this point Heceta turned southward, and at about forty-six degrees and ten minutes, discovered a great bay, July 17, 1775. On account of the currents and eddies, setting out seaward, he could not enter it with his ship, but recorded the event in his log book as "The mouth of some great river, or a passage to another sea." This was the mouth of the Columbia river, and we see

SEIZURE OF CAPTAIN COLNETT OF THE BRITISH SHIP ARGONAUT, BY DON ESTEBAN MARTINEZ, SPANISH COMMANDANT, 1789; ASSERTING THE SPANISH TITLE TO "OLD OREGON;" AND WHICH THE

UNITED STATES PURCHASED FROM SPAIN.

how close the Spaniard came to making the discovery which has made Robert Gray famous. The Spaniard kept on south and made Monterey on August 30, 1775, a few days after the never-to-be-forgotten battle of Bunker Hill.

We have been thus particular to set out the facts constituting the rights of Spain to claim the Old Oregon country from the California line clear up to Alaska. According to the theories of the European nations in vogue one hundred and fifty years ago, the King of Spain had done everything necessary to give his nation a good title to the Oregon country; for according to this historical record, the Spanish naval officer and ships flying the flag of Spain, in lawful exploration of the high seas, were the first discoverers of the Oregon country.

It was doubtless the fact that Captain Francis Drake had been on the Oregon coast before the Spaniard. But he was here, as has been before stated, as a freebooter or pirate, plundering Spanish merchant vessels, and as such his acts could not confer any title on the English government; and for that reason his government never took advantage of any discoveries he made.

And, notwithstanding the fact that the Spaniards were the first discoverers of the Oregon coast, for some reason, never explained, they did not make these discoveries known to the world at that time; but waited until after Captain James Cook, as the representative of Great Britain, made his famous voyage to the Oregon coast in 1778. Cook sailed from Plymouth, England, eight days after the American Declaration of Independence had been signed up by the Conti nental Congress, a fact which could not have been at that time known in England. These dates are given to show that the new-born nation of the United States had not, at the time the Spanish and English claims to Oregon were set up, yet achieved a national organization, existence of recognition before the world; and was not, therefore, bound by the comity laws of nations which gave away great countries on rights of discovery.

But Captain Cook saw no part of the coast of America on this voyage, which had not been previously seen by the Spanish navigators, Perez, Heceta and Bodega.

The question was raised later on by England that Spain had negotiated away its rights to Oregon by a treaty entered into October, 1790, which provides that Spain should restore to Great Britain the possession of property and ships taken from the British by force at Nootka Sound by the Spanish Captain Martinez, in May, 1779. And as this incident has figured prominently not only in the history of those times, but also in the diplomacy and treaty rights of the United States and England, a resume of the facts therewith connected will now be given.

From a triffling incident of Captain Cook's voyage to the west coast of Oregon in 1778 the attention of all the trading nations was attracted to this country. Cook got from the Indians, and carried away to China, a small bale of furs, which, on being offered for sale, at once dazzled the eyes of all traders in Chinese ports for their superiority to anything of the kind ever seen before and the vast fur trade of Northwest America started right there.

But when the British sea-rovers and independent traders sought to start into the fur trade they were handicapped by the regulations and franchise grants of their own country. In pursuance of its immemorial policy of granting special privileges to royal favorites, the British government had divided up the earth between two chartered companies, and had granted to the South Sea Company

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