a house on the island, at which Dr. McLoughlin remonstrated with Waller,
but the latter assured Dr. McLoughlin that no wrong was intended and
Hathaway stopped his building operations. Matters ran smoothly until the
autumn of 1842. By this time Dr. McLoughlin had again made improvements
on his claim, having it surveyed and part of it laid off in town lots
and blocks, which he named Oregon City. Some of these lots and blocks he
gave away, some he sold. I cannot go into all the evasive actions of
Waller and the false statements and claims made by him, and by John
Ricord, his attorney, in relation to Waller's supposed rights to Dr.
McLoughlin's land claim. Waller employed Ricord as an attorney and
asserted his ownership of all the McLoughlin land claim, except
Abernethy Island, to which the Oregon Milling Company laid claim. A
public proclamation signed by Ricord as attorney for Waller, although
dated December 20, 1843, was publicly posted at Oregon City early in
1844. It set forth the alleged illegality of Dr. McLoughlin's claim and
the imaginary rights of Waller.[36] Whatever possession Waller had of
any part of this land was due to the kind permission of Dr. McLoughlin.
Waller attempted to turn this kindness into a question of right to the
whole land claim, excepting Abernethy Island. An agreement or
settlement, dated April 4, 1844, was executed by Rev. A. F. Waller, Rev.
David Leslie, acting Superintendent of the Methodist Mission, and by Dr.
McLoughlin. Under this agreement Dr. McLoughlin was compelled to pay
Waller five hundred dollars and to convey to Waller eight lots and three
blocks in Oregon City, and also to convey to the Methodist Mission six
lots and one block in Oregon City. What right the Mission had to insist
on the conveyance to it of this land has never been explained--Waller,
in said agreement or settlement, surrendering and forever abandoning to
Dr. McLoughlin "all claims, rights, and pretensions whatsoever" which
Waller had to the land claim of Dr. McLoughlin, which is described in
said agreement as "a tract of land situated at the falls of the
Wallamette River on the east side of said River, containing six hundred
and forty acres, and surveyed by Jesse Applegate in the month of
December, A. D. 1843." This survey included Abernethy Island. There were
not then any courts in Oregon to which Dr. McLoughlin could apply for
relief, as he had not then joined the Provisional Government. It was
probably better and cheaper for him to submit to this unfair agreement,
otherwise he would have been compelled to allow Waller to take the land
or to have ousted him by force.[37]
July 15, 1844, about three months after this settlement, Rev. George
Gary, who was then closing the Methodist Mission in Oregon and disposing
of its property, in a letter to Dr. McLoughlin offered to sell back
these lots and block given to the Mission by Dr. McLoughlin, with the
improvements thereon, excluding the two lots given by Dr. McLoughlin in
1840 on which the Methodist Church was built. Gary valued the lots to be
sold at two thousand, two hundred dollars, and the improvements thereon
at three thousand, eight hundred dollars. Gary made the conditions that
the possession of a warehouse should be reserved until June, 1845, and
the house occupied by George Abernethy until August, 1845. Gary made
some other reservations and wrote that there must be an answer in a day
or two. Dr. McLoughlin considered this offer extortionate. He wrote an
answer to Gary calling attention to the fact that he had so recently
given the lots to the Mission, that it would be the fairest way for Gary
to give Dr. McLoughlin back the lots, since the Mission had no longer
any use for them, and let him pay for the improvements; that one of the
houses was built with lumber borrowed from him and had not been paid
for. He suggested that the matter be referred to the Missionary Board.
But Gary rejected every proposal. Dr. McLoughlin was compelled to yield
and agreed to pay the six thousand dollars demanded by Gary.[38]
Notwithstanding the fact that this agreement executed by Waller and
Leslie, dated April 4, 1844, was made as a final settlement of the
matter, the conspirators determined to deprive Dr. McLoughlin of his
land claim, even if they did not profit by it. They succeeded by means
of the Oregon Donation Law, as I shall presently show. These
conspirators had previously arranged to take or "jump" Abernethy Island.
Rev. Dr. H. K. Hines was too honorable a man to justify these
proceedings. As he came to Oregon in 1853, it appears that he did not
know all the facts, but such as he knew, even from Methodist missionary
sources, did not commend Waller's actions to Hines in regard to Dr.
McLoughlin and his land claim. In his _Missionary History_, pages
353-355, Dr. Hines says: "At Oregon City the Mission as such deemed it
wisest not to file any claim as against that of Dr. McLoughlin, Chief
Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company at Vancouver, who had made some
movements toward the occupation of that valuable property before the
Mission was established. Perhaps all in the country at that time, Mr.
Lee included, did not consider the claim of Dr. McLoughlin as a British
subject and the head of a great British corporation, such a claim as
would be recognized in law when the government of the United States
should extend its jurisdiction over the country, which they believed it
was sure to do in a short time.... The mission work at this general
point was mostly done on the _west side_ of the river at The Falls, and
at the villages on the Clackamas where 'Gladstone Park' is now situated,
and where the Mission had a farm, and a claim of a square mile of land.
This stood in exactly the same relation to the Board as did the claim at
The Dalles and at Salem.
"It is proper that we say here that much controversy arose at Oregon
City through the fact that Rev. A. F. Waller filed a claim in his own
behalf on the land to which Dr. McLoughlin was also laying claim, on the
ground that the latter, being a British subject, could not obtain title
under the land laws of the United States. With this the Mission, as
such, had no connection whatever, and hence this history does not deal
with the question." Nevertheless, joint-occupancy, Senator Linn's
resolution and bill, the Donation Land Law, subsequently passed, natural
justice and right, and common decency should have been recognized as
giving Dr. McLoughlin full right to his land claim from the beginning.
At least three of the Methodist missionaries and those connected with
the Methodist Mission were not citizens of the United States at any time
prior to the passage of the Donation Land Law in 1850. Rev. Jason Lee
was a native of Canada and died in Canada. He did not become a citizen
of the United States. His allegiance was always that of a British
subject. Jason Lee was of English descent. His parents were born in the
United States but settled at Stanstead, Canada, and made it their home
several years prior to his birth. He was born at Stanstead in 1803 and
that was his home until 1834, when he came to Oregon. For a number of
years he worked in the pineries in the north of Canada. In 1826 he was
"converted" and joined the Wesleyan Church of Canada. In 1827 he entered
the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. After attending that
Academy for a time, he returned to his home at Stanstead, where he
stayed for several years, first teaching school and afterwards becoming
a preacher of the Wesleyan Church of Canada. For several years he had
desired to be a missionary among the Indians and in 1832 or 1833 offered
his services as a missionary to the Indians of Canada to the Wesleyan
Missionary Society of London. In 1833, while waiting a reply to his
application, he was offered the appointment by the New England
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church of "Missionary to the
Flathead Indians," and was admitted as a member of the latter
Conference. In the spring of 1834 he started for Oregon, which, during
the rest of his life, was jointly occupied by citizens of the United
States and subjects of Great Britain under the Conventions between these
countries. The political status of a resident of Oregon then remained as
it was when he arrived in Oregon. It could not be changed there during
joint-occupancy. He died at Lake Memphremagog in Canada, March 2, 1845.
His body was buried at Stanstead. These facts I have obtained mostly
from Dr. Hines' _Missionary History of the Pacific Northwest_, and I
have verified them from other reliable sources.
Rev. Daniel Lee was also born in Canada. Up to the time of his return to
the Eastern States in 1843, he had not become a citizen of the United
States. As the rest of his life was spent as a Methodist minister in the
United States, he probably became a citizen of the latter country. Rev.
Daniel Lee, I believe, took no part in, nor did he encourage, or
sympathize with any action against Dr. McLoughlin.
Joseph Holman (not a relative of mine) was born in England, August 20,
1815. In 1833 he went to Canada where he lived for several years. About
1836 or 1837 he went to Ohio and later went to Illinois. In 1839 he
started for Oregon. He arrived at Fort Vancouver June 1, 1840, the same
day the Lausanne arrived there. In 1840 or 1841 he became connected with
the Methodist Mission. Shortly after his arrival he took up a land claim
a mile square near the present city of Salem. A person could not become
a citizen of the United States until he had resided therein for at least
five years. So he could not become such a citizen in the East for he had
not resided in the United States more than three years when he started
for Oregon in 1839. It was in Oregon, after the United States Courts
were established in 1849, that Joseph Holman first made application to
become a citizen of the United States and became one. As Jason Lee and
Daniel Lee took up the land on which the Methodist Mission was situated
and they were British subjects, their rights as land claimants were the
same as those of Dr. McLoughlin. The Mission, as such, had no legal
status to acquire land prior to the Act of 1848 organizing Oregon
Territory. The land claim of Joseph Holman had the same status as that
of Dr. McLoughlin--just as good, but no better.
_Abernethy Island._
I have spoken of this settlement with Waller, in 1844, in order to treat
separately of the taking of Abernethy Island from Dr. McLoughlin. The
land controlling the water-power on the west side of the falls of the
Willamette River was not taken nor claimed by any one until after the
year 1841. It is on the west side where the water-power of the falls is
now mostly used. It could have been had for the taking at the time
Abernethy Island was "jumped." Dr. McLoughlin's land claim was on the
east side of the river. As I have said, Felix Hathaway, in the
employment of the Mission, in 1841 began to build a house on Abernethy
Island, but after Dr. McLoughlin's remonstrance to Waller, the building
operations on the island ceased at that time. Dr. McLoughlin erected a
small house on the island. In 1841 the Oregon Milling Company was
formed. Almost all of its members belonged to the Methodist Mission.
Hathaway conveyed all his right and title to the island to the Oregon
Milling Company, a part of the consideration to be paid by a Committee
of the Oregon Milling Company in behalf of that Company. Rev. A. F.
Waller is the one first named, of the Committee, in the deed. This deed
is recorded at page 52 of Book 2, Record of Deeds of Clackamas County.
This record shows the date of the deed as November 23, 1852. This is
evidently an error of the copyist, as to the year. It doubtless was
1842, for Hathaway, by the deed, conveyed all his "right and title to
the island on which said Company _are now constructing mills_," etc.
This is a very religious deed. Hathaway in this conveyance covenanted to
warrant and defend the island against all persons "(the Lord excepted)."
Among the cargo of the Lausanne, which all belonged to the Methodist
Mission, was machinery for flour-mills and for saw-mills. The Methodist
Mission established both a saw-mill and a grist-mill, run by
water-power, near Chemekete (now Salem). These were in operation in
1841. These mills were much nearer the Willamette settlements than
Oregon City was. In the Fall of 1842 the Oregon Milling Company had
erected a saw-mill on the island, intending to follow it with the
erection of a flour-mill. It will be noted that there were then no
courts in Oregon, for the Provisional Government was not organized until
1843. Dr. McLoughlin and the Hudson's Bay Company were not under the
jurisdiction of the Provisional Government until 1845. In the fall of
1842 Dr. McLoughlin became satisfied that it was the intention of some
of the Methodist missionaries to take his land and to deprive him of his
water rights. To save his interests he forthwith built a saw-mill on
the river bank near the island, and gave notice that he would erect a
flour-mill in a short time.
_The Shortess Petition._
The enemies of Dr. McLoughlin then determined to send a petition to
Congress. It is said that this petition was drawn by George Abernethy,
who then, as steward of the Mission, kept its store at Oregon City, and
had charge of all its secular affairs, but that Abernethy was unwilling
to have it known that he was connected with the petition, so it was
copied by a clerk, named Albert E. Wilson. Abernethy wished to appear
friendly to Dr. McLoughlin; to act otherwise might hurt the Mission and
Abernethy in his business.[39] The first signature to this petition was
that of Robert Shortess, who arrived in the Willamette Valley in April,
1840. He joined the Methodist Church about 1841. He was then intense in
his dislike of the Hudson's Bay Company and its officers. From the fact
that he was the first signer, this petition is known as the "Shortess
petition." It was signed by sixty-five persons. Of these about one-third
were immigrants of 1842, who had been in the country less than six
months. This petition is addressed to Congress. It is dated March 25,
1843. It begins with a short statement that the petitioners have no laws
to govern them. That "where the highest court of appeal is the rifle,
safety in life and property cannot be depended on." Until these people
attempted unfairly to take Dr. McLoughlin's land, the Golden Rule had
prevailed and the appeal to the rifle was always "conspicuous by its
absence." This petition then calls attention to the domination of the
Hudson's Bay Company, and its successful opposition to Bonneville and
Wyeth, and that that Company formerly would not sell cattle, and its
opposition to the loan of cows and the return of the increase, which is
true; and that in case of the death of a cow, the settler had to
pay--which is false.
This petition further sets forth that in 1842 the settlers formed a
company for supplying lumber and flour. That they selected an island at
the falls of the Willamette. That after commencing they were informed by
Dr. McLoughlin that the land was his. This is true, as to the company
and the information by Dr. McLoughlin, but false, by indirection, in
this, that they knew the island for years had been claimed by him as his
property. The petition proceeds, "However, he erected a shed on the
island, after the stuff was on the island to build a house, and then
gave them permission to build under certain restrictions. They took the
paper he wrote them containing his conditions, but did not obligate
themselves to comply with the conditions, as they did not think his
claim just or reasonable." In the latter statement the members of the
Oregon Milling Company, who signed the petition, stated an estoppel to
themselves. They could not enter into possession under conditions and
then refuse to abide by them. This was pleading themselves out of Court,
not to mention their admitted breach of faith.
This petition then mentions the erection of the saw-mill by the Oregon
Milling Company and complains of the erection of a mill by Dr.
McLoughlin, and says that he can manufacture lumber cheaper than the
Milling Company can. Nevertheless, the Oregon Milling Company succeeded.
This petition then goes into puerility about the measurement of wheat by
the Hudson's Bay Company, which Dr. White in his report, dated April 1,
1843, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and hereinbefore referred
to, says is untrue, for he knows the measure to be exact. This petition
does not state (which is true) that when Dr. McLoughlin found that wheat
weighed more than sixty pounds to the bushel, he raised the price paid
to settlers, correspondingly. This petition sets forth, however, that
Dr. McLoughlin had surveyed his claim, platted it, and called it Oregon
City; and that he had given a notice dated January 18, 1843, requiring
all persons claiming lots on his land, before February 1, 1843, to apply
for a deed, or a bond for a deed, as the case might be, which he would
give. Dr. McLoughlin required a payment of five dollars to his attorney
for making the deed or bond. As these people were all trespassers, it
would seem that this action of Dr. McLoughlin was a very generous one.
There is a very significant phrase in the Shortess petition, which
indicates that the conspiracy to deprive Dr. McLoughlin of his land
claim had its inception before that time. In this petition, after saying
that Dr. McLoughlin did not own his Oregon City land claim, it is said
"and which we hope he never will own." This phrase is omitted in the
copy of the Shortess petition in Gray's _History of Oregon_ and in
Brown's _Political History of Oregon_.[40] This phrase is referred to in
Thurston's speech of December 26, 1850, as justifying his actions in
giving Dr. McLoughlin's land claim to Oregon for an university.[41] I
shall not discuss some of the allegations of this petition, as they are
trivial and unimportant. This petition was given to W. C. Sutton to be
taken to Washington. Dr. McLoughlin applied to Shortess for a copy of
this petition, but the request was refused.
_Land Laws of the Provisional Government._
As I have stated, in July, 1843, the Provisional Government went into
effect. Its land laws were purposely framed against Dr. McLoughlin's
claim, and in favor of the Methodist Mission. These land laws allowed
any person, without regard to citizenship, who was then holding or
wished to establish a land claim in Oregon, not exceeding 640 acres, "in
a square or oblong form, according to the natural situation of the
premises," to have such land claim. Those in possession were allowed one
year in which to file a description of the claim in the Recorder's
office. Dr. McLoughlin filed his description in 1843. The survey was
made by Jesse Applegate in 1843. The record is now in the office of the
Secretary of State at Salem, Oregon. In having this survey made Dr.
McLoughlin had it extend only about half way from the falls to the
Clackamas River and so as to include not more than six hundred and forty
acres. He abandoned that part of his original claim extending between
his new north line and the Clackamas River.
Article 4 of these land laws of 1843 was the one intended to deprive Dr.
McLoughlin of his claim. It was as follows: "Art. 4. No person shall be
entitled to hold such a claim upon city or town sites, extensive water
privileges, or other situations necessary for the transaction of
mercantile or manufacturing operations, to the detriment of the
community: _Provided_, that nothing in these laws shall be so construed
as to effect _any claim of any mission_ of a religious character, made
previous to this time, of an extent of not more than _six miles
square_." This land law was amended in July, 1845. The only material
change, so far as is necessary for the purposes of this monograph, was
that said Section 4 of the land laws of 1843 was repealed. It was after
the repeal of the objectionable and unfair Section 4 of the land laws of
1843 that Dr. McLoughlin for himself and the Hudson's Bay Company joined
the Provisional Government.
_Dr. McLoughlin's Naturalization._
After Dr. McLoughlin sent his resignation to the Hudson's Bay Company,
in 1845, he determined to become a citizen of the United States. In 1845
he consulted with Peter H. Burnett, then Chief-Justice of the
Provisional Government, and with Jesse Applegate, about taking the oath
of allegiance to the United States, and taking out his first
naturalization papers, but Burnett had no authority from the United
States, or other jurisdiction, to administer such an oath (or to issue
such papers) and so advised Dr. McLoughlin. Although this matter was
well known in Oregon, it gave Dr. McLoughlin's enemies a chance to say
that he was a British subject, and had not taken the oath of allegiance
to the United States, nor applied to become a citizen of the United
States. August 14, 1848, the bill establishing the Territory of Oregon
became a law. March 2, 1849, General Joseph Lane, the first Territorial
Governor of Oregon, arrived at Oregon City. March 3, 1849, he issued his
proclamation assuming charge as governor. Soon after the Territory of
Oregon was organized and courts of the United States established. The
assignment of Judges to their respective districts was made May 13,
1849. May 30, 1849, Dr. McLoughlin took the oath and made his
declaration to become a citizen of the United States, as required by the
naturalization law. So he acted with promptness. This was well known in
Oregon at the time. Dr. McLoughlin voted at Oregon City at the first
general election held in June, 1849, but he did not vote for Thurston as
delegate to Congress, which Thurston knew. Under the act of Congress,
organizing Oregon as a territory, all aliens who had declared, on oath,
their intentions to become citizens of the United States, and taken an
oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the provisions
of the act establishing the Territorial Government of Oregon, were
entitled to vote at the first election. Dr. McLoughlin became a citizen
of the United States, at Oregon City, September 5, 1851. The
naturalization law then allowed an alien to become a citizen of the
United States two years after taking the oath and making his
declaration, if he had lived in the United States for five years. His
witnesses were A. L. Lovejoy, A. A. Skinner, and Theodore Magruder. His
admission to citizenship was based on his said oath and declaration of
May 30, 1849.
_Conspiracy against Dr. McLoughlin._
It was in 1849 that the conspiracy against Dr. McLoughlin and his land
claim began to become effective. In 1846 Governor Abernethy became the
sole owner of the Oregon Milling Company and its property on Abernethy
Island, Abernethy and his son claiming to own the island, which was then
known as "Governor's Island," in supposed compliment to Governor
Abernethy. W. P. Bryant, the first Territorial Chief-Justice of Oregon,
arrived in Oregon April 9, 1849. May 29, 1849, fifty days after his
arrival he purchased all said interests of Gov. Abernethy and son.
Bryant gave his promissory notes to Gov. Abernethy, aggregating $30,000
in principal, as part consideration for the purchase. Bryant also bought
from Gov. Abernethy, on time, wheat, flour, and staves for about $2500
and a quantity of lumber and logs, the value of which I am unable to
give. Bryant's judicial district included Oregon City.[42]
In June, 1849, Samuel R. Thurston was elected Territorial Delegate to
Congress from Oregon. He arrived in Oregon in the fall of 1847. He was
shrewd enough to obtain the support of the Mission Party. He skillfully
made his canvass largely against the Hudson's Bay Company. Having the
support of the Mission Party, and many of the voters being then in the
California mines, Thurston was elected. The vote was as follows:
Thurston, 470; Columbus Lancaster, 321; J. W. Nesmith, 106; Joseph L.
Meek, 40; and J. S. Griffin, 8. The most important measure for Oregon
was the passage of a land law, for no person had or could then obtain a
legal title to land. It was all owned by the United States except the
small portions granted to the Missions. Thurston used his best endeavors
to obtain the passage of such a bill. But he was anxious for re-election
and to ingratiate himself with the Mission Party and the conspirators
against Dr. McLoughlin.
_Thurston's Letter to Congress._
Thurston prepared the way, by a letter addressed to the members of the
House of Representatives, for introducing into the land bill a section
depriving Dr. McLoughlin of his Oregon City claim. This letter contains
many false statements. This section is section eleven of the Donation
Land Law, which was passed without opposition. To this section I shall
presently refer.
This letter to the members of the House of Representatives was issued by
Thurston at Washington, D. C., in the month of May or the early part of
June, 1850. Said letter was published in full in the _Oregon Spectator_
of September 12, 1850. Nothing was known in Oregon or California of this
letter until late in August or early in September, 1850. As this letter
is quite long and relates mostly to the general features of the Oregon
Donation Land Bill and the necessity of its passage, I have omitted all
that part of the letter excepting Thurston's discussion of the eleventh
section of that bill, which contains all that part of the letter
referring to Dr. McLoughlin and his land claim. In that part of his
letter Thurston said: