A History of Oregon, 1792-1849 Part 17

1840.--Pet.i.tion to Congress of United States.--British subjects amenable to the laws of Canada.--Esquire Douglas as justice of the peace.--Mr. Leslie as judge.

Eighteen hundred and forty finds Oregon with her little population all active and busy, laboring and toiling to provide the necessaries of life--food and raiment. And if a man did not wear the finest of broadcloth, his intelligence and good conduct secured him a cordial welcome to every house or shanty in the country among the American or French settlers and missions. This was an innovation upon Hudson's Bay Company customs, and a violation of aristocratic rules sought to be enforced by foreign influences and sustained by the missionaries then in the country.

Mr. Hines, in his 21st chapter on Oregon, says: "The number of people in the colony was so small, the business transactions so limited, and the difficulties so few, that the necessity of organizing the community into a body politic did not appear to be very great, though for two years persons had been chosen to officiate as judges and magistrates."

The fact that the judges and magistrates officiating were chosen by the Methodist Mission, in opposition to the wish of the settlers, and from whose decisions there was no appeal, and that there was no statute or law book in the country, and nothing to guide the decisions of the judge or magistrate but his own opinions, caprice, or preferences, Mr. Hines leaves out of sight. This state of things was submitted to from the combined organized influence of the Methodist Mission and the unorganized condition of the settlers. A pet.i.tion was gotten up and sent to Congress. This pet.i.tion is too important a doc.u.ment to be omitted.

The writer has no means at present to give the names attached to it. The pet.i.tion speaks for itself. As settlers, we saw and knew the objects of the Hudson's Bay Company and the English government, by their actions and oft-repeated insolent a.s.sertions that they meant to "_hold the country_" _by fair or by foul means_, which, as men understanding the unscrupulous and avaricious disposition of the entire English occupants of this country, we fully understood and duly appreciated, as will be readily demonstrated upon a perusal of the following:--

_Pet.i.tion of 1840._

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress a.s.sembled:

Your pet.i.tioners represent unto your honorable bodies, that they are residents in the Oregon Territory, and citizens of the United States, or persons desirous of becoming such.

They further represent to your honorable bodies, that they have settled themselves in said Territory, under the belief that it was a portion of the public domain of said States, and that they might rely upon the government thereof for the blessings of free inst.i.tutions, and the protection of its arms.

But your pet.i.tioners further represent, that they are uninformed of any acts of said government by which its inst.i.tutions and protection are extended to them; in consequence whereof, themselves and families are exposed to be destroyed by the savages around them, and OTHERS THAT WOULD DO THEM HARM.

And your pet.i.tioners would further represent, that they have no means of protecting their own and the lives of their families, other than self-const.i.tuted tribunals, originated and sustained by the power of an ill-instructed public opinion, and the resort to force and arms.

And your pet.i.tioners represent these means of safety to be an insufficient safeguard of life and property, and that the crimes of _theft_, _murder_, _infanticide_, _etc._, are increasing among them to an alarming extent; and your pet.i.tioners declare themselves unable to arrest this progress of crime, and its terrible consequences, without the aid of the law, and tribunals to administer it.

Your pet.i.tioners therefore pray the Congress of the United States of America to establish, as soon as may be, a Territorial government in the Oregon Territory.

And if reasons other than those above presented were needed to induce your honorable bodies to grant the prayer of the undersigned, your pet.i.tioners, they would be found in the value of this Territory to the nation, and the alarming circ.u.mstances that portend its loss.

Your pet.i.tioners, in view of these last considerations, would represent, that the English government has had a surveying squadron on the Oregon coast for the last two years, employed in making accurate surveys of all its rivers, bays, and harbors; and that, recently, the said government is said to have made a grant to the Hudson's Bay Company, of all lands lying between the Columbia River and Puget Sound; and that said company is actually exercising unequivocal acts of owners.h.i.+p over said lands thus granted, and opening extensive farms upon the same.

And your pet.i.tioners represent, that these circ.u.mstances, connected with other acts of said company to the same effect, and _their declarations that the English government own and will hold, as its own soil_, that portion of Oregon Territory situated north of the Columbia River, together with the important fact that the said company are cutting and sawing into lumber, and s.h.i.+pping to foreign ports, vast quant.i.ties of the finest pine-trees upon the navigable waters of the Columbia, have led your pet.i.tioners to apprehend that the English government do intend, at all events, to hold that portion of this Territory lying north of the Columbia River.

And your pet.i.tioners represent, that the said Territory, north of the Columbia, is an invaluable possession to the American Union; that in and about Puget Sound are the only harbors of easy access, and commodious and safe, upon the whole coast of the Territory; and that a great part of this said northern portion of the Oregon Territory is rich in timber, water-power, and _valuable minerals_.

For these and other reasons, your pet.i.tioners pray that Congress will establish its sovereignty over said Territory.

Your pet.i.tioners would further represent, that the country south of the Columbia River, and north of the Mexican line, and extending from the Pacific Ocean one hundred and twenty miles into the interior, is of unequaled beauty and fertility. Its mountains, covered with perpetual snow, pouring into the prairies around their bases transparent streams of the purest water; the white and black oak, pine, cedar, and fir forests that divide the prairies into sections convenient for farming purposes; the rich mines of coal in its hills, and salt springs in its valleys; its quarries of limestone, sandstone, chalk, and marble; the salmon of its rivers, and the various blessings of the delightful and healthy climate, are known to us, and impress your pet.i.tioners with the belief that this is one of the most favored portions of the globe.

Indeed, the deserts of the interior have their wealth of pasturage; and their lakes, evaporating in summer, leave in their basins hundreds of bushels of the purest soda. Many other circ.u.mstances could be named, showing the importance of this Territory in a national, commercial, and agricultural point of view. And, although your pet.i.tioners would not undervalue considerations of this kind, yet they beg leave especially to call the attention of Congress to their own condition as an infant colony, without military force or civil inst.i.tutions to protect their lives and property and children, sanctuaries and tombs, from the hands of uncivilized and merciless savages around them. We respectfully ask for the civil inst.i.tutions of the American Republic. We pray for the high privileges of American citizens.h.i.+p; the peaceful enjoyment of life; the right of acquiring, possessing, and using property; and the unrestrained pursuit of rational happiness. And for this your pet.i.tioners will ever pray.

DAVID LESLIE, [_and others_.][1]

[Footnote 1] Senate Doc.u.ment, Twenty-sixth Congress, first session. No. 514.

We have before alluded to the fact that the English government, by act of Parliament, had extended the colonial jurisdiction and civil laws of Canada over all her subjects on this coast, and had commissioned James Douglas, Angus McDonald, and, I think, Mr. Wark, as justices of the peace, having jurisdiction in civil cases not exceeding two hundred pounds sterling. In criminal cases, if the magistrate found, on examination, sufficient cause, the accused was to be sent to Canada for final trial. In all minor matters the Hudson's Bay Company were absolute. Their men, by the articles of enlistment, were bound to obey all orders of a superior officer, as much so as a soldier in the army.

Flogging was a common punishment inflicted by all grades of officers, from a petty clerk of a trading-post up to the governor of the company.

All British subjects, or any that had been subjects to the British crown, were considered as amenable to the laws of Canada, which were delivered from the brain of the magistrate or judge, who perchance may have pa.s.sed through some parts of Canada on his way to this coast, no one knew when. Of course he knew all about the laws he was to enforce upon her Majesty's subjects, the same as our American judge, I. L.

Babc.o.c.k, did of the laws he was called upon to administer among the American settlers. Although the following incident is not exactly in the order of time in which we are writing, yet it ill.u.s.trates the legal knowledge of Esquire Douglas so well that the reader will excuse me for giving it just here. The case occurred in the summer of 1846, I think in August. The Hudson's Bay Company and the British subjects in the country had changed from the open opposition policy to that of union with the provisional government, and some of the members of the company had been elected to office. Mr. Douglas had received a commission as justice of the peace and county judge from Governor Abernethy. A man by the name of McLame had taken it into his head to jump a claim belonging to one of the company's servants, near Fort Vancouver. The fact was duly stated to Esquire Douglas, who issued his warrant commanding the sheriff, a servant of the company, to arrest McLame. The sheriff proceeded with his warrant and posse, took McLame, brought him to the fort, and put him in irons to keep him secure until he could be tried. The day following, the writer arrived at the fort, and as he was an old acquaintance of Esquire Douglas, and also holding a commission of justice of the peace and judge of the county court, Esquire Douglas stated the case to him, and asked his advice how to conduct it. I inquired what it was McLame had done.

"Why, he went upon the land of one of our people and set up a claim to it, and made some threats."

"Did he use any weapons, or injure any one?"

"No; but he was very insulting, as the men tell me; used abusive language and frightened the men, and attempted to get them off the claim, is the most he did."

"Well, Esquire, I think if you do not manage this case carefully you will have a devil of a muss among these fellows."

"What do you think I had better do?" says the Esquire.

"If it was my case, as it is yours, I would call the court as soon as possible, and call the parties. McLame claims to know something of law, and he will plead his own case, or get some one that don't know any more about law than he does, and they will call for a nonsuit on account of some illegality in the warrant or pleadings, and the first show you have, give them a nonsuit, and decide against your own people. This will satisfy McLame and his party, and the matter will end there. The suit is a civil one, and should have been by notice and summons, for 'forcible entry and detainer,' instead of an arrest and confinement as a criminal.

They may attempt to make false imprisonment out of it. If they do, I would settle it the best way I could."

I never learned the exact manner in which this case was settled. I think McLame received some compensation and the matter was settled. But the Esquire never fully recovered from the effect of this legal attempt at provisional American wisdom, as he came as near involving the two governments in a national war in the San Juan boundary question, in 1849, as he did the country, in attempting to protect the unreasonable claims of the company's servants in 1846. As to law books or legal knowledge, the country in those early times could not boast of having an extensive law library or profound lawyers, and, as was to be expected, some new and strange lawsuits occurred.

Of the following case we have no personal knowledge, and can only give it as related to us by parties present. T. J. Hubbard, of Champoeg, had a native wife. She was claimed and coveted by a neighbor of his, who threatened to take her from him. Hubbard was armed, and prepared to defend his own supposed or real right of possession from his covetous neighbor, who attempted to enter his cabin window, or s.p.a.ce where a window might be put (in case the owner had one to go there). Hubbard shot him while attempting to enter, and submitted to a trial. Rev. Mr.

Leslie presided as judge. A jury was called, and the statements of all parties that pretended to know any thing about the case made. The verdict was, "Justifiable homicide." The pet.i.tion which was gotten up about this time, says that "theft, murder, and infanticide, are increasing among them to an alarming extent." A fact was unquestionably stated in the pet.i.tion, that justice and virtue were comparative strangers in the country. Despotism and oppression, with false notions of individual rights and personal liberty, were strongly at variance.

The leading men, or such as one would naturally suppose to be guides of the erring, seemed to have fixed a personal standard for virtue, justice, and right, not difficult for the most abandoned to comply with.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Death of Ewing Young.--First public attempt to organize a provisional government.--Origin of the provisional government.--First Oregon schooner.

In the early part of this year, about the 15th of February, 1841, Mr.

Ewing Young, having been sick but a short time, died. He left a large band of cattle and horses and no will, and seems to have had no heirs in the country. On the 17th we find most of the settlers present at the funeral. After burying Mr. Young, a meeting was called, over which Rev.

Jason Lee presided. After some discussion it was thought best to adjourn to meet at the Methodist Mission.

On the next day, the 18th, short as the notice was, nearly all the settlers were present,--Canadians, French, English, Americans, and Protestant missionaries and Jesuit priests.

Rev. Jason Lee, for some cause not stated, was excused from acting as chairman, and Rev. David Leslie elected to fill his place. Rev. Gustavus Hines and Sydney Smith were chosen as secretaries. "The doings of the previous day were presented to the a.s.sembly and adopted in part." Why does not Mr. Hines give us all the proceedings of the previous day? Was there any thing in them that reflected upon the disposition of the reverend gentleman to control the property of the deceased Mr. Young, and apply it to the use of the mission, or distribute it among its members?

We are well aware of the fact that, on the death of a person in any way connected with, or in the service of, the Hudson's Bay Company, they at once administer upon his estate, to the setting aside of the will of the deceased, as in the case of Mr. P. C. Pambrun, which occurred the summer before Mr. Young's decease; and, more recently, of Mr. Ray, who died at San Francisco. Mr. Ray was an active, energetic young man, had won the heart and hand of Miss McLaughlin, youngest daughter of Governor McLaughlin, and by this marriage had three interesting children, a son and two daughters. By his trading and speculations with his private funds, he had acquired a handsome fortune for his young family. At his death the Hudson's Bay Company sent an agent to take charge of the property. He claimed that as Mr. Ray was a servant of the company, and in their employ, he had no right to acquire property outside of their business; hence, the property belonged to the company. The books were canceled, and left his estate in debt to the company, and his family dest.i.tute. His widow was obliged to take in was.h.i.+ng, which was given her by some American officers then at that place. By this means she supported herself and young family till she could obtain help from her father, who had withdrawn from the company, and was then residing in Oregon City.

This is as good an ill.u.s.tration of the Hudson's Bay Company's generosity as can be given. They pursued Dr. McLaughlin and his children to the death. Their influence and statements have led the American people to mistake the doctor's unbounded generosity to them as wholly due to the company, and changed the friendly feeling and rewards due to Dr.

McLaughlin for needed supplies in the hour of greatest peril to their own account, at the same time holding the doctor's estate responsible for every dollar, as they did Mr. Ray's.

As to Messrs. Shepard's and Olley's estates, they were both administered by the Methodist Mission, or some one or more of its members. I have never been able to learn the results, but have been informed that, as they were members of the mission, the little property they had was disposed of as per mission usage. In the case of Mr. Young, the settlers found themselves somewhat interested. As to any Frenchman or Roman Catholic, it was taken for granted, if he was not the servant of the Hudson's Bay Company, his property went to the priest.

The settlers were united in the opinion that some understanding or laws should be adopted to govern the settlement of estates, other than the custom adopted by the Hudson's Bay Company or the missions; hence they all turned out, and were completely defeated by the operations of the Jesuit and Methodist missions. A resolution was ready, prepared for the occasion:--

"_Resolved_, That a committee be chosen to form a const.i.tution, and draft a code of laws, and that the following persons compose that committee: Rev. F. N. Blanchet, Rev. Jason Lee, Rev. Gustavus Hines, Rev. Josiah L. Parish; Mr. D. Donpierre, Mr. M. Charlevo, Mr. Robert Moore, Mr. E. Lucia, Mr. Wm. Johnson."

The committee first named in the resolution contained the names of the three first-named clergymen. This was clerical law and const.i.tution a little too strong. It was then moved to put upon the committee some that were not clergymen. The committee was finally made up of nine. Now comes the test of all,--the governor. Revs. Leslie and Hines, and Drs. Babc.o.c.k and Bailey were prominent candidates. The prospects were that the three Protestant missionary candidates would divide that influence so that Dr.

Bailey would be elected.

It will be borne in mind that Dr. Bailey was a man of strong English prejudices, and opposed to religious societies and religion generally.

He could secure the French Catholic vote, and the majority of the settlers. He was present at the meeting, with his Canadian, French, and Hudson's Bay servant voters, all trained to vote for him for governor.

He nominated himself, and so disgusted the American settlers that they joined in the effort to defeat him.