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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1916)
East Orgcnian Rounj-Up Sourpnir Edition Pendleton. Oregon, ThorsJay, Sptgnler 21, ISIS Twenty-Fcuir Paget Last Steps in Formation of First Oregon Government Pf Siten .r,u.i f Jm.-,ci:. rv ik :: ;;v-.s.-.ir t.. kwp h it..v-rn:ii tit ha.! :hu fn? ralli.il in iiiati'n..!!Z' l-y nuaiis i f tail ing Its ciui'-ns. Thf rt-l in t.ir.tc uf thr people t" tf t;ivd hart ld them at first attempt to ras thf needed ex I'pnm r osermnt-nt 1 n;eans of oluntar futi ni''-i"ris. This hail rrovt-n a nst mwraKr f.i:lur. No motin d.ia f,.rthoommK. The next: er, 1S44 the legbUtive cummittee feeing that the Kvernnient could not' be ji'dKtained without a revenue lm Pmed a tax on the j.e-'ple and sourht to secure lt. pat mm: by the provision that he who failed to pay should have no benefit from the laws nor b al lowed to vote So drastic a measure three of the members of these bodies uas distinctly to his advantage to cut ere :ica:a cho.n In 145. The lead-' uvute friendlv relations with these pints in the legis-1 i:t w settlers for they were making his v.-x and (tiding lation of 1M4 and proved to be men ho had recently arrived in Ore Sun. I'eter H. Burnett and Jesse Ap plecate. These new men had less rea son to feel antagonistic towards the lia ison's Bay Company than had those longer residents who had taken sides in the controversy that had aris en between McLouRhlin and the Meth. odist mission over a land claim at proptrty on the Willamette distinctly more valuable and more profitable. His land claim at the falls of the Wil lamette had been surveyed and plat ted out into a town named "Oregon City." He believed this place "des tined by nature to be the best place for commerce in this country." This town had already become the most considerable settlement in the Wll iTeson City, nor did they share In the 1 Umette Valley. Lieutenants Warre enmity felt toward the companv b so many of the older residents, (.hortesa Petition in Holman, Mc laughlin, 1SS.) The Provisional Gov ernment had originally been formed as an act hostile to McLouchlln and did not. however succeed in produc lhe The new men exhibit ing funds sufficient to pay the upkeep ,.d a more conciliatory spirit and real-i of the new government. 1 ne appro priations for the year 1&44 were but a little in excess of 1900 and the reve nuestollected by end of year amount ed to aih ut one-third of this sum. ! end Vavasour, two British officers, reported to their covernment in Oc tober. IMS. a population for it of some three hundred people with a hun dred dwelling houses and stores. The Increasing population evidently made this town property more valuable. In addition McLnushlin had established iied that the Provisional Government grist and sawmills at the falls which ould be greatly strengthened by se t:ring the allegiance of the Hudson's 'wiy Company men. Thug by the summer of 1845 these Though the population of the trrl- lafiuences were working for the com- torjr was increasing very rapidly, and riete uni0n of all elements residing in its wealth in proportion, and defici- tnp country. On the part of the Wll- enoy m revenue might in a Bhort time lan tte Valley settlers, the advantages be mado up it seemed to many a more ert. ciPar British subjects resident speedy solution of the financial diff:- ,i,ere woul J be better contented, eulty to secure the co-operation of the Thos1 ,.at acknowledge allegiunce Hudson's Bay Company and from it and its supporters a payment of the taxes so difficult of collection south of the Columbia. For a wealthy cor poration in their very' midst, enjoy- j ing a large measure of monopoly over J their Industrial life, to take daily toll' of their meager incomes, and to se-1 cure the benefits of the peace and or- :i the United States realized that they v ere too remote to count upon the ac t.ve protection of their own govern ment and that it were better part of wisdom to placate than to defy the KuJson's Bay Company, upon which they were in so large measure de pendent for their existence. Further the financial assistance that would der maintained by the government cme rom collecting taxes from the they had established while contribut-1 mrn an( property of the company would make the running of the gov ernment easier and less of a burden ing nothing to its support, seemed to the political leaders of the infant state a Tery real grievance. Every effort ought therefore to be made to per suade the company that it owed a duty to help support a government that brought it such manifest bless ings and a community that was to it such an important source of profit. Thi desire to make the Hudson's Bay Company a direct contributor to the revenues of the new government was to be not the least of the factors in bringing about its union with the ProYlsional Government A further circumstance that was contributing to the establishment of better relations between the officials of the Hudson's Bay Company and the American settlers who were the lead ers In the new organisation was the Influx of new men from the United States and the consequent changing of the personnel of the government. The elections were held annually and at the second election in May. 184. only one of the old officers was re-elected and a majority of these eleuled to fill the three places on the executive com mittee and t.he nine members of the legislative committee came out to Ore gon the preceding year, 1843. Only to themselves. These considerations together with the growing ascendancy of new men of concilatory temper v.ere to lead directly to overtures to the Hudson's Bay Company looking to a closer union. At the same time Dr. McLoughlin and his associates were beginning to realize that such a union carried with it weighty advantages both for them selves and the company and were therefore ready to meet more than half way the advances made by the officers of the Provisional Govern ment. The motives actuating such a conclusion were in part personal to Dr. McLoughlin himself and In part c"ue to a conviction that the best in terests of the company would thus be served. For Dr. McLoughlin himself, a conciliatory attitude towards the new covernment south of the Columbia River had seemed the better policy from Its first Inception. The favors he had shown Americans and assist ance given them in establishing them selves in the country while prompted, no doubt, by purest philanthropy promoted as well his own interests. It How to choose your rug Store iiiiiiiimimiiiiiiiiiiiuiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiii SELECT your drug store with the care that you select your doctor. Choose that drug store that puts every tran sanction between itself and its custo mers on a service basis. Trade at the drug store that pays more attention to making a customer than to making a sale. Trade at the drug store where you can be ure that you are getting the most and the bet for your money. Trade at the drug store where you can "feel at home, " where you can feel at lib erty to make use of all the resources a real drug store peculiarly has for your help, convenience and accommodations. It is this kind of a drug store that we take pride in running. You know a drug store is different from a grocery store, a hardware store or any other kind of store. The relation between a druggist and his customers are akin to those between a doc tor and his patients. The moment a drug gist forgets this fact he ceases to be a real druggist. We want you to make use of all the ad vantages our service holds out to you. We are always ready to refund your money without question or quibble on any pur chase you may make here that is not per fectly satisfactory to you in every respect. Tallman & Co. Leading Druggists became more profitable sources ofj revenue as the inhabitants of that region became more numerous. He could not feel altogether secure In his I claim as long as he held himself aloof i from participation in a government ! that had been founded by men anxi- ous to secure their titles to land and to present mutual encroachment on each other's holdings. He had been troubled with squatters on his land j and a rival claimant, notably the Kev. erend Mr. Waller, whom he had j bought off in April, 1S44. by a pay-1 ment of 3iio and transfer of some of; the lots at Oregon City. Dr. Mc- ', Louijhlin had also just paid five thousand five hundred dollars to the I Methodist mission for the lots claim-! ed by that organization at Oregon Cky because as he says he could not "produce a legal test of proprietor ship" and this ground was needed to "complete his establishment." (Last Letter, p. 122). He felt that there was serious danger of losing this property should the boundary settle ment be favorable to the United States before he had secured a title the vali dity of which was at least as good as that of other settlers in the valley. True, the legislative committee had, in 1844. repealed the clause in the land law of 1843 which had been di rectly intended to deprive him of this claim, but he had been made to feel in many trivial ways the hostility of the government. The legislature had even gone so far as to refuse him the privilege of constructing and oper ating a ferry across the Willamette. ! So long as he had not part In the gov ernment he could expect no favors at its hands. Furthermore, there is evidence that ' McLoughlin had some ambition to as- ' sume a leadership over the people of the whole Oregon country' and a con-; fldence in his ability to win the re- ' spect and support of the American j element. In short, he was moved by ! Political ambition and a love for the power and influence that the gover norship of the new state might give. In a letter written to Sir J. H. Pelly, November 15. 1844. Dr. McLoughlin predicts that if the boundary question is not settled by the two governments. Oreat Britain and the United States, : the settlers in Oregon territory will declare an Independent state "of which I might be elected head were! I to retire among them." (Copy of let-1 ter in possession of Professor Schaf- er.) It would thus seem that Mc-i Loughlin was already contemplating I the "retirement" that he actually car. ; ried out a year later and was looking forward to the fulfillment of an am-; I bltion for leadership. There is noth- i ing in his character to make such a conclusion improbable. He was of a distinctly masterful temperament and might easily have underestimated the difficulties in the path of such an am bition. The sequal was to prove something quite different from these nnticlpations. Thus It seems that ; motives of financial interest and per j Sf nal political ambition may have I been promoting Chief Factor Mc- Loughlin to bring himself, hlj people und the property of his company ' under the jurisdiction of the Oregon Provisional Government. , To the company's superior officer, however, McLoughlin in justifyina his action in recognizing and uniting with the new government in August, 1845, advanced only those arguments that convinced him that such action best served the interest of the company and British subjects in general. "Wo have yielded," he says, "to the wishes of the respectable part of the people In the country, of British and Am erican origin by uniting with thm in the formation of a temporary and provisional government designed to prevent disorders and maintain peace, until the settlement of the boundary question leaves that duty to the par ent states'" (from McLoughlin letters of August 30 and November 21. 1845, copies made by Professor S'chafer. The second letter is given as first part of last letter printed In American Hist. Rev. 21 110-11). To McLough lin at this time the situation seemed critical. The property of the com pany was subject to intrusion and at taek, "exposed in the midst of a popu lation living without the restraint of laws." "A crisis was evidently fast approaching which would drive us to the painful necessity of yielding to the storm, or of taking the field open- fy. arms in hand, with means so un equal compared to those arrayed against us, as to leave no hope of suc cess." There seemed to him little hope of receiving any speedy or ef fective protection either from the British government or the company, though he had represented to both the dangers in the situation snd made request for an armed vessel to be statlond in the Columbia. Until such protection could be afforded It seem ed the better n.irt of valor to enter Into a union "for tr" purpose of mu tual protection, with the white popu lation of the Willamette." "We de cided on Joining the Association both for the security of the company's property and the protection of Its rights." To McLoughlin and his sseoclates such a union seemed further desirable ns means of witfeeunrd'n? aealnst evils for whi'h no protection was offered If they remained Isolated from the rest of the community. If the "com pany servants" deserted and took re fuse in the Willamette settlements they could not be arrested unless the company through Its officials had some part in the association. There bad been cases of such desertion. "Another powerful inducement arose from the considerable amount of out standing lebta we have in the Wil lamette settlement.'' These debts had risen during the previous year to the formidable total of 130.000. The advantages of the un. r as a means of collecting debts are obvious. "Under the newly assumed political position we would have been cast en tirely on the honour and good faith ot our customers, as the law could of course only give protection to those who gave it support: but by Joining the association we can sue and attach the property of any man in this coun try who is Indebted to the company.'' The company's officials at Vancou ver had been compelled to face the problem of keeping the bolder Ameri cans from encroaching upon Its lands. A certain Henrv WiMlnmson hA In 1844 gone so far as to build a cabin on an island in the river near Van couver claimed and occupied by the company. His cabin had been torn down and Williamson induced to with, draw. He and others like him Mc Loughlin thought so b;ise as to stop at no crime. "They were determined at all risks to Intrude upon the com pany's land claim, and they made no secret of their plans if ejected by force. If not supported by their countrvmen. thev were to ne..!.- on easy revenge by firing our premises, destroying our barns, or such like deeds of cowardly villainy." Thus we find urged as motives for bringing about a union of the Hud son's Bay Company through its ofYl clals with the Willamette alley set tlers in the formation of government the need of preventing encroachments upon the company's land and to safe guard its property from attack by hostilly disposed Americans. Such a union would offer an easier and more certain method for the collection of debts owed the company and a means of bringing back its employees "temp ted by the certainty of immunity and high wages in the Willamette to de sert the Service." There is evident j alarm In the rapidly increasing num-J ber of Americans. An average of more than a thousand each year had come into the valley during the to years Just past and some three thou-1 sand immigrants were expected to ar rive during fall of 1845. Such alarm is indicated by McLoughlin's request to the British Consul General at Honolulu for a ship of war to be sent to the Columbia river. Promise of such support could not be secured and as by August "the season was so far advanced there was no reason to i (Continued on Page 21.) OLD II m& SAYS: "The IronMe with a great many Tire Vsm Is thai thej buy Tires on the wrong basts." Yon are putdrur too little money In Tires and expwHiur too mnch out of them. In Tires, ax In everything else, yon (ret only what yon pay for noil ling more. It's Just like building a house,. Build it cheaply, pot in cheap foundations, flimsy beams and rafter, cheap walls inside and out, and you won't get much out of It; it won't stand up very long. Thr Tire tlutt is made right, that is built through and through of QUALITY, will give yon the mileage you ought to get, and that Tire la the new R EPUELIC TIM Hi Tread' It is built of quality from the ground up no expense i-- spared in putting the best material obtainable in every part of It. And the best workmen In the country do the building. The fabric which must bear most of the bur den really stands up. The finest raw materials go Into It, each individual material is treated by costly processes by experts. It la constructed scientifically to give a maxl , mum amount of responsiveness and ease of riding. And the tread Is made to give not only utmost pro tection from skidding, but to prevent the fabric from ex ternal wear or Injury. Nothing but the finest quality of rubber is put Into It. , Stagguril Tread guaranteed 5000 miles. Plain Tread guaranteed 4000 miles. Adjustments (If yon ever have one) made by us. PENDLETON RUBBER & SUPPLY CO. W. N. MaUx-k, Pre. 305 E. Court St- Un. 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