The Illinois free trader and LaSalle County commercial advertiser. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1841-1843, 1842-11-25
The N.rsh- Western boundary.

IL Is 70 DC IeStetleu that no aIIaHSe-
ment was made, in the late treaty with
England, for settlement of the disputed
boundary question in the Oregon coun-
try. Our claim to that whole territory is
believed to be just; yet the assertion OF
the right has been deferred until now
considerable portion of the country north
of the Columbia river is occupied by the
British. In course Of time it may hap
pen that right, long waived, will be dis
puted; and possession will be regarded as
the best proof Of valid title. The fur
trade is now carried on extensively by
British companies they have permanen,
establishments on the Columbia. Our
own emigrants are vending their way to
the regions beyond the Rocky Mountains
and, such is the rapdi,y with which
population increases in the West, when
once the tide is set towards a particular
quarter, that few years may witness the
organization of regular government in
Oregon country, under the Territorial ju-
risdiction of the Union. An unsettled
question of boundary may then lead to
many embarrassing difficulties.
This subject is alluded to by Mr..
Henry Schoolcraft NOW in London in a
letter to the London Morning Chronicle.
While the public is anxiously awaiting
the PRONUNCIATION ofthe late treaty, it may
be pertinent, he remarks, to inquire
whether the boundary line west, from the
Lake Of the Woods TO the Pacific, has
been adjusted! 1t is here, in his opinion,
that the real bone Of future contention be-
tween the two countries lies. Mr.. S.
continues -
"The Oregon Territory is chiefly
known to hunters and fur merchants. a
very small American population is seated
south Of the Columbia. A few mission
aries have planted corn here, while the
natives demanded but part of their la
bors. The leading interest is the fur
trade, which is divided between the par
ties claiming the territory. But no one
who does not shut his eyes TO the facts can
doub, that, from the capture of Astoria, in
1919, the American interest and trade
with the native tribes has declined, while
that of the British companies has greatly
increased. Are the latter prepared TO
give up the territory they occupy north Of
the Columbia! Is i. the spiri. Of those
who in the thirst for gain, murdered Kc-
veny and shot Scmple, their own kindred,
to spair their American rivals the moment
they shall enter the possessed territory
The American editors deceive themselves,
who affirm that while the settlement of
this boundary is left untouched, i, is i'm
perceplibly being settled by the progress
of cmgration There is not, it is believed,
SOLITARY American settler or trader north
of the Columbia. Yet it is the general
and settled belief in America that their
right to the entire valley Of that river,
north rs well as south, as far as the reno
test tributaries reach, is indisputably Just.
Mr.. Greenhow, in his memoir, has clearly
demonstrated this position by minute re-
terences TO discoveries and occupation by
land and sea. Rights of territory only
asserted. but practically waived, for Sc
ries of years, always assume the shape Of
diplomatic controversy, Of which the
Maine boundary line is quite an example,
FIR there certainly was a time when no
body disputed The American claim, or set
the value Of pins head upon it. And
if the present avoidance of the Oregon
boundary by the high contracting parties
at Washington does not tend to bring it
up, hereafter, in far more bitter aspect,
l have in vain read the history Of rival
monopoies in trade, or traced in the inc
vitable state of social and commercial re-
lalions on the other frentiers, the prolific
sources of future Indian wars"