The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-12-23

single ration TO exclude all others from territory
TO which she had perfect title by occupation,
uguiiy, or treaty. or such claim, the United
States endeayored to lay the foundation by Presi-
dent MoDroes declaration Of the I'd December,
] ls23-that the American continent no longer to
be considered as subject of colonization by any
/ European power, Had Europe acquiesced in this
declaration instead Of protesting against IT, il would
4 in time have given To the United States prescrp-
tive right to enforce il.
The application Of The abors principles 10 The ets in me
case. Tile by discovery
/ II has been supposed that Drake caught glimpse
Of the coast in the year 1920, but England has very
properly avoided setting upany claim on the strength
ofhis discovery.
| The actual discovery of the coast is conceded 10
Spain. Heceta, a Spanish commander, sent out by
his government, discovered the mouth ftbe Coum-
bia river in 1875. In the charts Published in Mex
/ co, after Hecetas return, the river named ST.
i Rogue. On the llh ofJune, l792--seventeen years
acknowledgement Gray, of Boston, commander of
the merchant ship Columbia, entered the mouth Of
the river, and sailed up it fifteen miles, and in virtue
Of being the first TO enter and explore it, gave il the
! name OF his -Columbia--whch il has since
borne. Captain Gray was private citizen, and
moi connected with the government of the United
States.
i Before the discovery of Captain Gray Lieutenant
Meares, British officer in command Of a mercan
tile expedition, under the Portuguese flag, and in
|
the coast and searched for the Columbia river and
actually entered its mouth; but installing, all pre-
;. yous navigators except Heceta, had done, its bar
for continuous coast he inferred that no such river
existed. He therefore named the northern headland
! Cane Disappointment, the name il still bears. While
engaged in this expedition, which was undertaken
in 1885, Lieut.. Meares landed at Nootka Sound,
erected hut and kind of building yard, and built
a vessel, and traded along the coast.
/ In 1871, Capt. Vancouver was despatched by The
British government TO this coast, made search for the
Columbia river but failed in finding it, Lieutenant
| Meares had done, and only Heightened as TO
| its whereabouts by fortunately meeting with Cap
tain Gray. Upon Captain Gray's information he
i entered the mouth of the river, and assembled il in
a small boat about one hundred miles. This, of
course, was subsequent to Captain Gray's exPlora'
ton in 1892 We come next to the overland dis
covery The first who penetrated the Rocky
| mountains was Sir Alexander Mackenzie, in 1893,
| then in the service IF the Northeast Company. He
discovered Fraser's river, descended 1t for about
$50 miles, then struck off ina westerly direction,
and reached the Pacific in latitude SO deg 20 min. In
august 1905, Le,rs and Clarke, dispatched for that
purpose bv the government fhe United States reached
| the Rocky mountains in about latitude "A deg,
crossed them, discovered the southern head waters
of the Columbia, floating down its stream for about
] 600 miles to its mouth, which they reached in Mo-
vember. Here they built huts, and remained
during the winter; and, in lS0G, returned to the
United States, exploring in their course many Of
the tributaries of the Columbia. This is the only
cason in chch the Rocky mountains hare been crossed
BY persons acting in public capacity
| In 1906, Mr. Fraser, under orders Of the North
west Company, crossed the Rocky mountains, and
established trading post on Fraser's river, about
latitude 54 deg and, in 1871 Mr.. Thompson, also
an agent of that company, discovered the northern
head waters Of the Columbia about latitude 81 deg
| and erected some huts on its banks, This is the
whole amount Of the title by discovery.
| The claim 10 that title the part OF the United
| States, depends i'm pari] on the discoveries by
Gray, and by Lewis and Clarke. The discovery
by Gray is Investigated by the rule Of international
law, before alluded to--he being private ezen
Ii is also asserted that the claim TO territory drained
| by river cannot be maintained by the dscoverer
OF the mouth OF the river. And third objection is
that Gray was no, the discoverer Of the Columbia.
| Ii was first seen by Heceta.
Lewis and Clark were indeed public officers,
but their dscoypry Of the southern sources Of the
Columbia could give no title to territory water by
| river, of which the lower portion was already well
| known, and the northern sources were discovered
by others.
title of Spain by discovery is undisurbed and com.
plete. ibid che perfect itby settlement, did any
other power acquire title in her stead by doing so'
We shall see.l Lieut.. Mearee, aa before stated,
landed a, Nootka Sound in 1885, built huts, and
constructed a small vessel.
This was the first attempt Of white men TO FIX
themselves in any part Of that country. They were
displaced the ensuing year by armed vessels sent by
| Spain for that purpose. This summary act of Spain
caused a rupture with England, which finally
adjusted by the Nootka Sound convention in 1890
| Under that treaty the settlement restored TO
England and the additional privileges conferred OF
| making other settlements on the coast establishing
fisheries, &c. The British government did not, how
ever, take possession again of the premises from
which they were elected, and no settlement eff
fected until 1911, ,shen Nh. .qsior All american cit.
zen, despatched expedition By and land, Thich
met nea, the mouth ofthe Columbia and erected its
south bank fort ,rich he named .asiora Intended 10 be
the centre Of an eriensire trade between .fmeica and
| China. He remained in possession until the war
\ broke out between Great Britain and the United
States, when Astoria was taken by British force
| and the British standard erected. This is the ONLY
case In .rhich any part Of Oregon has been occupied
by any person under the authority Of me British gor-
ernnenf.
| The treaty. of Client restored the possessions to
the United States and the American flag was Off
CHILLY hoisted over them in 1918. This dgnn is he
only in 1chich anypsrson authorized By the govern
meni Of The United Siaies has occupied amy part Of Or
egon
1873 no civilized nation had acquired the sovereign
ty over any part Of Oregon Spain failed TO perfect
her title by settlement. The settlements made by
British or American subjects were not official acts
Of their respective governments, and OF no effect as
to tile. The resumption of Nootka Sound by Eng
land [but she did not take possession, and of As
toria by America, were indeed official acts but each
of these posts have been abandoned.
We now proceed to consider the treaties affecting
| Oregon,
| The Nootka Sound convention has already been
noced also the treaty in which Astoria restored
to the United States In 1919, Spain coded to the
United States all her claim to the Oregon territory.
But il is asserted that she had lost by non-user, the
rights she had acquired by discovery, and had no
claims to cede. This is the substance Of the trea-
ties. No particular advantage TO title is claimed
under them for either parly.]
| We have gone through three of the five sources
Of title--dso0rery, settlement, and treatyand have
shown that under no one ofihem has title ioany por-
ton ofOregon been acquired by any civilized nation
There remain two others--prescripiioa and conii-
guilty.
Prescription obviously does not apply to a coun-
try which was not discovered I'LL the end of the last
century.