The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-12-04
OREGON MEMORIAL.

Mr.. CD. Ingersol yesterday laid before the House
of Representatives the following
Memorial Of citizens Of he United States residing Ia is
Territory If Oregon, praying for the establishment ~
distinct territorial gorermenf, 10 embrace Oregon
aud lis adjacent ssacoasis, Sc.
To the Senate and House of Representatives Of the
| United States of America in Congress assembled:
| Your memoriaists, citizens of the United States,
and residents Of Oregon Territory, having assembled
in mass for the purpose Of celebrating on their do
nestle affairs, desire to lay before your honorable
body a statement of their numbers, wants, and con
dilion together with description Of the country
which they have come SO far TO occupy. They de-
sire also TO ask of Congress such legislative aid as
may at once supply their wants and accord with the
dignity of the great nation of which they part.
| We know that our settlement is at present young
and feeble, our position remote aud secluded; that
some of our countrymen, high in the esteem Of the
nation have described this territory scanned with
volcanic mountains, separated by intervals OF arid
deserts We have heard too, that naughty gov
eminent, on foreign continent, asserts right TO
possess herself Of Oregon, and that national
government listens quietly to her reiterated demands
of the whole or moiety. We have long waited,
hoping that the justice and wisdom Of the national
Congress would have extended us, for our govern
men and protection, that political system which has
resulted in the creation Of so many noble, ndepend-
ent States--encouraged in this hope, well by the
| lively sympathy of the people ms by the efforts at
| legislation for our benefit made in the Congress of
the United States. Disappointed in this hope; agi-
tated by the uncertainties of national disputes;
salable from the ocean on one slde and surrounded
elsewhere by warlike Indians, and liable to be
| crushed from every quarter; moreover, impeled by
the necessity Of domestic government and internal
police, I'VE have, according to the immemoria usage
of Americans, formed for ourselves government,
and enacted laws, information concerning which has
already been transmitted TO the seat of government
We have at present residing amongst Indian
| agent, commissioned by the War Department, in
whom resides the only trace Of the national authors
| ty found within this territory. Your memorialisis
earnestly desire TO impress You with the dangers by
which they encompassed, and the difficulties
which perplex them, in the absence of all govern
men adequate their defence from foes abroad and
| the preservation Of internal peace and order. We
! fully appreciate the blessings enjoyed by all who
live under the wise republican system of the United
States---how necessary il is TO rapid growth
and prosperity, and to the future glory Of the whole
nation that we should be embraced in the bonds of
that happy Union Yet, confident in the resources
Of the magnificent country Of which we have pos
sessed ourselves, stimulated by the prospects Of
commercial splendour which burst upon us from
/ every wave of the Pacific ocean, and confirmed by
the successful daring of our forefathers under less
favorable circumstances, we prepare ourselves to
create new nation In the wilderness. We do this,
deeming it neither safe nor dignifed to linger in
doubt and dependence, while The maternal govern
|
NAL and neglect; there wanting from
whence We shall rapidly draw both strength and
population to sustain ourselves in independence and
with honor,
| A majority Of your memoralists have reached
their present homes after traversng the continent
from the waters Of the Atlantic the shores Of the
Pacific ocean. They have been much impressed
with the grand features of the country, and forcbly
| led to appreciate its important position in the geo.
graphical arrangement Of the continent. Our north
continent is, indeed, formed with advantages moi
possessed by the others, and created for the
most perfect development of the human race. Three
great valleys compose its vast interior. These
the valleys ofthe Mississippi the St. Lawrence and
the Mackenzie rivers. The first, aoping toward
the Gulf Of Mexico: the second, 10 the North At
lan,lci the third, to the hyperborean ocean. These
valleys are divided from one another, rather
nccted together by verdant prairie ridges. No
mountains appear anywhere within them, and the
whole may be considered as vast undulatng pane
Two chains OF mountains, only, traverse the CONT
neni--the Rocky mountains, parallel with and
contiguous 10 the Pacific ocean, and the Alegha-
MES, similarly situated on the Atlantic. On the
maritime slope Of the Alleghanies, the thirteen
original States Of the Union; that Of the Rocky
mountains, Oregon and California! The surface Of
the continent, then, consists Of this vast interior
plain, fanked towards either ocean by belt ofmar.
thine territory, That the Atlantic averages
about 100 miles in width; that on the Pacific, about
| 100 mes
OF these divisions the valley of the Mississippi
Is included entirely within national domain,
bracng 200 GOO square leagues, is of uniform cal
careous formation, and, upon the whole, the most
magnificent dweing-place marked out by God for
mans abode. Here is the natural home and seat Of
empire Of the American race whose great energies
and infinite resources destined TO develop and
control the e,mmerce Of the great oceans on either
hand These energies are already spread far and
wide upon the Atlantic. The time is Fastening on
when they shall find larger field, moro ample
scope and far greater development the broader
expanse and more populous shores of the Pacific.
Your memorialists would assure the people Of
America that the channel Of egress from the interior
of our continent must from the nature Of the coun-
try, pass through the heart of this territory, as
cending the branches of the Missouri and descend
ing by those Of the Columbia. Along the aeacoast
north of the Columbia, for GOO miles, magnificent
Islands everywhere face the land, which is indented
with bays and harbors, rivaing, in size and excel
lence, those of the Chesapeake, of New York, and
New England. The waters adjacent TEEN with the
fish whose capture has enriched the people ofnorth-
ern America and the west Of Europe. Whale, cod
fish, salmon, and Mornings abound in all the pleni-
tude which prevailed In the Atlantic two hundred
years ago. A climate mild, genial, and free from
empcsts, invites the mariner and fisherman to hasten
and possess themselves of SO much undeyelored
wealth. This great maritime region must eventual
\ y control the commercial affairs Of the Pacific, en-
brace the mars of naval construction to supply its
supplies OF all necessary materials These coun-
rleslie within the some parallels Of latitude which
include the British isles; and voyage no longer
than that from New York 10 Hayre, across tran
quill ocean, placed the navigator in the rich COM
mereial empire Of Japan.
| We cannot enumerate in detail the myrads Of
commercial articles with which the continents and
islands of the Pacific swarm, ON which the commerce
Of the world has for forty centuries fed and fostered
ITSELF and for the exclusive possession Of which, the
| n NhrICfo t.I. hox,a g..
waged incessant war on one another. This, how
aver, we discover at once, that Oregon Territory
furnishes to the United States the ready means of
securing 10 herself the markets Of the Pacific and
Indian oceans, Of peaceably avoiding the fiery jea-
ouses which vex the Atlantic; and quietly gather
ing into her bosom Tint vast and golden commerce,
to possess share Of which, the nations Of Europe
have Redeemed the ocean with each others blood
Nor do we consider the commercial grandeur of
the Pacific as yet escaped from the she'll or can as
Il