The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-04-09
A RACE FOR A KINGDOM.
The Heroic Journey Made by an Ameri-
can Pioneer.
How the Hudson Bay Company's Avar-
icious Plans Were Fooled and the United
States Gained Valuable Territory.

The recent novel long distance race be-
tween John M. Cleghorn of San Fran
cisco, uncle of Princess Kaiaulani, the
British educated heiress-apparent to the
throne of Hawaii, on the one side, ano
the commission representing the Ha-
Waiian revolutionists DESTROYS of annexa-
ton to the United States on the other,
for prize, the stake of which was the
political and commercial control of the
Pacltic-the lost kingdom of Queen
Lllluokalanl-calls to mind a story that
my grandfather once told me; how.
through the heroic efforts of one brave
man, we acquired the now great states OF
Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The
circumstances were analogous. This was
also race for kingdom-a race against
time, an incessant battle against wild
beasts and wilder savages, terrific snow
storms, billiards., ETC., which the intrepid
frontiersman who made the journey had
to tight against continuously. 1t took
five long and weary months through a
trackless wilderness, but he won.
The United States government had Just
gotten things Strengthened up after the
walk-over with Mexico when the difficult
ty with Great Britain over our northeast
ern boundary, which for time threat
ened to plunge US into another war,
arose. Indeed, several times it looked as
though the belligerent province OF
New Brunswick and the patriotic
state of Maine would be flying at
each others Threats; but this was
happily averted by treaty which ad-
justed the difficulty TO everybody's salts
faction. The negotiations were con-
Quoted with great frankness and fairness
on the part of the two diplomatists-Lord
a sh hnrfn,, and Daniel WnhCfnr-o ND 0f-
fered singular contrast to the artifice
and trick which have generally marked
national diplomacy. This matter had
hardly been amicably settled and all
prospects OF war dissipated, when the
trouble arose over our northwestern
boundary.
In the early summer of 1886 four mis-
sionaries, Rev. Mr.. Spalding, DR.. Marcus
Whitman and wives, who, by the way,
were the first white women to cross the
Rocky mountains, made their way through
the wilds of the northwest, and, just
five years from the time Captain Wyeth
and his brother made their exploration
of Oregon, established mission on the
Pacific slope at place they designated
WauIatpu. The Hudson Bay company
under whose convoy part of the journey
was made, did their utmost to convince
DR.. Whitman that the mountain trails
were ll10dSSdDlC lOI d wagon, dU dTRu-
ment which they brought to bear on every
immigrant who passed that way in the
few succeeding years. Their reasons were
obvious. The more the difficulties of the
way could be magnifed. the fewer immi-
grants; the fewer settlements, the better
hunting and the more furs, and fur was
all the Hudson Bay company cared for.
But in spite of the widely circulated re-
ports of the terrors of mountain climbing
and river swimming, few settlers gath
cred around the mission station at Wan
latpu, and a civilizirg influence slowly
spread through the wilderness. There
were mountain trappers there who had
not seen a white woman for % years.
Long after one of these said: From the
day when took again the hand of civil
lied woman, was a better man.
This wide territory lover 300, 900 square
miles, under the name of Oregon was
then held by the Americans and English
in joint occupation. The indefniteness