New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-08-11
THE OREGON QUESTION.
HOW AMERICANS WERE AROUSED TO
ANSWER 1T IN TIME.

True Romance Of Patriotic HeroIsm; Christian
Devotion, and Final Martyrdom win sketches
Of Life on the Plains and Mountains In Pioneer
Days BY Oliver Nixon. NJ D.. LII ID. INTRO
duction by the Rev, Frank w Gnnsauns;; e.; h D,
IL D. illustrated. PIP 333. star fuphshihs
Company.
Here is a book which is unsystematc to de-
gree Rarely perhaps. has an interesting theme
owed less to the skill Of the writer But in the
choice of a subject worthy Of attention In the
most sordid literary garb, the authors prescience
was unerringr The story of the manner In whlch
the great Tactic Northwest was saved to the
United States presents one Of the stirring cpl
sodes Of American history. 1t has been tod In
WAYS that gave the weight OF credit 10 various
persons. DR.. Nixon awards the highest honors
to Marcus Whitman. and 1t must be acknowl-
edged that II was Marcus Whitman VINO recog-
nized the critical moment, and did with unerrlhs
energy Just the thing which needed to be done.
No other man was at hand TO perform the task
which he was inevitable.
The true political relationship Of the Pacific
was involved in the words Of the early colonial
charters which carried the assumption that
grant Of territory on the Atlantic seaboard gave
a title 10 all the land lying westward even to the
unknown Western ocean When the EngIsh
Crown subsequently claimed control or the I'M
explored 1t simply laid the basis OF the land sys-
tenn Of the revolted colonies when they formed a
nation of their own. The result of the French
War the discontinue of England In the war
Of 1872 the Louisiana Purchase all tended to
remove obstacles that might have hindered the
realization Of the ancient English theory OF
colonial possession. In treaty-making and In gen.
eral diplomacy Americans continued to assert
their traditional rights. which were rendered
stronger in the case of Oregon by the fact that
Columbia River was an unquestioned American
discovery But the country fell naturally into the
hands Of the Hudsons Bay Company. and mere
occupancy bv agents and traders began to be
looked on as giving the right of perpetual posses
sion. Meanwhile the United States had done
almost nothing to give reality To their claims.
They had taken almost no interest in the Won
derful explorations Of Lewis and Clarke. The
common belief that the country west Of the
Rocky Mountains was worthless, and that the
mountains themselves formed barrier impas
sable to civilization.
II was In accordance with European tradition
that American statesmen should doubt the pos
sibty OF uniting politically country divided
by a range Of inaccessible peaks. The Alps have
preserved distinctions of race since prehistoric
times Most of what written about the
pers and their employers. tended to strengthen
the idea that the country was wholly unsuted to
a social experiment which in the light of history
was regarded as futile anyway. The weight Of
opinion among public men of the Nation was
against meddng with affairs n the Pacific
coast Webster. Calhoun. McDufiie. Dayton.
jackson. even Benton In his earlier years. were
, record opposed to any movement beyond
the Rocky Mountains. II was this scepticism
which pervaded the eastern side OF the CONT
nent that was the real bar to progress. When
that vanqushed all the other forces OF OPP
position faded away like ghosts at dawn. But
meanwhile the time was approaching when the
boundless wealth Of the country must become
known To the few who felt Marcus Whit
man did. 1t seemed II the Nation were throw
ing away the best part Of its heritage.
Whitman himself only recent convert to
the view that Oregon must be kept by the United
States II he had lived out his life as he began
in the Eastern States. he would have cared az lit
tie as others did. But he went TO Oregon. and
the origin Of the movement which carried him
there Is to be found In one OF the strangest Incl
dents OF American history-nothing less. IN fact.
than a parallel TO the coming OF the wise men in
the New Testament. One day there appeared on