Norwich bulletin., 1921-06-18
ODD INCIDENTS IN AMERICAH
 HISTORY
THE OREGON DISPUTE.

The territory along the Pacific coast lying between California on the south and Alaska on the north-Oregon, as it was comprehensively called-had been source of dispute for some time between the United States and Great Britain. After some negotiations both had agreed with Russia to recognize the line of 54 degrees 40 minutes as the southern boundary of the latter's possessions, and Mexico's undisputed possession of Cali fornia gave an equally well marked southern limit at the 42d parallel All between was in dispute.
 The British had trading posts at the mouth of the Columbia, which they en- rhatically asserted to be theirs; we, on the other hand, claimed an absolutely clear title up to the 18th parallel, a couple of hundred miles north of the mouth of the Columbia, and asserted that for all the balance of the territory up to the Russian possessions our title was at any rate better than that of the British.
 In ISIS a treaty had been made pro- viding for the 5oint occupation of the territory by the two powers, as neither was willing to give up it's claim to the whole or at the time at all understood the value of the possession, then entirely unpeopled. This treaty of joint occu- pancy had remained in force ever since Under it the British had built their great trading stations and used the whole coun- try in the interests of certain fur com panies.
 The Americans. in spite of some vain efforts. were unable to compete with them in this line but what was infinite ly more important had begun, even prior to 1S4e, to establish actual settlers along the banks of the rivers, some mission. | aries being the first to come in. The aspect of affairs was totally changed when in 1S42 huge caravan of ovel | 900 Americans made the journey from i the frontiers of Missouri, taking witf | them their wives and children, theil | hoeks and herds, carrying their long | rifles on their shoulders and their axes and spades in the great canyas-toppe6 wagons.
 The next year 2,0oo more settlers et | the same sort in their turn crossed thu vast plains, wound their way among tn. plored by Fremont, Benten's sson-in-law and after suffering every kind of hard l ship and danger and warding off the at | tacks of hostile Indians descended tn, western slope of the great watershed tt
 join their fellows by the banks of thu 1 Columbia.
 When American settlers were once il l actual possession of the disputed terri | tory it became evident that the period 0
 Great Britain's undisputed sway wa ] over Tylers administration did not wisl
 to embroil itself with England, so it re
 fused any aid to the settlers and de elined to give them grants of land, a
 under the joint occupancy treaty the.
 would have given England offeHse ant
 cause for complaint.
 But Benton and the other westerner
 were perfectly willing 10 offend England
 if by so doing they could help Amerc
 to obtain Oregon, and were too rash ar, | hAadstrong to count the cost of their ac ti6Hs. Accordingly bill was introduce providing for the settlement of Oregon
 giving each settler $40 acres and addi tional land if he had family.
 The bill passed the senate by a clos
 vote, but failed in the house. The un
 successful attempts made by Benton an his supporters to persuade the senate t
 pass g resolution requiring that notice o the termination of the joint ocupanc
 treaty should forthwith be given wer certainly ill-adTised However, eve
 Benton was not willing to go to tn length to which certain western me