While I agree with your editorial that this was the right decision, I strongly take issue with the statement "The decision was a serious one, but it was never difficult. "
Had this complex issue not been so difficult it would not have taken the time it did to unravel it.
Along with the considerable good work Deady did, and his  personal growth over his life,  we need to remember the dark side as well: 
 1. He was Oregon's strongest advocate for slavery.  2. Slavery was a horrifying system and the biggest issue  in American history, leading to that brutal Civil War.  3. Had the overwhelming majority of Oregonians not opposed  Deady Oregon would have been a slave state, a "Border State" like Missouri, leading to massive misery and destruction here.  4. Even after Oregonians rejected slavery in 1857 he continued to endorse it.  5.  Even after the Civil  War he privately praised slavery in his diary.
So yes, it was the correct decision but not an easy one.