object of my going to that country." Before starting he offered his services to the government for the purpose of gaining information for them, and without "other compensation than the respectability attached to all those who serve their country.' Whether his offer was accepted or not does not appear from the correspondence, but the entrance into the country of such a man, with his companions, must mean a great deal in the clearing up of obscure questions. It was at this time, also, that Hall J. Kelley, who had been such a persistent and patriotic advocate of settlement, reached the country. Disappointed in not being able to secure grants of land and the protection of the government, he reached Oregon, after many hardships, with a few companions, and began the nucleus of a little settlement. Equally important was the impulse which missionary activity in the East had received from a fuller knowledge of this new and attractive field. Thus the religious motive was added to the patriotic, and both were added to the zeal for trade and adventure, in drawing attention to the new country.
Although the United States Government would give no guarantee of protection, yet the new arrivals met in those regions a condition of safety rarely found in so wild and remote a locality, and, for the time being, at least, were glad to avail themselves of the security offered by the Hudson's Bay Company. Nor is it to be supposed that the colonists were entirely neglected by the Government of the United States. Though unable to grant fully the wishes for a civil government, or even for military posts, yet every executive took measures to gain such information as would keep the government well advised, and enable it to see that the brave forerunners of settlement suffered no personal injury. The interval of rest fell within the administrations ofPresi-
