Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/197

EVENT OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO 185 distinguished Philadelphia family of that name, whose ances- tors came to America in the time of William Penn. He was thirty-five years of age in 1818 and! already had performed many important duties as naval officer. As a midshipman he was one of those in 1803 who were wrecked off Tripoli and held as prisoners during the war with the Barbary States. During the War of 1812 with Great Britain he performed distinguished services, was wounded, captured and exchanged, and when in command of the "Hornet" sank an enemy vessel in a dual battle, and was presented with a gold' medal by Congress after the close of the war. In 1845 he was flag officer in the East India Squadron and assisted in negotiating our first treaty with China. When on his way to Oregon in 1818 he found a state of revolution existing in Chili and a squadron of Spanish naval vessels blockading the port of Valparaiso. The Spanish commodore in command sent word to Captain Biddle not to enter that harbor, but to this notification the Captain replied' that his government had instructed him to enter the port of Valparaiso and that it was necessary for him to do so, and he then proceeded to sail in. He remained in South American waters during- the duration of this struggle, protecting American shipping and acting as a sort of mediator between the two warring nations, and after- ward was officially thanked by Spain for the service rendered. He then continued up the coast to the Columbia river. His official report which is on file in the Navy Department at Washington contains much that is of interest in addition to the portion relating to the ceremonies in the Columbia. Aside from there being some satisfaction to Captain Biddle in being assigned to a mission which included a surrender by the British as a result of the war of 1812 there may have been a peculiar personal interest to him in visiting the mouth of the Columbia river. It will be remembered that the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were officially edited by Nicholas Biddle of Philadelphia under appointment from President Thomas Jefferson. These two members of the Biddle family seem to have been cousins (the writer is not