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222 LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE lay chiefly in the whaling industry and it was for its benefit that he approached Congress. 12 It was not long after this that Hall J. Kelley returned from his unfortunate experience in Oregon, and, smarting from his sense of injury, he published a pamphlet in which he denounced the Hudson's Bay Company as inimical to all Americans, pre- venting them from gaining a foothold in the country. This pamphlet was brought to the attention of John Forsyth, then Secretary of State, who directed that William A. Slacum make a quiet investigation of the situation. 13 Slacum, a purser in the United States naval service, was ordered to proceed up the Oregon River as soon as he should have arrived upon the Northwest Coast, and ascertain as nearly as possible the num- ber of persons, Indians and whites, in the country. He was to observe the nationality of the whites, and find out what disposition toward the United States existed, as well as the feeling about "the two European powers having possessions in that region ;" and "generally, endeavor to obtain such informa- tion, political, physical, statistical, and geographical, as may prove useful or interesting to this government." Acting upon these instructions Slacum reached the Columbia in December, 1836. There he found the customary friendly welcome from the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, although Dr. McLoughlin suspected that there was back of the visit more than the whim of a private gentleman seeking information about the country. In the month Slacum remained in Oregon he was able to discover the salient facts and report to his government what the situation was in the winter of 1 836-37. 14 At Fort Vancouver the Company had within its stockade some thirty buildings with a larger number outside. A farm of about 3,000 acres gave employment to over one hun- dred men, and some thirty more were engaged at the Com- pany's sawmill. Of the servants and officers of the Company only about thirty were Europeans, the rest being Canadians, 12 Globe, II, 26. 13 Forsyth to Slacum, n Nov. 1835. H. Doc. No. 470, 25th Cong., 2d Ses. 14 Slacum's Report, written 26 March, 1837, Sandwich Islands, Sen. Doc. No. 24, 25th Cong., 2d Ses.