nethy inviting him to call. But the latter, with a sense of the proprieties, indicated in a dignified answer that he would be glad to receive Governor Lane should the latter call to pay his respects. This fencing for points of official etiquette seems rather amusing in its setting in the little western village of Oregon City in 1849, but the settlers' self-created government, while ready to give way to a more regular organization, nevertheless claimed the authority of a de facto government until duly superseded.
The new government assumed its duties without especial ceremonies. Governor Lane was sworn in by the secretary of the Provisional Government, S. M. Holderness, but, to make assurance of legality, he afterwards took the oath again before Gabriel Walling, justice of the peace. Holderness continued to act as secretary until April 9, 1849, when he was succeeded by the President's appointee, Kintzing Prichette.
One of Governor Lane's first official acts was to issue a proclamation for a general election to be held on the first Monday of June, 1849, for the election of members of the legislative assembly and for delegate to congress, and he designated Monday, July 16, as the time for the meeting of the legislature, at Oregon City.
In his first message to the legislature Governor Lane alluded to the fact that many of the settlers who had gone to the mines were now returning, determined to remain and to cultivate again the abandoned farms, and he estimated that upwards of two million dollars in gold dust had been brought to Oregon. The Oregon population, he believed, was about nine thousand, but thought that it would be doubled within twelve months.[1] Thus, without friction and without undue pomp and pretense, the
- ↑ The census taken under Governor Lane's directions showed a population of 9083 consisting of 8785 American citizens and 298 foreigners. Of these, there were 5410 males and 3673 females. Another census, taken in 1850, showed a total population of 13,294.
