I think, that a man of such antecedents and connections was not dependent upon the Massachusetts schoolmaster either for information or stimulus.
Mr. Floyd's motion was presented December 19, 1820, and asked for the appointment of a committee to "inquire into the situation of the settlements upon the Pacific Ocean and the expediency of occupying the Columbia River."[1] The committee was appointed and Mr. Floyd was made chairman. On January 25, 1821, he presented the report of the committee accompanied by a bill authorizing the occupation of the Columbia River.
This pioneer report, urging the occupation of the Pacific Northwest, in its expression and embodiment of the ideas and impulses that were to shape the progress of events, bears the same relation to Oregon that Richard Hakluyt's famous Discourse on Western Planting bears to the foundation of the English colonies in America.[2] It is mainly interesting to us on this occasion for the evidence it presents that the political movement for the occupation of Oregon was an outgrowth of the Astoria enterprise. After discussing the nature of the title of the United States to the territory, the committee present in glowing colors the advantages to be derived by the United States from taking possession of it. The details as to the climate, the fertility of the soil, the experiences of the Astorians, the nature of the overland route and most of all the elaborate development of the capacities of the fur trade with the East and with China show unmistakably the point of view presented by the fur traders Crooks and Far n ham. The Columbia River region is to be occupied as a commercial outpost and for the exploitation of its wealth.
