Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/379

THE WINNING OF THE OREGON COUNTRY. 373 rial government. He explains the reason for the long delay and closing says : " In conclusion I have to assure you that the same spirit which has made me the friend of Oregon for thirty years which led me to denounce the joint occupation treaty the day it was made, and to oppose the renewal in 1828, and to labor for its abrogation until it was terminated ; the same spirit which led me to reveal the grand destiny of Oregon in articles written in 1818, and to support every measure for her benefit ever since the same spirit still animates me and will continue to do so while I live which I hope will be long enough to see an emporium of Asiatic commerce at the mouth of your river, and a stream of Asiatic trade pouring into the val- ley of the Mississippi through the channel of Oregon." In the great debate which preceded the passage of the act of August 14, 1848, to establish the territorial government. Calhoun and Butler of South Carolina, Davis and Foote of Mississippi, and Hunter and Mason of Virginia were pitted against the bill because of the clause prohibiting slavery, taken from the Ordinance of 1787. Their worthy opponents and friends of the measure were Douglas, Ben- ton, Webster, and Corwin of Ohio. And such, is in brief the story of the struggle for Ore- gon. Such is a part of the early work done by the pioneers in the various forms of legislative, executive, and judi- cial work. These interesting historic records read like a romance, and I am* slow to leave them to be retraced by others. The chapter of international events closes with the decree of the German Emperor given at Berlin, Octo- ber 21, 1873. defining the meaning and extent of the boundary, as given in the treaty of June 15, 1846, declar- ing that the disputed line should be drawn through the Haro Channel. How great a part of the nation's history is bound up in that of Oregon! Events are only great judged by the re-