tute will not subject us to the loss of the whole amount for which it was sold" nor to any part of it unless the loss should arise out of the following consideration which I now allude to with some solicitude to know what would be exactly right in the premisis. The act of Congress passed Aug. 14th 1848 contains the following clause "And provided also that the title to the land not exceeding 640 acres now occupied as Miss.Y. stations among the Indian tribes in said territory togather with improvements thereon be confirmed and established in the several religious societies to which said Miss.Y. Stations respectively belong."
Now? think you will this apply to our claiming this tract of land outright for ourselves 1 and thus ending all other claims and titles. In favour of our having this claim by virtue of this act there are (among others) the following reasons: The Miss.Y. Soc.Y. of the M. E. Church some years ago did settle this claim and here commenced a Miss.Y. Station among the Indians in this place and designed it not only for the benefit of the tribes in this vicinity but as a basis of a series of extended operations to benefit all the Indian tribes in Oregon. 2 For this the buildings were erected, many labourers employed, many Indians benefited and this was continued until the Indians melted away, nor has the station been abandoned it has been ocupied by our Missionaries until now, 3 and altho no Indians are in the school, yet some half breeds (Indians in Law) are and have been all the while. Therefore I claim this tract of land for the Religious Society to which such Missionaries belong. Against such claim there are the following reasons: Altho it is occupied by us it was sold to five men who are to pay $4437.83 for it and the claim itself is held by W. H. Wilson for which he is to receive one third of the whole except the said reserve of 60 acres & buildings. If he were to get provoked and proceed to litigate the question he might plead that at a certain time the Indian school was broken up and since then the chief part of the Miss.Ys. have been among the Whites and for their
1 I. E. For the Missionary Society rather than the semi-independent, and under the laws of the provisional government,' legally irresponsible, Board of Trustees.
2 The Indian Mission Manual Labor School, built in 1842, at what is now the city of Salem, Oregon, at the cost of about $10,000. It was an attempt to save the Indian youth by removing them both from the tribe and from contact with the white settlements.
3 The Indian School was closed in 1844, and the building sold to the Oregon Institute (now Willamette University).
