Empire Building

BY FRANCIS E. SMITH, TACOMA, WASHINGTON

HE delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the 15th day of November 1777, and in the second year of the Independence of America, agree to certain articles of confederation and perpetual union. Each State retained its sovereignty, freedom and independence, every power, jurisdiction and right which was not delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled. For the more convenient management of the general interests of the United States, delegates were annually appointed in such manner as the legislature of each State directed. Each State was bound not to send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or treaty with any king, prince or state, without the consent of the United States Congress.

Acting under authority conferred upon it by the Articles of Confederation, Congress entered into a treaty of alliance with France, concluded February 6, 1778; ratified by Congress May 4, 1778. Under the terms of Article VI of the treaty, the King of France renounced forever possession of the islands of Bermudas, as well as any part of the continent of North America, which before the treaty of Paris in 1763, or in virtue of that treaty, were acknowledged to belong to the Crown of Great Britain, or to the United States, heretofore called British Colonies, or which were at that time, or had lately been under the power of the King and Crown of Great Britain. Under the terms of the treaty the United States Congress obtained a relinquishment of French claims to any part of the North American continent.

January 20, 1783, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, for the United States, and Alleyne Fitzherbert for England declared a cessation of hostilities between the United States of America and Great Britain. September 3, 1783, a treaty of definite peace was concluded between the United States of America and Great Britain.

The treaty was ratified by Congress January 14, 1784, and proclaimed the same day.

The definite treaty ceded to the United States all of the Northwest Territory, extending from the Ohio River on the south to the northwest point of the Lake of the Woods on the north, the Alleghany Mountains on the east to the Mississippi River on the west, together with the territory lying east of the Mississippi and north of Florida.

The first act of Congress relating to any of the territory ceded to the United States, situated outside the jurisdiction of any individual State, was to prohibit the purchase of land from the Indians by private individuals. This act of Congress has exerted a tremendous influence over the subsequent development and growth of the United States.

Independence and peace were established at the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain and the public mind was relieved from the excitement incident to a state of war. An examination into the actual condition of the country found a burden of a foreign debt of $8,000,000, a large sum for those days. A domestic debt of $30,000,000, was due the citizens, besides arrearages due the soldiers of the Revolutionary War. The country was in a serious condition owing to the inability to meet obligations. The Parliament of England determined upon a policy to cripple the young Republic by opening Upper Canada (Ontario) to settlement on the French seigneurial plan. Canada was platted in lots of 200 acres each, between concession lines a mile apart, the lots extending in nar row strips from one concession line to another. Land was offered to prospective settlers on certain conditions. Many Americans availed themselves of the opportunity of securing a home for themselves and their families. In the meantime discontent was growing in the United States and conditions were favorable to make shipwreck of self-government. The result was, the United States was being drained of some of its best blood. A way had to be provided to stop the leak.

During the month of July 1787, Congress passed the famous Northwest Ordinance which came to the resuce and gave the American people an opportunity of moving westward and establishing homes for themselves. The Ordinance was accepted by the Americans who had served in the Colonial Army during the Revolutionary

War and the veterans readily went in and occupied the land. The Ordinance prevented the settlers from forming an alliance with the foreign powers who occupied the lower Mississippi Valley. The same Ordinance also prevented American navigators from forming any alliance with the Spaniards or British on the Northwest Coast. The opening of the Northwest Territory to settlement led to the Louisiana Purchase. The acquisition of Louisiana called for the establishment of boundary lines for the unbounded territory. The first move in that direction was the attempt to survey the boundary between Louisiana and Texas. Spanish authorities in Texas opposed the survey. While the attention of the Spaniards was directed towards the survey, Lewis and Clark made their famous overland expedition to the mouth of the Columbia River.

The opening of the Northwest Territory to settlement led to many wild-cat schemes of colonization. During the month of September, 1787, a company of Boston merchants fitted out two vessels for a voyage of commercial adventure and discovery to the Northwest Coast of North America. The owners of the ships instructed the commander of the expedition, John Kendrick, that in the event of his making any improvements he was to purchase land from the natives, and if conditions warranted it, he should purchase tracts of land in the name of the owners. Acting under his instructions, Kendrick purchased several tracts of land from the natives in the name of the owners. During this time England and Spain abandoned the country, leaving the American sea-captain in full possession.

The owners conceived the idea of selling the land to Europeans and established a real estate office at No. 24 Threadneedle Street, London, for the purpose of putting the land on the market. The London real-estate agents published a circular in four European languages inviting prospective buyers. For ingenuity in colonization scheme it is unsurpassed in the annals of history. The circular was worded as follows:

TO THE INHABITANTS OF EUROPE

The era of reason is now dawning upon mankind, and the restraints on men's laudable endeavors to be useful will cease. The agents for the sale of American lands, therefore, take this method of informing all classes of men in Europe that by application at their office, No. 24, Threadneedle Street, London, they may meet

objects worthy of their serious attention. That such as wish to hold lands (though aliens) in America, may purchase to any amount, on very low terms, and a perfectly secure tenure.

That such as may be inclined to associate for settling a commonwealth on their own code of laws, on a spot of the globe no where surpassed in delightful situation, healthy climate and fertile soil, claimed by no civilized nation, and purchased under a sacred treaty of amity and commerce, and for a valuable consideration, of the friendly natives, may have the best opportunity of trying the result of such an enterprise.

Needless to say that the circular was not taken seriously by the inhabitants of Europe, for we have no record that the circular obtained one settler for the Northwest Coast. The Lewis and Clark expedition was followed by the establishment of Fort Astoria near the mouth of the Columbia River. The fort was erected by members of the American Fur Company, on soil claimed by no civilized nation.

The American Fur Company was founded by John Jacob Astor, German by birth, English by education, American by naturalization. Ostensibly his purpose in founding Astoria on the Columbia River was to engage in the fur-trade, but apparently he intended the founding of a new American colony, unconnected with the United States, as the following extract from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson, indicates:

"I considered it as a great acquisition, the commencement of a settlement in that part of the western coast of America, and looked forward with gratification to the time when its descendants had spread themselves through the whole length of the coast, covering it with free and independent Americans, unconnected with us but by the ties of blood and interest, and enjoying like us the rights of self-government."

The Astor plan for the founding of Astoria was broad and comprehensive. It embraced the sending a land expedition across the continent, and a maritime expedition to double Cape Horn to the Pacific Ocean and north along the coast to the Columbia River. The maritime expedition was the first to arrive, during the month of March, 1811. Immediately upon arrival, the members of the expedition set to work erecting a fort and buildings for shelter. All went well until the 15th of July, the same year.

During the year 1801 the Northwest Fur Company of Montreal

determined to extend their fur-trade to the west side of the Rocky Mountains and if possible to the Pacific Ocean. The enterprise was entrusted to David Thompson with instructions to attempt the hazardous undertaking. Thompson crossed the Rocky Mountains to the head waters of McGillivray's River. His progress was intercepted by an overwhelming force of eastern Indians which obliged him to make a most desperate retreat of six days. The eastern Indians dreaded the western Indians being furnished with arms and ammunition. The Lewis and Clark expedition directed the attention of the eastern Indians to the head waters of the Missouri River. Thompson succeeded in crossing the Rocky Mountains and establishing himself on the head waters of the Columbia in the year 1807, where he built a fortified post and stockades, whence he explored the country, descending the Columbia to Fort Astoria, July 15, 1811. Acting on his own initiative, he placed a British flag at the door of the fort, by so doing issuing a defy to the United States government in the name of Great Britain. From the moment the British flag was placed at the door of Fort Astoria to this day the United States government has claimed the territory. There is no literature extant that indicates that the United States intended making any part of the Oregon Country United States territory. Great Britain recognized United States military control over the territory by sending the sloop of war, "Raccoon," to take the fort during the War of 1812.

The Northwestern Fur Company compelled the American Fur Company to sell out their interests and withdraw from the country. Fort Astoria was renamed Fort George. The men of the fort gave unrestrained liberty to their passions and soon the natives became afflicted with the white man's vice diseases, their condition becoming deplorable in the extreme. Ross Cox writing on this phase of the conditions issues a call for missionaries of the gospel of Jesus Christ to be sent among the natives.

Following the Astor enterprise came the immigration schemes of Hall J. Kelley, a lover of travel and exploration. As early as 1815, he became interested in the Oregon Country, gathering all the information obtainable relating to that disputed domain. He organized a land expedition in 1828, which failed; this followed by an attempt to fit out an expedition by sea, which also failed. In the year 1829, he incorporated a society for Oregon immigration, lands