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At the time of the Vigilance Committee the Know-nothing party was in control, having elected Neely Johnson governor; but the struggle in which that party won victory was unimportant. The real struggle was yet to come, first within the dominant Democratic party between the proslavery and anti-slavery factions, and secondly between this party and the new Republican organization. The approach of the Civil War found the political tide in California running high. The Democratic factions had long been following the two great leaders, Senator Gwin and David C. Broderick, the first the leader of the Southern sympathizers, the second of the anti-slavery or Northern people. Gwin had been. successful until in the legislative session of 1855 Broderick was able to prevent his reëlection to the United States Senate, leaving the seat vacant to be filled at the next session [1857]. By that time the other senator's term was likewise about to expire, and Broderick managed to secure his own election to this seat, allowing Gwin to succeed himself for the short term, but on condition that all Federal patronage be relinquished to Broderick. This was a new cause of rupture in the momentarily reunited Democracy, the Southern contingent resenting bitterly the subordination of their chosen leader. In Washington the great debate of the decade drew Broderick to the support of the free State constitution in Kansas, and when he returned to California in 1859 he proceeded to reorganize the Democratic party on that issue. But before the election a combination was effected between his faction and the Republicans, which, in 1860, brought that party into control in the State with Leland Stanford as governor. A feature of the campaign was the slaying of Broderick by Judge Terry, of the State Supreme Court, who was undoubtedly put forward as the first of a series of challengers pledged to destroy this redoubtable political antagonist. His death and his dying words: "They killed me because I was opposed to the extension of slavery," helped powerfully to create that enthusiasm for the cause of freedom with which California

entered upon the period of the Civil War. The new State on the Pacific was to demonstrate its patriotism at this crisis in national affairs by sending east thousands of its young men for the defence of the Union, and by giving of its wealth with characteristic liberality for the support of Union principles.

Another grave question awaiting adjustment at the time of the new State's birth was that of land titles. Much of the interior valley was covered by Mexican grants, while other places were harassed with mission and pueblo grants running back, some of them, into the Spanish period. About the time of the conquest a number of great tracts were given away by the California authorities under circumstances strongly suggesting fraud. Therefore, when the United States government came into control it appeared that a large share of the territory had already ceased to be public domain. The government had agreed, by the terms of the Mexican treaty, to respect all rights of property; but many in and out of Congress felt that the question of California land titles ought at least to be investigated, which would have been justifiable from the known frequency of fraud in making the later grants. But, at the instance of Senator Gwin, Congress unwisely passed a law requiring all holders of lands under Spanish and Mexican titles to prove their right of property, an act which brought great and needless distress, trouble, and expense upon the native Californians.

Some of these land title questions remained unsettled until about 1870; but by the end of the decade of 1860 much progress had been made in their adjustment, and a large agricultural population had planted itself in the great valley and in other fertile sections of the State. It was partly the growth of agriculture which had caused the mercantile depression of 1854 and 1855 in San Francisco, local production of wheat, pork, and other food stuffs playing havoc with the shipping interests of the port. Manufacturing, also, especially of lumber and of mineral products, was becoming an important industry. The population of the State had grown from 92,579 in 1850 to 379,994 in 1860. San Francisco was a city of 56,000.

CHAPTER XIX

A DECADE OF NORTHWESTERN HISTORY

WHILE events of so momentous a nature had been in progress in California, most important changes had occurred within the limits of the Oregon Territory. To the ordinary American mind, as we can readily understand, California had almost come to represent the entire Pacific coast. Oregon, a name which at one time was on the lips of poets, statesmen, philanthropists, adventurers, and pioneers alike, had apparently lost much of its charm and potency; the achievements of its early explorers, its missionaries and first settlers, were forgotten; while the Territory itself was commonly thought of in its geographical relations to the land of gold. The tendencies of Pacific coast history had been completely reversed by the gold discovery and the universal rush to the mines. The very roadway across plains and mountains, carved by the pioneers of Oregon, had, since the momentous season of 1849, been known as the "California trail"; and were it not that the older title had at an earlier time been affixed to Parkman's famous book of travel and description, it is possible that the "Oregon trail" would have been completely lost to history. Even the most intelligent Easterners, like Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican, who visited the Pacific coast with Speaker Colfax in 1865, knew almost nothing of Oregon. He declared that he was prepared for California, but that Oregon was a revelation. Yet the decade immediately

preceding the Civil War had brought to the region a substantial development, less dramatic than that of California, but indicative of steady growth and prophetic of ultimate greatness.

It would be impossible to say just how far the gold discovery and the extraordinary activities in the south were. responsible for changes further north, but unquestionably these imparted new life to the Pacific coast as a whole. In August, 1848, there were in Oregon something like thirteen thousand people, living for the most part on farms scattered through the Willamette valley. A few score dwelt upon the waters of Puget Sound, and along the road and river line from Budd's Inlet to the Columbia; a few others were centred about Fort Vancouver. The densest settlements were in the lower and middle portions of the great valley, where, besides the farm homes, were to be found a few small villages, of which Oregon City, with a population of about eight hundred, was the largest and most important.

Trade conditions had not been very propitious in Oregon for several years prior to 1850. Before the great emigrations began to arrive in the country, the supply of wheat was always very limited. The demand came partly from the Hudson's Bay Company and partly from the newcomers arriving each fall overland. Sometimes the latter required nearly the entire surplus, and always every bushel of wheat could be exchanged at the company's store at a reasonable profit. But the area of cultivation had been increased, and the surplus product had become larger than the demand. Others besides the fur company entered the mercantile field, yet the market for wheat improved very slowly. All the settlers, with a few individual exceptions, were poor. Many families, straining every resource to build a home for their future security, found even the ordinary comforts of life temporarily beyond their means. Of plain food there was an abundance, for nearly all were farmers, and the rich soil produced grain and vegetables almost without stint, while cattle and hogs were usually plentiful, and wild game still

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