family was supplied with flour enough for one baking." Another pioneer of 1845, who has left an account of the arrival of the party in Oregon was Stephen Staats. "On our arrival (at Oregon City)," said Mr. Staats, in his address before the Oregon Pioneer Association in 1877, "those of us in advance were kindly and hospitably received by old Dr. McLoughlin. He immediately furnished us with provisions, without money and without price." The immigration of 1845 is the last with which we are concerned here. Before the arrival of the immigrants the following year, McLoughlin's resignation from the Hudson's Bay Company had taken effect.

In forming any adequate estimate of the assistance rendered by McLoughlin to the early immigrants, two facts must be borne in mind, namely, that his action was in direct opposition to the policy of his Company, and that while he was performing these works of kindness he was aware that members of the Methodist Mission were trying to rob him of his extensive land claim at Oregon City. Of this injustice we shall speak presently. In answer to the question whether the Secular Department of the Methodist Mission assisted the early immigrants in a way similar to what was done by Dr. McLoughlin, Mr. Holman writes (page 89): "If so, I have found no trace nor record of it. Undoubtedly Methodist missionaries, individually, did many kindly acts to destitute immigrants. Had Dr. McLoughlin acted with the supineness of the Methodist Mission towards the immigrants of 1843, 1844, and 1845, and especially that of 1843, the consequences would have been terrible."

The Hudson's Bay Company, as has been said, was opposed to the humanitarianism displayed by Dr. McLoughlin. In 1845 Capt. Warre and Lieut. Vavasour, of the British army, were sent to Oregon as spies. They remained in the neighborhood of Vancouver for some time and were present when McLoughlin succored the American immigrants of 1845. They also learned how he had given assistance to the settlers of preceding years and they charged him in their report with being unfaithful to his country and to his company. As regards the claims of England, it will be remembered that the Oregon

Country during McLoughlin's administration was in a condition of Joint Occupancy as provided by the Convention of 1818 between our country and Great Britain. Consequently American citizens in the Oregon Country had precisely the same rights as had British subjects. The Hudson's Bay Company had, indeed, a monopoly of the fur trade from the British government, but with the express stipulation that American traders should not be interfered with. The special advantages of the Company had enabled it to maintain a practical monopoly in Oregon for a quarter of a century and it naturally enough came to regard the Americans as trespassing on its private reserves. Dr. McLoughlin answered the charge in a dignified manner. He pointed out that his action was for the best interests of the Company; he had neither the right nor the power to drive the Americans out of the territory; consequently he did his best to prevent them from becoming idle and dangerous to the Company. He admitted giving assistance to the early immigrants, saving the lives and property of the sick and destitute, and of making it possible for the settlers to raise a crop for themselves and for the next year's immigrants, instead of permitting them to become dependent on the Company for support. "If we had not done this," said he, "Vancouver would have been destroyed and the world would have judged us, treated as our inhuman conduct deserved; every officer of the Company, from the Governor down, would have been covered with obloquy, the Company's business in this department would have been ruined, and the trouble which would have arisen in consequence would have probably involved the British and American nations in war. If I have been the means, by my measures of arresting any of these evils, I shall be amply repaid by the approbation of my conscience."

Sir George Simpson, who was Governor-in-Chief of the Hudson's Bay Company, criticised McLoughlin very severely for assisting the Americans. The correspondence became very bitter. McLoughlin declared that no person possessed of common humanity could do otherwise than he had done. This brought back the command from Simpson to render no more assistance to the immigrants under any circumstances. Mc

Loughlin replied with his resignation; "If such is your order I will serve you no longer." That was in 1845. Twelve months had to elapse before the resignation became effective. In 1846 he retired to Oregon City to pass his remaining days on the land claim he had taken up as early as 1829. As Chief Factor he had received $12,000 annually and despite the loss of many thousand dollars through the fault of the early immigrants, he was still a wealthy man for those days. He looked forward to a peaceful and happy old age in his new home. But he was destined to bitter disappointment in his hopes.

Before McLoughlin retired to Oregon City in 1846, his land claim had been disputed by members of the Methodist Mission. Late years have brought into prominence the Oregon Land Frauds. The events which we shall now narrate may well be called the Original Oregon Land Fraud.'

In 1829, several years before the arrival of any of the Mission party, McLoughlin had taken possession for himself as a personal claim, of the present site of Oregon City with the water power at the falls of the Willamette River and also of an island situated near the crest of the falls, later known as Governor's Island, but now called Abernethy Island. The position of the island made it extremely valuable for the use of water-power. It is now the site of a station of the Portland General Electric Company. In 1829 Dr. McLoughlin began the erection of a saw-mill at the falls. Three years later he had a mill-race blasted out of the rocks at the head of the island. In 1840 Rev. Jason Lee, Superintendent of the Methodist Mission applied to him for the loan of some timbers with which to erect the Mission building. McLoughlin gave him the timbers and a piece of land on which to build. Within a short time after the arrival of the ship Lausanne in 1840, with the "great reinforcement" for the Methodist Mission, there appeared a disposition on the part of Rev. Alvin Waller, who was given charge of the local mission near Oregon City, to defraud McLoughlin of his land claim. The following year another representative of the Mission, named Hathaway, began to build on the island. McLoughlin protested and Hathaway ceased building. In 1842 McLoughlin became a Catholic. He spent the month of De

cember of that year on his claim laying it out into blocks and lots and gave it the name 'Oregon City.' Five days after McLoughlin's conversion, Hathaway deeded the island to the Oregon Milling Company, most of the members of which belonged to the Methodist Mission. By this deed Hathaway conveyed to that Company all his "rights" (sic) to the island, and further undertook to defend the title against all persons (the Lord excepted).” Of course, Hathaway had absolutely no "right" to the island. He had "jumped " McLoughlin's claim. The island was subsequently "conveyed" to Governor Abernethy; whence the name Abernethy Island. In 1849 Abernethy in turn conveyed his title to the island to W. P. Bryant, the first territorial Chief Justice of Oregon. Judge Bryant's district included Oregon City. One can readily see what chance of legal redress now remained. While Hathaway was religiously conveying rights and titles to an island he never owned, the Rev. Alvin Waller retained legal counsel and laid claim to all of the rest of McLoughlin's land. In order to avoid trouble McLoughlin bought up Waller's ridiculous pretensions. For the consideration of five hundred dollars Waller surrendered to McLoughlin "all claims, rights and pretensions whatsoever " to the tract of land in dispute. This was in 1844. Apparently the trouble was definitely settled; in reality it had just begun.

The conspiracy against McLoughlin assumed definite form in 1849 when Samuel Thurston was elected Territorial Delegate to Congress from Oregon through the efforts of the Mission Party. The legislation in which Oregon was chiefly interested at that time was the passage of a land bill by which settlers could obtain a legal title to their land. And with Thurston manipulating this piece of legislation, we come to the event we have called the Original Oregon Land Fraud. The Oregon Donation Land Bill, the passage of which was urged by Thurston, was so framed as to secure to the early settlers a title to their lands, with one specific exception. By the terms of Section Eleven of the Bill, the Oregon City Claim (i. e. Dr. McLoughlin's land) was to be put at the disposal of the Legislative Assembly for the establishment of a State University. It was further provided that Abernethy Island and such lots in

Oregon City as were held by anyone except Dr. John McLoughlin should be secured to the respective holders. The effect of this section of the Bill was simply to confiscate by Act of Congress all of McLoughlin's land, amounting to nearly six hundred and forty acres, including the site of Oregon City. All persons who had secured pieces of land from McLoughlin, previous to March 4, 1849, whether fraudulently, e. g. the Abernethy Island, or by purchase, were to be confirmed in their title. To secure the passage of a Bill containing such an iniquitous provision required more than ordinary duplicity. Thurston came to the task fully prepared to carry out the behests of those to whom he must look for re-election. To compass his ends he issued a letter to the members of the House of Representatives concerning the proposed Bill, and in particular, concerning Section Eleven. The part of the letter devoted to the discussion of McLoughlin's claim is a tissue of deliberate falsehoods. Among other mis-statements, Thurston declared: "This claim has been wrongfully wrested by Dr. McLoughlin from American citizens. The Methodist Mission first took the claim, with the view of establishing here their mills and Missions. They were forced to leave it under the fear of having the savages of Oregon let loose upon them; and, successively, a number of citizens of our country have been driven from it while Dr. McLoughlin was yet at the head of the Hudson's Bay Company, west of the Rocky Mountains. Having at his command the Indians of the country, he has held it by violence and dint of threats up to this time." Again; "He (McLoughlin) is still an Englishman, still connected in interests with the Hudson's Bay Company, and still refuses to file his intentions to became an American citizen."

McLoughlin had declared his intention of becoming an American citizen on May 30 of the previous year and had voted at the general election in June against Thurston as Thurston was well aware. The calumny that McLoughlin had wrongfully wrested the claim from American citizens was so outrageous that Thurston thought it best to keep his letter to the Representatives from becoming known in Oregon until after the pass