Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/285



THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OK OUKOON UiO

" It wan moved and set-oiuU'd, tluit the Indians reeeive one-liali' as much as the whites.

'■ It was moved ami sccoiuled tiiat ail eiaims, i'or bounlies, be presented williin ten days i'rom tiie time of becoming entitled to said bounties, and, if there should be any doubts, the individual claiming a bounty shall give his oath to the various circumstances, which was carried.

"On motion, W. H. Gray was chosen treasurer.

"It was moved, that Messrs. JMcRoy, Gei'\'ai.s, Mantine, 8. Smith, Doughty, O'Neil, Shortess, and Lucier, be the standing committee, which motion was carried.

"It was moved, that G. \V. Le Breton and Mr. Bridges be the collectors, carried.

"On motion, the first resolution was adopted.

' ■ ' h'vsulved — That no money be paid to any white, or his descendants, previ- ous to the time of his subscription.

" ' Kcsohrd — That the bounty of a minor child be paid to a parent or guardian.

" 'Resolved — That the draft for receiving subscriptions, lie drawn by ilr. Gi-ay and Mr. Le Breton.

" 'Resolved — That drafts on Fort Vancouver, the mission, and the nulling company, be received on subscriptions, as pa.yment.

" 'Resolved — That a committee be appointed to take into consideration the propriety of taking measures foi' llie civil and military protection of this colony.

" 'Resolved — That said connuittee consist of twelve persons:

" 'Messrs. Dr. Ira L. Babcock, Dr. E. L. White, James O'Neil, Robert Shortess, Robert Newell, Etienne Lucier, Joseph Gervais, Thomas Jeffer.son Hubbard, Wil- liam H. Gray, Solomon H. Smith, Charles ilcRoy and George Gay."

"On motion the meeting adjourned.

"G. W. Le Breton, James O'Neil.

' ' Secretary. President.

This record shows that up to this point, when the whole cjuestion of the or- ganization of a government was placed in the hands of a committee of twelve rep- resentative settlers, there was no discrimination in favor of the Protestant mission- aries, or against the Catholics or Canadian French. The Americans were in the majority, at all these preliminary meetings, and instead of ignoring or discrimin- ating against any class or religion, they carefully recognized all classes and relig- ions as fully entitled to participate in any proposed organization. Vicar General Blanchet was chairman of the committee of February 18, 1841, while Donpierre, Charlevon, Lucier, Laderaut, Billique and Le Breton, all members of the Catholic church, were on the committee with him or appointed to other important po- sitions. Yet, notwithstanding this, Blanchet resigned his trust in June, 1841. And although the meeting of M&rch 1, 1843, was appointed for and held at the house of a Catholic Frenchman — Joseph Gervais — who was also appointed a mem- ber of the final committee of twelve on organization — yet Blanchet was able to pull out every Catholic and Frenchman from the meeting of March 1, 1843, except Le Breton and Lucier. And to fully understand this movement in the wilderness of Oregon, attention is called to the fact that the })nlilic meeting at t