Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/352



"Resolved — That our title to the whole territoi'y of Oregon is clear and un- questionable, that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power; and that the re-occupation of Oregon and the re-annexation of Texas, at the earliest practicable period, are great American measures which the convention recommends to the cordial support of the Democracy of the Union. ' '

Upon that platform, James K. Polk was nominated for president, and ac- cepted the nomination, promised if elected, to make good the claim to Oregon as set forth in the platform. He was elected over the "Whig candidate, Henry Clay, by a majority of sixty-five votes in the electoral college. Before Polk's nomina- tion or election, the Oregon question came up in the United States Senate for dis- cussion, and on January 4th, 1844, James Buchanan, afterwards president, de- clared in the Senate: "I will never agree to relinquish one foot of Oregon. If we rested our claims on discovei'y, it would not extend beyond the valley of the Oregon. But our claim is good as this book shows (referring to Greenhow's His- tory) for it rests on the old Spanish claim. Here in this book are translated copies of old Spanish voyages and documents, proving their title ; and thus also ours, by abundant testimony up to fifty-four degrees and forty minutes to a certainty."

Senator Thomas H. Benton speaking at the same time said: "As to the char- acter of our title to Oregon, there was a much broader and clearer claim than any mentioned by Senator Buchanan. We settled that territory. The settlement of it was the basis of our claim. The British never saw or heard of Oregon till we discovered it and put a badge of our sovereignty on it. Then Great Britain jumped down on Oregon, and now she was going to fight us for it. He would assure the gentlemen that we are not going to have another Massachusetts and Maine boundary question. There was to be no trembling and yielding in this case, as there was in the former one. No trembling hearts were to be found in the West. This was a western question, and the west had a regard for the National honor. ' '

Much more could be given of the same cjuality showing the temper of the western people, and the right of the nation to the whole of Oregon. The presi- dential campaign of 1844 was fought out on the Democratic cry of

."fifty-pour, forty, or fight."

The writer of this book remembers distinctly seeing those words emblazoned on the Democratic banners; and the hue and cry of the campaign orators de- nouncing the British in their attempt to steal a part of old Oregon, and appeal- ing to the voters to rally to the support of Polk and drive the British out of the Oregon wilderness, root and branch.

And after Polk was elected, and in his inaugural address on March 4th, 1845, he repeated the declaration of his party that nominated him in the very words of the platform on which he was elected. And then after being thus overwhelm- ingly elected on this very issue, on a direct referendum to the people, he hauled down the national colors, and made the treaty of June 15, 1846, which gave away to the British all the territory now included in British Columbia. And here is what the United States lost by Polk's treachery.

The British Columbia Year Book gives the area of the several political divis- ions of that Province as follows :