Page:Essays in Historical Criticism.djvu/45

Rh addressed them as follows:—'My countrymen! You have trusted me thus far; believe me now, and I will take your wagons to Columbia River. "I may not be able to furnish evidence entirely satisfactory to others; but in view of all the past relating to this subject,—of which I have been an eye and ear witness since August, 1838,—I am prepared to say that to my mind there is not the shadow of a doubt that Dr. Whitman, by his efforts with President Tyler and Secretary Webster, in 1843, and his agency during the same year in conducting an immigrant wagon train from the western frontier to the Columbia River, was instrumental in saving a valuable portion of this Northwest to the United States. Am I extravagant in adding, that the importance of this service to our country will not be likely to be overestimated? When the iron track of the North Pacific railroad shall have the two oceans for its termini, and the commerce of the world shall move over the most direct route; and when the latent resources of this vast region shall have been fully developed, there will be a theme worthy of the best endeavors of the statesman and the orator."

Secretary Treat's comment is as follows:

"While it is apparent from the letters of Dr. Whitman at the Missionary House, that, in visiting the Eastern States in 1842-43, he had certain missionary objects in view (of which Mr. Eells may not have been cognizant), it is no less clear that he would not have come at that time, and probably he would not have come at all, had it not been for his desire to save the disputed territory to the United States. It was not simply an American question, however; it was at the same time a Protestant question. He was fully alive to the efforts which the Roman Catholics were making to gain the mastery of the Pacific coast and he was firmly persuaded that they were working in the interest of the Hudson's Bay Company with a view to this very end. The danger from this quarter had made a profound impression upon Ms mind. Under date of April 1, 1847, he said: 'In the autumn of 1842 I pointed out to our mission the arrangements of the papists to settle in our vicinity, and that it only required that those arrangements should be completed to close our operations.'"