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discussions in congress, and the popularity of Linn's bill with the missionary efforts herein narrated, resulted in a pronounced emigration movement. It began in 1842, when a hundred persons followed Elijah White westward. The conclusion of the Ashburton treaty in August, although it disappointed the people by not settling the Oregon boundary, was an indication that further amicable arrangements might be made in the near future, besides removing the obstruction in congress to the passage of Linn's bill.

There was at this time a large body of men in the western border states who were dissatisfied with their condition as a producing community without a market. The era of railroads had not yet dawned. New Orleans was the only outlet for the country bordering on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and this market was glutted. The United States had no (391)