Page:History vs. the Whitman saved Oregon story.djvu/31

Rh from any. Congressional Debate on Oregon, nor from any report of a Congressional Committee on Oregon, nor from any report of any Government Explorer of Oregon, nor from any book of travels or magazine article about Or^on printed prior to the invention of the Whitman Saved Oregon story, in 1864-5, but quotes his favorite "original sources" for Oregon history, to wit.: Rev. H. H. Spalding's, Rev. C. Eells' and W. H. Gray's alleged "recollections" from 1864 to 1882, and the "recollections" of others whose ideas are plainly mere echoes of Spalding, C. Eells and Gray.

Prior to March, 1843, ^he Oregon Territory had been far more extensively and thoroughly explored and reported on (in government reports, books of travel and magazine articles) by our citizens, both government expeditions and private citizens; more often and more thoroughly debated in Congress; the subject of more numerous and elaborate reports of congressional committees; the object of more and more important diplomatic negotiations, than any other territorial acquisition we have made on this continent had been up to the date of its full accomplishment; and to the Oregon acquisition there was far less opposition—in Congress and out of it—than to that of any other of these acquisitions except Florida.

Oregon had been discussed at seventeen sessions of Congress, between 1821 and March 1, 1843. In these debates it was repeatedly declared, beginning as early as 1824, that Oregon was easily accessible by wagons over the low passes of the Rocky Mountains, even without any expenditure for road making.

The official record of these debates covers 300 columns, or about 250,000 words in "Annals of Congress," "Debates in Congress," and "Congressional Globe."

Yet Dr. Mowry deems it consistent with his duty as an "impartial historian" not only not to quote one word of all these debates, but not even to mention the above official reports (which are the only "original sources" for these debates).

To these seventeen sessions there were made eleven reports of committees of the Senate or House of Representatives, and besides there were read in the Senate or House the reports of special agents J. B. Provost (1822), Lieut. W. A. Slacum, of the navy (sent to Oregon by the state department by order of President Jackson in 1835, with special instructions to examine and report on everything important for our government to know about Oregon), whose report was read in the Senate in 1837, and was often referred to and quoted in later congressional discussions and in congressional committee reports, and of Secretary of War Poinsett, in 1840, recommending the establishment of a line of military posts from the Missouri River to the mouth of the Columbia.