Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 1.djvu/38

26 Jackson, and his policy seems to have been one simply of watchfulness and the gaming of knowledge. To this end William A. Slacum, of the United States Navy, was appointed as a special agent, to visit Oregon and examine the conditions. This is important, as marking the policy the government intended to pursue while things were in process of transition. If the protection given was not adequate, it at least dispels the suspicion of utter heartlessness which would attach to a government which would let its citizens go, in support of its own interests, into this wilderness, without a single thought for their safety.

When the question, therefore, next came up for discussion, conditions had considerably changed. Traders had ventured into the country, missionary stations had been established, more knowledge of the country had been gained, a more careful examination of the title had been made by the conference which met in 1827, and the cause had enlisted the interest of some of the strongest men in political life.

In the second campaign the initiative was tranferred from the house to the senate, and an able leader was found in the senator from Missouri, Dr. Lewis F. Linn. He was the colleague of Benton, and a man commanding the highest esteem of his associates. The attack began by a bill of February, 1838, for the occupation of the Columbia and the establishment of a civil government similar to previous bills. Meeting with failure, it was followed, as in the previous campaign, by several others, and, in spite of the assembling of the conference for the settlement of the northeastern boundary, in 1842, the discussions were carried on with a nearness to that event which seemed dangerous to Mr. Linn's associates. Shortly after the adjournment of the conference the discussions were renewed. As in the case of Floyd's bills,