Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 1.djvu/55

Rh scale. As the success of the Americans' hopes rested now on settlement, this was, indeed, a critical moment for the advocates of provisional government and the final extension of the institutions of their native land. It was a time for heroic action, and the journey of Marcus Whitman will always be named as one of the most significant, as well as romantic events in the history of civil government in Oregon.

Such an ambassador could not fail of a hearing, and conferences were held both with the President, John Tyler, and the Secretary of State, Daniel Webster. Dr. Whitman emphasized the value of the country, and what was more significant, the possibility of reaching it by wagon. Any abandonment, however, of the Oregon cause beyond a reasonable compromise, seems scarcely possible to one who has traced the government's relation to the question from the beginning. And even such a compromise would seem uncalled for, when the northwestern boundary question stood by itself freed from other objects. Some of the friends and associates of Dr. Whitman, however, are authority for the statement that some such sacrifice was in contemplation and had practically been made before his appearance in Washington. If the evidence that comes to light confirms the advocacy of such a policy by Mr. Webster, it would have been a surprise to every one, and would have met a storm of opposition when made public, and could hardly have been ratified, in view of the fact that popular interest had never been greater, presidential support never more hopeful, and the records and traditions regarding the boundary line had never considered seriously any settlement below the forty-ninth degree of latitude.

Upon his return west in 1843, Mr. Whitman wrote to the Secretary of War an account of his journey, and the