Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/119

 FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON 107 19 had in view not only the quieting of the Spanish title to the Floridas but of fixing the boundary, still in dispute, between the Mexican possessions of His Catholic Majesty and the whole Louisiana Territory so far as the two regions were contigu- ous. It was, indeed, this western boundary, and particularly that portion which should determine the northern bounds of Mexico, upon which the negotiations threatened to break. 2 * It was a case of a wily Spaniard using all the tricks which the diplomacy of the time approved struggling with an un- yielding New England Yankee. 25 After the announcement by Senor Onis that his government at his earnest solicitation had agreed to a line running from the Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia, Adams protested that the United States could never accept this line, although the proposition would be considered if reduced to writing. For a month after this offer the matter swung in the balance : Senor Onis, part of the time acting through Monsieur De Neuville, the French minister, protested vehemently that Spain would never grant all that the United States demanded. Little by little, however, he receded, first to the South Branch of the Columbia, and from there to a line which would follow the Red River to 100 West Long., thence north to the Arkansas River, and up that stream to its source, from which point the line would run due west to the Multnomah River and along the river to 43 N. Lat, thence due west to the sea. This line the President was inclined to accept, but the Secretary of State opined that if Onis yielded so much and intended to conclude the treaty at all, better terms could be obtained, and, as a feeler, drafted an article suggesting a line between 101 and 102 West Long, and along 41 N. Lat. Thereupon Onis proposed the Arkansas to its source, thence to 42 N. Lat., and west to the Multnomah, down the river to 43 and west to the ocean. Again President Monroe was for taking up with this offer, but again the Secretary was adamant, insisting more- over that the west bank of rivers rather than the middle of river beds should be the boundary. "After a long and violent 25 In addition to the diplomatic correspondence to be found in Am. S. P., a much more intimate and personal relation is contained in Adams' Memoirs. See especially IV., 219, 221, 237, 239, 244, 246, 250, 255.