Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/121

 FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON 109 of 42 N. Lat. three only remained ; the United States, Great Britain and Russia. Up to this time, 1819, the position of Russia as a possible contestant for the region claimed by the United Sattes and by Great Britain, or by either of them, remained a matter of doubt. The activities of Russian explorers and adventurers in the North Pacific had been noted, and the undisputed claim of the Muscovite to the northwestern extremity of North America was little doubted. No indication, however, of the extent of this claim to the south along the coast had been adduced. Judge Prevost 2 ? as a result of his visit to the mouth of the Columbia was disturbed by the evident activities of the Russian American Company, and wrote Adams that up to 1816 there had been no Russian settlements on the American coast south of 55, and those which they had north of this point were inconsiderable. It appeared, however, that Hum- boldt's description of the region had aroused their ambition and since 1816 they had established a post not only at Atooi, in the Sandwich Islands, but one a few miles from San Fran- cisco Bay. After the Spanish treaty had been completed Adams let the Russian minister, de Poletica, examine it confidentially and take a copy for his government. This is the comment Adams makes in his diary : 28 "In allowing him to take a copy of the treaty I have shown him an unusual mark of confidence, with a view to its effect upon the Emperor. It is only a slight anticipation, for, whether ratified by Spain or not, the treaty must be published here, at least upon the next meeting of Congress. As the Emperor has evidently taken considerable interest in the late events of our relations wtih Spain, and wished that they might be amicably settled, it is important to satisfy him as early as pos- sible of the fairness and justice of our proceedings, and that if Spain now refuses the ratifications of the treaty it will be in her own wrong." 28 Memoirt, V, 376-7, under date of 28 May, 1819.
 * 7 Am. S. P., For R*l., IV. 855.