Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/238

 226 LESTER BURRELL SHIPPER Indian population of some five hundred. All of these people, including the missionaries, who were not directly employed by the Company were engaged in agriculture, having taken land wherever they desired with the expectation that their titles would be confirmed when the boundary was settled. The Company had fostered an agricultural undertaking of its own. In 1837 the question had come before the directors in London and it had been decided that, as agricultural pursuits were so radically opposed to the primary object of the organ- ization, a separate company should be formed. Accordingly the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, which was not to engage in trapping or fur trading, took over all the Hudson's Bay Company's farming interests. Nevertheless all the stock of the new company was held by stock-holders in the old Com- pany and its officers were chosen from among the officers of the parent organization. A region north of the Columbia River, toward the upper part of the Cowlitz River was chosen for exploitation, but the company was not a success and the holders of its securities were glad to dispose of its possessions to the United States in 1867. Sir George not only discovered that there were American settlers in Oregon, but he found an even more significant symptom of the growing interest that country afforded the United States. An exploring expedition had been authorized by Congress in 1835 but its departure had been delayed until 1838. This delay had made it possible for Dr. Linn's sugges- tion that some time be devoted to exploring the Oregon coun- try to be incorporated in the instructions for Lieutenant Wilkes, who was directed to note especially the topographic and strategic features of the country. 17 Sir George was at Vancouver at the same time the Wilkes Exploring Expedition was at work in the region, and from conversations with the men he was not reassured as to the future for his Company. The year 1842 saw a considerable increase in the population of Oregon. The agitation in Congress of the previous winter, when Linn's efforts made it seem possible that the next session 17 The Report is in Cong. Record, XLVII, 3120-26.