Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/337

 FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON 319 He did, however, confide to his aged friend that the matter had been talked over with Lord Ashburton, who thought that if England were allowed to come down to the Columbia she would not oppose a cession to the United States by Mexico of territory south of 42 to include San Francisco, if that could be obtained. "What an abime of duplicity !" was Adams' comment in his diary, and a few days later noted that all these factors, includ- ing the Texan expedition to Santa Fe of the previous year, were all suckers of the same root. The original project of enlarging the territory of the United States by annexing Texas had grown so that it embraced a scheme to secure all New Mexico. "Ap Catesby Jones's occupation of Monterey, Dr. Linn's bill for the organization of the Oregon Territory, and, above all, the tampering of Webster with the Mexican minister here, Almonte, by a proposition that Mexico should cede to the United States the port of San Francisco and the parallel of thirty-six of north latitude across the continent, to buy the consent of Great Britain, with a cession to her from forty-nine to the Columbia River, represent altogether a spectacle and prospect truly appalling." Webster had in fact discussed the situation with President Tyler who saw the political value of the suggestion. Tyler believed that if a treaty with Mexico could secure at the same time a recognition of the independence of Texas and a cession of California to the United States all sections of the country would be satisfied. "Texas might not stand alone, nor would the line proposed for Oregon. Texas would reconcile all to the line, while California would reconcile or pacify all to Oregon." 14 Tyler recurred to this triangular arrangement when, after the publication of Folk's first Annual Message, he explained to his son his own attitude in the negotiations with Great Britain, referring especially to Folk's statement that he had offered 49 as a compromise. "I never dreamed," said he, "of ceding this country, unless for the greater equiva- lent of California, which I fancied Great Britain might be 14 Tyler to Webster, 23 Jan., 1843; Tyler, Letters and Times of the Tylers, II, 261,