Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/25

Rh many of them drifted south and joined the settlers in the Willamette Valley.

Nothing is of greater importance to an agricultural population than the possession of land. The indefinite tenure that would satisfy the trader in furs was entirely inadequate to the wants of the farmer. Fixity of tenure is the basis of an agricultural life. It is the assurance of a livelihood and the guarantee of a home. For the earliest settlers who came there was no assurance of possession beyond the good will of their fellow-men. So high was the sentiment of honor, however, that violations of good faith were few if any. But the increase of population rendered a more definite system desirable. Tenure to the land became, therefore, a motive in every effort that was made to secure a form of government. The Provisional government was welcome for that reason, as well as others, and no part of the plan was received with greater satisfaction than the land law. It assured the settlers of a tenure to the land upon which they had settled, which rested upon the consent of the community legally expressed and good until a better one could be obtained. When the territorial government was extended over Oregon, anxiety was felt at the action to be taken concerning the land, and the disappointment was great when the bill was reported without a law regarding the land. Contentment was not fully restored until the land law was passed and the settlers knew to what they were entitled and that their tenure was secured by the government of the United States.

Nature had provided a climate and soil that was favorable for the agricultural settler, and the records agree in regard to the phenomenal crops of those early days. But no provision had been made for the auxiliaries of farm-