Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 4.djvu/409

Rh Excerpts from St. Louis papers, 1832-1848, on the migration to and settlement of Oregon.

The American Society for encouraging the settlement of Oregon Territory, propose to enlist 1000 men for the purpose, to rendezvous in this city January next. Each man will receive gratuitously a lot of land. There is said to be "an immense water power up the Wallamott or Mulnomah."

An unlucky little paragraph of ours in relation to the prosperous colony at the mouth of the Columbia River has been the source of much trouble to us. We have been frequently addressed both by letter and in person for information upon the subject, without having the means of replying satisfactorily to querists. * * * We cannot now state whether the plan has been abandoned, but time has passed by when the adventurers were to have assembled here. The project originated in Boston, where, we believe, the principal officers of the society reside.

Thirty-six persons attached to this colony arrived in this city Friday last. They have since proceeded on their way.

We derive from a long letter in the National Intelligencer the following sketch of the Territory beyond the Rocky Mts., which is now the theme of debate in the U. S. Senate.

"Within a few years several Americans, of whom the writer is one, have crossed the Rocky Mts., to the mouth of the Columbia, with objects entirely unconnected with trade or commerce. Mine was a desire to see a new country, a love of adventure for its own sake, and an enthusiastic fondness for natural history. The party with which I traveled left Independence, Mo., about the latter part of April, 1834, and arrived at the British Fort, Vancouver, in September, having performed the whole journey on horseback. From this time until Oc-