Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/237

 THE VANCOUVER RESERVATION CASE. 229 and all other British subjects (for 1,200,000) and concluded bv giving the decree for the defendants. A motion for a rehearing was granted, but before the case was re-argued Washington was admitted as a State. The in- cluded territory became a judicial district, and in July, 1890, the case was presented and argued de novo before District Judge Hanford. He reserved his decision, but on the third of November gave it in favor of the defendants. His opinion was based on a clear and exhaustive analysis of the case. It is for the most part too technical for general interest. He noted the fact that the church took no measures to establish its claim until after the military reservation had been de- clared, and for that reason the claim of the defendants was superior in equity to that of the plaintiff. The case finally went up to the Supreme Court of the United States and was heard and decided in the October term of 1894. There was no dissenting opinion and Justice Brewer announced the decision of the court in affirming the decisions of the courts below. The court noted the fact that the Bishop of Quebec ordered the priests to establish the mission OH the Cowlitz and that they were directed to report to the Hudson Bay officials only for advice. It held that the decisions of the Commissioner of the Land Office were final as to facts but not as to laws. The fact was noted that when the military took possession of the land in dispute, they found there no representatives of the mission. It was decided that occupancy and possession were absolutely essential to make good the claim. The case of the Methodist Church Mission at The Dalles was cited, where the mission claim lapsed for lack of continued occupancy (U. S. 107.) The interest in this case is not in the legal decisions, which have no applications to present conditions. It appeals to us as a historic picture. In recalling the incidents of the long contest, the palisades of the old Hudson Bay fort seem to take shape again on the banks of the Columbia. The triangular pennon of the com- pany, with its rampant beaver and serrated edge, floats again