Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/316

 308 FREDERICK V. HOLMAN.

men ted with the willow-pattern in blue. Dr. McLousrhlin first sent a party of about thirty men, under the leadership of Tom McKay, who went overland to Point Grenville. The country along the coast was very rough and almost impass- able. This party became discouraged and returned without rescuing the Japanese. Dr. McLoughlin then instructed the captain of the brig Lama to land at the place of the shipwreck and to rescue the Japanese. This the captain accomplished, after great trouble, and brought these three Japanese to Fort Vancouver in the spring of 1834. Under Dr. McLaughlin's di- rections they were restored to health and treated kindly until he could send them to England. From England they were taken to China. THE EARLY OREGON IMMIGRANTS. It was the policy of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Oregon Country to protect the company's fur trade and to prevent the settlement of the Oregon Country, particularly by citizens of the United States. This company desired that the Oregon Country should not become civilized and, especi- ally, should not be Americanized. It wished the country for its own use, to be kept a wilderness for the production of fur- bearing animals, and to have it belong to, or to be under the. control of, Great Britain. But there came a great movement of people of the United States to occupy, to settle, and to have and to hold a large part of the Oregon Country, particularly the Willamette Valley. They did not come as friends of Great Britain or of the Hudson 's Bay Company. They were strong in their Ameri- canism. The first of these home-building immigrations came in 1843. There were nearly nine hundred of them men, women, and children. They arrived at old Fort Walla Walla, on the Columbia River, about the middle of October, 1843. The winter was coming on. Snow had fallen on them in the Blue Mountains. Their provisions were almost exhausted, their clothing nearly worn out. Some went to The Dalles by water. A few of these were drowned in the dangerous rapids of the Columbia River. Many took their wagons with their