Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 11.djvu/354

 324 W. C. Woodward United States in 1818 and renewed in 1827, the two nations were to have equal rights of settlement in the Oregon country pending an agreement as to the ownership of the contested territory. The settlers were thus entering a partnership rela- tion solely on the chance that they would be able to oust the other partner and secure control. Any other sequel would render their venture a failure. What were some of the more general conditions affecting settlement? "The motives promoting it were varied, some old as the story of the race, some particular and local, but all to be taken into consideration as factors in that composite product — the future citizenship of Oregon. The one most widely appli- cable is doubtless to be found in the "force of the ever im- pelling westward movement — an inborn passion leading to new westward regions." 1 But this does not signify the pioneer to have been a mere first grade tramp — an irresponsible "wan- derer in the earth." If he responded to this potent Wander- lust, he had a reason for his action. This big, all-inclusive spirit and movement which has given the distinctive character to our American civilization is certainly not based on mere whim and caprice. Whatever else he may have been, the typical emigrant was preeminently a home seeker and a home builder ; not primarily a gold seeker, an explorer, a land speculator, nor an agent of political or religious dogma. This meant the possession of moral tone and stability. It gave the new community from the first that element of permanency as a sure basis for future political action. Various factors, more or less significant, entered into this general motif of home building. The greatest was doubtless economic. Many of the pioneers had lived in the interior, west of the Mississippi river, with few or no transportation facili- ties for taking their products to a market. They had thus borne the brunt of the hard times of the late thirties and were pre- iG. H. Atkinson, Address before the Oregon Pioneer Association, 1880. J. Q. Thornton, "Oregon and California," pp. 25-27. iP. S. Knight, Address before Oregon Pioneer Association, 1898. Proceed- ings, p. 37-