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THE QUARTERLY

of the

Oregon Historical Society

VOLUME XVI DECEMBER, 1915 NUMBER 4

The Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages

THE LAST STEP IN THE FORMATION OF A

PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT FOR

OREGON IN 1845.

By ROBERT CARLTON CLARK.

In a letter dated August 30, 1845, written by Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of Hudson's Bay Company at Van- couver, he says : "We have yielded to the wishes and request of the respectable part of the people in this country of British and American origin by uniting with them in the formation of a provisional and temporary government having for its object the protection of life and property." 1

The act here described constitutes the last step in the forma- tion of a provisional government for Oregon. It will be the purpose of this paper to give an account of the motives lead- ing to this step.

In a former paper by this writer appearing in the Quarterly 21 the movement leading to the formation of a government for Oregon was described so far as it had taken place down to the election of officers in May, 1844. It was there shown that the first of the steps in this movement had been taken in 1838 when the American element elected magis-

1 From a letter, a copy made by Professor Joseph Schafer, of the University of Oregon.

2 Vol. 13, No. 2.