Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/348



320 ROBERT CARLTON CLARK

ernment easier and less of a burden to themselves. These con- siderations together with the growing ascendency of new men of conciliatory temper were to lead directly to overtures to the Hudson's Bay Company looking to a closer union.

At the same time Dr. McLoughlin and his associates were beginning to realize that such a union carried with it weighty advantages both for themselves and the Company and were therefore ready to meet more than half way the advances made by the officers of the Provisional Government. The motives actuating such a conclusion were in part personal to Dr. Mc- Loughlin himself and in part due to a conviction that the best interests of the Company would thus be served.

For Dr. McLoughlin himself, a conciliatory attitude towards the new government south of the Columbia River had seemed the better policy from its first inception. The favors he had shown Americans and assistance given them in establishing themselves in the country while prompted, no doubt, by purest philanthropy promoted as well his own interests. It was dis- tinctly to his advantage to cultivate friendly relations with these new settlers for they were making his property on the Willamette distinctly more valuable and more profitable. His land claim at the falls of the Willamette had been surveyed and platted out into a town named "Oregon City." He be- lieved this place "destined by nature to be the best place for commerce in this country." 6 This town had already be- come the most considerable settlement in the Willamette Valley. Lieutenants Warre and Vavasour, two British officers, reported to their government in October, 1845, a population for it of some three hundred people with a hun- dred dwelling houses and stores. The increasing population evidently made this town property more valuable. In addition McLoughlin had established grist and sawmills at the falls which became more profitable sources of revenue as the in- habitants of that region became more numerous. He could not feel altogether secure in his claim so long as he held

6 Last Letter, 129.