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182 Fred Wilbur Powell

that Senator Davis had been negligent, for under date of July 25, 1850, he wrote to Kelley :

"I now enclose the report which you ask for. It had some- how escaped my attention that such a report had been made. It can however do you little harm. I had conferred with Judge Underwood, who formerly had charge of the business, and he promised me to give every attention to it ; but it seems without my knowledge. Gov. Felch took charge of it."

The failure to obtain either recognition or reward was a crushing blow to Kelley, who said : "That report went to con- firm the false perceptions of me of not a few public men, and to strengthen the prejudices of friends and to give general currency to the vile reports of adversaries ; that he is 'stupid and crazy,' and to the sayings every where rife, 'that he came to this country without mind or means to do anything and went away' .... It was a strange report ; though it did me monstrous injustice and tends to deepen and perpetuate my sorrows, and though all the gold ever taken from the mines of California could not sufficiently make amends for the injustice dcMie me and my near kindred ; yet I impute no wrong motive to them that made it. It denies me the merit of having taken any part as a pioneer in the colonization of Oregon, or in bringing about the events which led to the government acquisi- tion of Alta California. It was a great mistake — I cannot account for it."*'

To Kelley defeat was only an incentive to further effort. In 1854, therefore, he presented another petition, this time through Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts, "praying a dona- tion of land, or gratuity in money, for his services. and sacri- fices in attempts to colonize and explore the Oregon territory, and for the public benefits that resulted from his efforts." After this petition had been referred to the committee on territories, the senate upon Sumner's motion ordered that Kelley have leave to withdraw it.*^

IS Settlement of Oregon, 89-90.

X6 33 cong. I sess. S. jour., 196, 346, 301: Cong. Globe, XXVIIl, 447. 989* 1x86. lliis 'i»etition asking for a srant of land or pecuniary relief appears aa an appendix to the Narrative o( Events and Difficulties, having been bound in that pamphlet two years after its original publication. It differs but little from the memoriala of 1848 and 1849.