Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 18.djvu/61



Hall Jackson Kelley 39

of a free and liberal government will conspire to make life easy." More concretely, "each anigrant, over fourteep years of age, not including married women ; and each child that is an orphan, or without parent in that country, will receive a lot of seaport land ... or two farming lots in the valley." Poor children and children in charitable institutions were eligible.

On the other hand the requirements- were not burdensome. Each prospective emigrant was to pay twenty dollars as a pledge of faithful performance of obligations to be stipulated by covenant between him and the Society ; namely, to give oath to obey the laws of the Society and to be a peaceable and worthy member, and to agree that all common property should be liable for debts on account of the settlement; the Society in turn to agfree to defray all expenses of the first expedition from St. Louis except for clothing, gtms, and knapsacks, to give each settler a parcel of seaport land or two hundred acres of farm land chosen by lot, title to pass after two years' occu- pation, and to guarantee religious and civil freedom.^^

At this point Kelley interpolated answers to objections which had been made to his project, reafHrming the healthfulness of the Oregon country, and declaring that there was no ground for fear of violence from the Indians. "The Agent of the Society has given these subjects many years of patient investi- gation," said he, "and does not hesitate to avow a greater con- fidence in the faith and friendship of those red men, than of the white savages who infest our communities ;" confidence which subsequent events in the Northwest showed to have been un- warranted. Nor did he anticipate trouble with the Indians along the proposed route, which was from St. Louis up the Platte, throu^ the South Pass and down the Willamette. That the South Pass was feasible he affirmed upon the author- ity of Major Joshua Pilcher, Indian agent of the war depart- ment**

31 P^ s6-9.

22 pp. 19-22. It is ngnificant that he made no 'reference to the ttatemtnta of Braclcenridfe and Benton on this point.