Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/192



politics occupied so much attention, the country was making long strides in material progress. The immigration of 1850 to the Pacific coast, by the overland route alone, amounted to between thirty and forty thousand persons, chiefly men. Through the exertions of the Oregon delegate, in and out of congress, about eight thousand were persuaded to settle in Oregon, where they arrived after undergoing more than the usual misfortunes. Among other things was cholera, from which several hundred died between the Missouri River and Fort Laramie. The crowded condition of the road, which was one cause of the pestilence, occasioned delays with the consequent exhaustion of supplies. The famine becoming known in Portland, assistance was forwarded to The Dalles