Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/281

Rh general might issue a certificate, when, upon the proof being complete, a patent would issue from the commissioner of the general land office to the holder of the claims. The surveyor general was furnished with judicial power to judge of all questions arising under the act; but his judgment was not necessarily final, being preliminary only to a final decision according to the laws of the territory. These were the principal features of the donation law.

In order to be able to settle the various questions which might arise, it was necessary first to decide what constituted naturalization, or how it was impaired. The first case which came up for consideration was that of John McLoughlin, the principal features of which have been given in the history of the Oregon City claim. It was sought in this case to show a flaw in the proceedings on account of the imperfect organization of the courts. In the discussion which followed, and for which Thurston had sought to prepare himself by procuring legal opinions beforehand, considerable alarm was felt among other aliens. S. M. Holderness applied to Judge Pratt, then the only district judge in the territory, on the 17th of May 1850, to know if the proceedings were good in his case, as many others were similarly situated, and it was important to have a precedent established.

Pratt gave it as his opinion that the Clackamas county circuit court, as it existed on the 27th of March 1849, was a competent court, within the meaning of the naturalization laws, in which a declaration of intention by an alien could be legally made as a preparatory step to becoming a citizen of the United States; the naturalization power being vested in congress, which had provided that application might be made to any circuit, district, or territorial court, or to any state court which was a court of record, having a