the region. The vanguard of British fur
traders and Canadian priests was enlarged by many new recruits, with
Americans not far behind them. John Jacob Astor, the resourceful New
York merchant, sent out trappers and hunters who established a trading
post at Astoria in 1811. Some twenty years later, American
missionaries--among them two very remarkable men, Jason Lee and Marcus
Whitman--were preaching the gospel to the Indians.

Through news from the fur traders and missionaries, Eastern farmers
heard of the fertile lands awaiting their plows on the Pacific slope;
those with the pioneering spirit made ready to take possession of the
new country. In 1839 a band went around by Cape Horn. Four years later a
great expedition went overland. The way once broken, others followed
rapidly. As soon as a few settlements were well established, the
pioneers held a mass meeting and agreed upon a plan of government. "We,
the people of Oregon territory," runs the preamble to their compact,
"for the purposes of mutual protection and to secure peace and
prosperity among ourselves, agree to adopt the following laws and
regulations until such time as the United States of America extend their
jurisdiction over us." Thus self-government made its way across the
Rocky Mountains.

[Illustration: THE OREGON COUNTRY AND THE DISPUTED BOUNDARY]

_The Boundary Dispute with England Adjusted._--By this time it was
evident that the boundaries of Oregon must be fixed. Having made the
question an issue in his campaign, Polk, after his election in 1844,
pressed it upon the attention of the country. In his inaugural address
and his first message to Congress he reiterated the claim of the
Democratic platform that "our title to the whole territory of Oregon is
clear and unquestionable." This pretension Great Britain firmly
rejected, leaving the President a choice between war and compromise.

Polk, already having the contest with Mexico on his hands, sought and
obtained a compromise. The British government, moved by a hint from the
American minister, offered a settlement which would fix the boundary at
the forty-ninth parallel instead of "fifty-four forty," and give it
Vancouver Island. Polk speedily chose this way out of the dilemma.
Instead of making the decision himself, however, and drawing up a
treaty, he turned to the Senate for "counsel." As prearranged with party
leaders, the advice was favorable to the plan. The treaty, duly drawn in
1846, was rati