had an actual claim to the country which was protected by that treaty. Only one man appeared to understand the situation clearly, Senator Benton of Missouri. He believed that if the British remained in sole possession of Oregon till 1828, the year that the treaty of joint occupation was to expire, they would remain for a still longer period; and in a speech in the Senate he favoured an American colony on the Columbia as a means of maintaining our rights in the country.
Diplomatic negotiations resumed. We must now turn from Congress where Oregon bills were brought up almost every session, till the end of 1827, and see what was being done for Oregon elsewhere. In 1824, stimulated by the agitation in Congress, and taking advantage of the fact that other matters were pressing for settlement between Great Britain and the United States, our government sought a new diplomatic negotiation on the Oregon question.
The British government had carefully avoided the question since 1818. The reason doubtless was that since British traders were in monopolistic control of the fur trade of the Columbia, it was good policy to leave the boundary question in abeyance as long as possible, for so long as Americans failed to take advantage of their rights under the treaty of joint occupation the British claim was in no danger of becoming weaker.
Basis of the American claim. Mr. Adams, in instructing Richard Rush, American minister at London, to bring up the Oregon question, described the Ameri-
