Compact," this principle was employed for the first time in American history, and soon afterward the early colonists of Connecticut followed it in their " Fundamental Orders." When, at a later time, American pioneers crossed the Alleghenies to eastern Tennessee, and found themselves beyond the jurisdiction of any seaboard state, they formed the ** Watauga Association." Similar pioneer governments wei^e created in Kentucky, on the Cumberland River, and elsewhere. ■* The Willamette settlers were following in the footsteps of their ancestors.
The emigration of 1843 saves the provisional government. The work of the pioneers at Champoeg was of considerable importance in the history of Oregon and the Pacific coast; for it called the attention of men everywhere to the American colony in this region; it quickened the interest of the United States government; and announced to Great Britain that her subjects were no longer completely dominant in the Pacific Northwest. Yet, while the Americans then in the country deserve credit for taking the first steps, these results were largely due to the appearance of the great emigration in the fall. It changed the small American majority into an overwhelming one; provided able political leaders, like Burnett, Applegate, McCarver, Nesmith, Waldo, and Lovejoy; increased the property of the country; and gave a feel ^ The people of Vermont, for example, had a government of their own, created by compact or agreement among themselves, for fourteen years before the state was admitted to the Union.
