peace with its blessings was once more restored to the Oregon colony.^
Strong feeling against Congress. But the war was a severe drain upon the people. The provisional government had no funds, and money had to be raised in order to keep men in the field. The difficulty was nobly met; well-to-do settlers, merchants, and others loaned money, and farmers generally furnished supplies of grain and other food. Large quantities of goods were purchased of the Hudson's Bay Company, practically as a loan, although individual settlers gave their notes by way of security. It was generally expected that the United States government would take this burden of debt upon itself, this being the least it could do to make amends for leaving the people of Oregon so long defenceless. At this crucial time, when the colony was shrouded in the darkest gloom, men remembered the numerous appeals which had vainly gone up from this far-off valley to the national capital, and a feeling of bitterness against a seemingly ungrateful government was mingled with their grief and fears. Had Congress done its duty, so they believed, this evil would not have befallen them.
Last memorial to Congress. In the excitement of those December days the Oregon leaders prepared a ringing memorial to the national legislature, and started "Joe" Meek eastward to carry it to Washington. "Having called upon the government so often in vain,"
1 The Indians who committed the murders were afterward secured, tried, and executed.
