never to my knowledge before given to the public, and that was heard by him from the lips of the Rev. Mr. Spalding, another early missionary, and the coadjutor of Dr., Whitman. When the Ashburton Treaty was in progress, news came to the little settlement in Oregon that the government was about disposing of the whole Northwest coast to the English, and it made a deep impression on the mind of Whitman, whose long residence had produced a sincere attachment for the land of his adoption. He appreciated its future value and importance, and looked upon its broad rivers and fertile valleys as fields for the development of population, wealth, and power. Time has realized the conjecture, which he did not live to see, but he was restless under the impression that his favorite region might be transferred to another power, and, midwinter as it was, he undertook the dreary and then dreaded journey across the plains for the sole purpose to remonstrate against the act. Webster was Secretary of State, and to him he went, after hastening to Washington, and asked what was the character of the negotiations. He was told that the preliminaries of the treaty were about agreed upon, and his remonstrance was met with a smile.
"'Why, Doctor, you have come too late; we have about traded off the Northwest coast for a codfishery.'
"'But, Sir, you do not know what you are doing; you do not realize that that territory you mention with a smile, almost a sneer, could make a home for millions; that its broad navigable rivers lead to an ocean whose commerce includes the Indies and the Empires of the Orient; that we have fine harbors and broad bays to invite that commerce thither and offer an anchorage to the navies of the world. Then there are beautiful and fertile valleys, whose harvests will yield eventually an increase to the nation's wealth.'
"'You are enthusiastic. Doctor,' answered the Secretary, with an easy smile. 'You certainly are an enthusiast. The reports that come to us from Oregon differ materially from yours. The central portions of the continent are a barren waste, and the waters of the western slope course through a mountain wilderness or else a desert shore. The mountaineer can hunt and trap there. The tourist may sketch its snow-capped ridges, and describe the Indian in his native haunts. The trapper finds a home there.'
