and American interests in Oregon had been consummated. Applegate urged him to take the oath of allegiance to the United States,[1] his resignation having been accepted; but Burnett objected that he had no authority from the government to administer the oath; "and to Mr Burnett's timidity," says Applegate, "was owing the doctor's subsequent troubles with individuals and the United States government." This opinion is not mine, however. The missionary party would have found that the oath was without authority, and the result would have been the same. They made war on him after he came to Oregon City. In addition, he lost heavily through the debts of the settlers, which the company put upon him, if not wholly, at least to a great amount,[2] and was severely attacked by English writers, notably in Fitzgerald's Hudson's Bay Company.
It was fortunate that neither the dissatisfaction of the English ministry, the Hudson's Bay Company, nor the defiant tone of the American press and con-
- ↑ 'Every British subject south of the Columbia would have followed his example,' says Applegate; 'then in case of war we would have had friends instead of enemies in our midst; and it would not have left the shadow of truth to the falsehood used by his enemies that he was a British propagandist, and had refused to become an American citizen.'
- ↑ These debts aggregated a sum variously stated by different authorities, but usually at about $60,000. Applegate says this charge was revoked on the motion of his associates in office, who protested in a body against the injustice to a man who had been of such service to the company; but that notwithstanding this he preferred to be responsible for a large amount. The personal pride and dignified reticence of McLoughlin prevented a knowledge of his private affairs becoming public; and even his family ami heirs were in ignorance concerning his losses. Sir James Douglas testified before the joint commission which settled the affairs of the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound companies, that the doctor was not held responsible for the debts of the American settlers. H. B. Co. Ev., H. B. Co. Claims, 61. J. Q. Thornton, who at one time was his attorney, stated before the same commission, and has frequently asserted in public, that the company held McLoughlin responsible. The same statement is made in Thornton's Hist. Or., MS., 7-13; Gray's Hist. Or., 321-2; Blanchet's Cath. Ch. in Or., 71; Waldo's Critiques, MS., 14, and in many authorities not here quoted, because most of them are simply copyists of the others. And while I think it quite probable that his fellow-officers made an offer to bear their portion of the loss, from the best information I can gather, I am persuaded that the principal burden came upon him by his own choice, and through his Scotch pride. His daughter states that she overheard, after his removal to Oregon City, some gentlemen conversing about his affairs, who said that he ' had trusted the immigrants more than he could himself pay.' Harvey's Life of McLoughlin, MS., 33.
