gatherings, the men of might came naturally to the front. In every migration the men selected as captains at the start continued to maintain, either by talent or habit, the leadership of their fellows after reaching their destination.
Nothing unusual befell the travellers between the Missouri and Snake rivers. At Fort Hall, according to the testimony of several, an effort was made to turn the immigration toward California; and whatever unfavorable information they received concerning the distance, the road, or the natives, was imputed to the desire of the British fur company to prevent this great influx of Americans into Oregon.[1] There were; however, other influences used at Fort Hall to turn American emigration to California, and by Americans themselves. The presence of the British and French squadrons in the Pacific, with the condition of Mexico, made it evident that California would soon fall into the hands of one of these two nations unless the United States sustained the popular Monroe doctrine, which was to leave no room for monarchies on North American soil. The cabinet at Washington well understood that should Great Britain seize California she would be in a position to hold Oregon.[2] To prevent such a consummation without hostility was the secret care of a few statesmen, of whom Benton was one of the most adroit as well as enthusiastic.[3]
- ↑ Palmer's Journal, 43; Bacon's Merc. Life Or., MS., 3.
- ↑ Roberts' Recollections, MS., 6.
- ↑ In October 1844, in a speech at St Louis, Benton uttered this prophecy, already fulfilled:
'I say the man is alive, full grown, and is listening to what I say (without believing it perhaps), who will yet see the Asiatic commerce traversing the North Pacific Ocean—entering the Oregon River—climbing the western slope of the Rocky Mountains—issuing from its gorges—and spreading its fertilizing streams over our wide-extended Union! The steamboat and the steamcar have not exhausted all their wonders. They have not yet even found their amplest and most appropriate theatres—the tranquil surface of the North Pacific Ocean, and the vast inclined plains which spread east and west from the base of the Rocky Mountains. The magic boat and the flying car are not yet seen upon this ocean and this plain, but they will be seen there; and St Louis is yet to find herself as near to Canton as she now is to London, with a better and safer route, by land and sea, to China and Japan, than she now has to France and Great Britain.' Oregon Spectator, Sept. 17, 1846.
