LAST PHASE OF OREGON BOUNDARY 219
her case. George Bancroft, the historian, had been a member of Folk's cabinet when the Oregon Question was one of the liveliest political issues ; he had also been the American repre- sentative in London. He was an expert on the subject in dis- pute ; his knowledge of American history was vast. In Berlin he was to win a final diplomatic victory, and clear from the slate the last vestige of dispute about the Northwestern bound- ary. In charge of Britain's interest was the same Admiral James C. Prevost, who, as Captain, had acted as boundary commissioner.
It seems reasonable to snppoae that when the Treaty of 1846 was drafted neither government had one particular chan- nel in mind, probably for lade of knowledge of the geography of the region^ Maps <Bd not agree ; Vancouver's chart (prob-
alily used by the 1'ritMi government ' bad the Tana! de A IT-' marked but he himself used the Rosario strait. The strength of the American_aJiowever L jro8^i_tfae_ge^yal intention as shown in the negotiations, and the general sense in which it was understood at the time of the acceptance of tlk- treaty. fn the discussion preliminary to the treaty Buchanan (then Secretary of State) offered to make free to Great Britain any port or ports she might desire south of parallel forty- nine on Vancouver Island, if that line should be accepted. Great Britain stood out for free navigation of the Columbia and Buchanan withdrew his offer. A little later Pakenham (for Great Britain) urged parallel forty-nine or the arbitra- tion of "some friendly sovereign or state." This was refused, and the matter hung fire. A few months passed and in Febru- ary, 1846, Buchanan let McLane (who was acting in London for the United States) know that from the temper of the Senate he judged that parallel forty-nine would be accepted. McLane talked to Lord Aberdeen who agreed to submit a proposal through Pakenham. Fresh from his conversation with Aberdeen, McLane reported to the State Office that tie proposal would likely be to divide at parallel forty-nine to
