FEDERAL INDIAN RELATIONS PACIFIC NORTHWEST 49
of Indian affairs in the newly created territory of Washington. Lack of interest in the subject, distance from the seat of gov- ernment, and the difficulty of obtaining information, must be called in to explain this fact. It is clear that the Indians had had extended contact with the whites, and I think it is probably true that they had determined to eliminate the Americans from the interior of the country.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JOSEPH LANE
When the territory of Oregon was organized, March 2, 1849, the Federal government took over the management of Indian affairs. During the term of the first governor, Joseph Lane, recommendations were made for the removal of all the Indians west of the Cascade Mountains to the country east of those mountains. The few difficulties that occurred were promptly settled.
The Act creating the territory provided that the governor should be, ex-officio, superintendent of Indian affairs ; that the rights of the Indians and the authority of the Federal gov- ernment over them should be the same as previous to the passage of the Act ; and that $10,000 be appropriated for presents to the Indians and pay for the messengers sent to Congress by the provisional government of Oregon. 1 Of this sum, $3000 was used for Indian purposes. 2 In order that agents be appointed, it was necessary that a provision be made for them by an Act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Interior could appoint sub-agents. Since Congress did not provide for agents, the Secretary of the Interior ap- pointed three sub-agents for Oregon Territory. 3 A further appropriation of $10,000 for Indian purposes in Oregon was authorized by Congress, May 15, 1850. 4 In urging that this appropriation be made, the delegate from Oregon, Samuel Thurston, stated that it was necessary that presents be made to the Indians of the Willamette Valley to keep them quiet until the government purchased their rights to the land. No
i "An Act to Establish the Territorial Government of Oregon. An*. 14, 1848. Statuses at Large, IX, 323.
a "Indians in Oregon," Congretnonol Globe. Mar. a*, 1850, 31 Cong., I Seta., p. 58*.
3 Secretary of the Interior, Annual Report. Dec, 3, 1849 (Serial 570. Doc. 5), p. 15.
4 "An Act to Supply Deficiencies in Appropriation*. " May 15. 1830. Stohttn at Large, IX, 4*7.
