Mr Thurston set an example, which his immediate successors were compelled to imitate, of complete conformity to the demands of the people. He aspired to please all Oregon, and he made it necessary for those who came after him to labor for the same end. It was a worthy effort when not carried too far; but no man ever yet succeeded for any length of time in acting upon that policy; though there have been a few who have pleased all by a wise independence of all. In his ardor and inexperience he went too far. He not only published a great deal of matter in the east to draw attention to Oregon, much of which was correct, and some of which was false, but he wrote letters to the people of Oregon through the Spectator,[1] showing forth his services from month to month, and giving them advice which, while good in itself, was akin to impudence on the part of a young man whose acquaintance with the country was of recent date. But this was a part of the man's temperament and character.
Congress passed a bounty land bill, giving one hundred and sixty acres to any officer or private who had served one year in any Indian war since 1790, or eighty acres to those who had served six months. This bill might be made to apply to those who had served in the Cayuse war, and a bill to that effect was introduced by Thurston's successor; but Thurston had already thought of doing something for the old soldiers of 1812 and later, many of whom were settlers in Oregon, by procuring the passage of a bill establishing a pension agency.[2]
He kept himself informed as well as he could of everything passing in Oregon, and expressed his approval whenever he could. He complimented the
- ↑ Or. Spectator, from Sept. 26th to Oct. 17, 1850.
- ↑ Cong. Globe, 1849–50, 564. Theophilus Magruder was appointed pension agent. Or. Spectator, July 25, 1850.
the census; $1,500 contingent fund; and a copy of the exploring expedition for the territorial library. 31st Cong., 1st Sess., U. S. Acts and Res., 13, 27, 28, 31, 72, 111, 159–60, 192, 198; Or. Spectator, Aug. 8th and 22d, and Oct. 24, 1850.
