56 Kenneth S. Latonrefte, 



these was an agreement signed April 17th, 1824, which fixed the 

 southern boundary of Russian possessions at the parahel 54° 40' 

 north, and which forbade to Americans the sale of firearms, but 

 allowed them rights of fishing in bays and coasts not occupied 

 by Russian establishments.^ A futile attempt of the Baron de 

 Tuyl to reopen the question the following summer ended the 

 incident, and American vessels continued to come to Sitka at 

 the rate of from two to four a year.** 



The Americans had lost for a time all title to the territory 

 north of 54° 40', but the question of the ownership of the Oregon 

 country was not yet settled, and in its settlement the Northwest 

 Coast fur trade played an important part. It was through this 

 trade that Americans had first come to know the region, and 

 such claims as the discovery of the Columbia River and the 

 settlement at Astoria arose directly through it. Moreover, one 

 of the chief reasons urged for the occupation of Oregon was the 

 acquisition of a Pacific port as a base for the China trade. Floyd, 

 the early champion of the Oregon question, in his report of 

 1821 to the House, urged that "the Columbia [is] in a com- 

 mercial point of view, a position of the utmost importance. The 

 fisheries on the coast, its open sea, and its position in regard to 

 China, which offers the best market for the vast quantity of 

 furs taken in these regions, .... seems to demand immediate 

 attention."" In the debate of December 17th, 1822, his relative 

 emphasis upon the China trade was still stronger. "The settle- 

 ment of Oregon .... is to open a mine of wealth to the 

 shipping interests .... surpassing the hopes even of 

 avarice itself. It consists principally of things which will pur- 

 chase the manufactures and products of China at a better profit 

 than gold and silver; and if that attention is bestowed upon the 

 country to which its value and position entitle it, it will yield a 

 profit, producing more wealth to the nation than all the ship- 



* Eugene Schuyler, American Diplomacy and the Furtherance of Com- 

 merce, New York, 1886, pp. 292-299. 



" Frederic Lutke, Voyage autour du Monde, execute par ordre de sa 

 Majeste L'Empereur Nicolas .... dans les annees 1826, 1827, 1828, 

 et 1829 par Frederic Lutke, etc., Traduit par F. Boj^e. 2 v. Paris, 

 1835. I : 131. 



^" Reports of Coms. 45, 2 Sess., 16 Cong. 



