134 THE ROARING FORTIES 



Before a settlement was reached of this rather 

 insignificant difficulty Alaska had been acquired 

 by the United States, with additional thousands 

 of miles of contact with British territory, and 

 material was provided for controversy that ex 

 tended well into the twentieth century. 



When the Oregon dispute was ended by the 

 signing of the treaty, the United States was at 

 war with Mexico. Hostilities had been pre 

 cipitated by a collision between Mexican and 

 American troops on territory claimed by both 

 governments. War had been practically cer 

 tain ever since the annexation of Texas, and Polk 

 was on the point of beginning it on other grounds 

 when the destruction of a small detachment of 

 American troops gave him an opportunity to 

 appeal strongly to popular passion. The griev 

 ances of the United States against Mexico were 

 neither new nor few, but it was well understood 

 that they could be satisfactorily adjusted by a 

 cession of territory. California, extending some 

 ten degrees of latitude southward from Oregon 

 on the Pacific coast, was on the point of revolt 

 from the weak and distant central government 

 of Mexico. That the Californians were in mor 

 tal terror of the Yankees was common knowl 

 edge; that British relations with Mexico were 



