TIIK KOUTHWKSTEUN BOUNDAUY -LINE. 200 



t] at t]ie Iviver Columljia, first entered by Captain Holj- 

 ert Gray of tlie American ship Coluvihia, of Boston, 

 in 1792, and named by him, and afterward l)y the 

 Englisli exj)lorei', Captain Vancouver, was *' tlie great 

 river of tlie West," the Oregon of Carver. 



Tliat coast liad already been ex])lored with nioi'e 

 or less of diligence by Spanish navigators, fitted out 

 by the Viceroys of New Spain, wlio gave to many of 

 the islands, straits, and channels the names they still 

 retain ; and Spain, if any Power anterior to the Unit- 

 ed States, had title by discovery in those parts of 

 America. 



But the earliest settlement on that coast was the 

 factory of Astoria at the mouth of the lliver Colum- 

 bia, established by John Jacob Astor. 



Then came the war between the United States and 

 Great Britain : the first elTect of which, as to the pi'cs- 

 ent fpiestion, was the military occupation of Astoria 

 and of the country on the banks of the Columbia by 

 British forces : subsequently to which, on the conclu- 

 sion of peace, although Astoria was surrendered to us 

 in obedience to the stipulations of the Treaty of Ghent, 

 yet Great ]5ritain set up claim to the valley of the 

 Columbia as against the United States, and, indeed, 

 to all the country intervening between the actual oc- 

 cupations of Spain to the south in Califoi-nia,and those 

 of Kussia to the north in Sitka. 



Claims of Great Britain in tliis rpiarter, with but 

 weak foundation, had already been asserted against 

 Spain to the south of the Kiver Columbia. 



Controversy on the subject between the United 







