246 John H. Mitchell— Oregon 
he was led to explore for it in the straits of Fuca, and made 
permanent record of his failure in the two titles he left there— 
cape Disappointment and Deception bay.” The same histo- 
rian, in speaking of Vancouver, says: “ Vancouver scrutinized 
that coast for about 250 miles, and so minutely that the surf has 
been constantly seen from the mast-head to break on its shores. 
Thus he failed to discover the mouth of the Columbia, mistak- 
ing evidently the breakers on its fearful bars for coast surf.” 
This entry was made in his journal April 29, 1792, only twelve 
days prior to the date when Captain Gray made the great dis- 
covery; and yet, because the English navigator Vancouver sub- 
sequently sailed farther up the river than did Captain Gray, the 
latter directing him how to find the entrance, Great Britain insists 
that he and not Captain Gray was the discoverer of the Columbia, 
and that all the rights which attach to such discovery belong to 
England and not to the United States. 
In discussing this phase of the Oregon question Professor Twiss, 
of Oxford University, in an elaborate paper, said: “ Captain Gray’s 
claim is limited to the mouth of the river.” 
The historian Barrows, in commenting on this character of 
reasoning, very pertinently says: “Thus the discovery of a river 
is made a progressive work by English claimants, as if one should 
discover the Mississippi at New Orleans, another at Memphis, 
another at Cairo, another at the mouth of the Missouri, and so 
on to the falls of Saint Anthony; as if the discovery of a lost 
cable were progressive as the separate links of the chain are 
hauled on board.” “If,” says the historian, “ this had not been 
said by plenipotentiaries we should call it puerile.” 
Mears not only did not discover Columbia river, but, on the 
contrary, he expressly declared there was no such river emptying 
into the Pacific ocean. ‘‘ We can now safely assert,” said he in 
his report, “that there is no such river as that of Saint Roque, 
as laid down on the Spanish charts.” And, as if to emphasize 
the failure of his expectations, he named the promontory lying 
north of the inlet where he had expected to discover it “ cape 
Disappointment,” and the inlet itself “ Deception bay,” names 
by which they have been known ever since. 
The Exploration of Lewis and Clarke. 
Gray’s discovery and the purchase of Louisiana territory were 
quickly followed by scientific exploration on the part of the 
