WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 377 



to me to be, that it would give them more importance in the eyes of 

 others at a distance, and induce settlers to flock in, thereby raising 

 the value of their farms and stock. I could not view this subject in 

 such a light, and differed with them entirely as to the necessity or 

 policy of adopting the change. 



1st. On account of their want of right, as those wishing for laws 

 were, in fact, a small minority of the settlers. 



2d. That these were not yet necessary even by their own account. 



3d. That any laws they might establish would be a poor substitute 

 for the moral code they all now followed, and that evil-doers would 

 not be disposed to settle near a community entirely opposed to their 

 practices. 



4th. The great difficulty they would have in enforcing any laws, 

 and defining the limits over which they had control, and the discord 

 this might occasion in their small community. 



5th. They not being the majority, and the larger part of the popu- 

 lation being Catholics, the latter would elect officers of their party, 

 and they would thus place themselves entirely under the control of 

 others. 



6th. The unfavourable impressions it would produce at home, from 

 the belief that the missions had admitted that in a community brought 

 together by themselves they had not enough of moral force to control 

 it and prevent crime, and therefore must have recourse to a criminal 

 code. 



From my own observation and the information I had obtained, I 

 was well satisfied that laws were not needed, and wei'e not desired 

 by the Catholic portion of the settlers. I therefore could not avoid 

 drawing their attention to the fact, that after all the various officers 

 they proposed making were appointed, there would be no subjects 

 for the law to deal with. I farther advised them to wait until the 

 government of the United States should throw its mantle over them. 

 These views, I was afterwards told, determined a postponement of 

 their intentions. 



Dr. Babcock and others, myself and officers, were tendered an 

 invitation from the American settlers of the Willamette, to partake 

 of a 4th of July dinner with them, which I was obliged to decline, 

 on account of the various duties that pressed upon us. 



The next day the gentlemen of the mission proposed a ride to 

 what they term "the Mill," distant about nine miles, in a southeast 

 direction. We passed, in going thither, several fine prairies, both 



VOL. IV. 95 



