



Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Barry Abrahamsen, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This book was produced from images made available by the
HathiTrust Digital Library.)









             THE QUARTERLY OF THE OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
                            (Vol. 1, No. 1)




------------------------------------------------------------------------




                             THE QUARTERLY

                                 OF THE

                       OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

       ---------------------------------------------------------

                 VOL. 1       MARCH, 1900        NO. 1

       ---------------------------------------------------------


                           Illustration: Logo


                                CONTENTS


          THE GENESIS OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY AND OF A       1
            COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT IN OREGON—James R.
            Robertson

          THE PROCESS OF SELECTION IN OREGON PIONEER       60
            SETTLEMENT—Thomas Condon

          NATHANIEL J. WYETH’S OREGON EXPEDITIONS—“In      66
            Historic Mansions and Highways Around
            Boston”

          REMINISCENCES OF F. X. MATTHIEU—H. S. Lyman      73

          DOCUMENTS—Correspondence of John McLoughlin,    106
            Nathaniel J. Wyeth, S. R. Thurston, and R.
            C. Winthrop, pertaining to claim of Dr.
            McLoughlin at the Falls of the
            Willamette—the site of Oregon City

          NOTES AND NEWS                                   70

                           ------------------

        PRICE: THIRTY-FIVE CENTS PER NUMBER, ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR




------------------------------------------------------------------------




                     THE OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

                      ORGANIZED DECEMBER 17, 1898

                             --------------

          H. W. SCOTT                               PRESIDENT
          C. B. BELLINGER                      VICE-PRESIDENT
          F. G. YOUNG                               SECRETARY
          CHARLES E. LADD                           TREASURER

                 GEORGE H. HIMES, ASSISTANT SECRETARY.

                             --------------

                               DIRECTORS

        THE GOVERNOR OF OREGON, ex officio.
        THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ex officio.

           Term Expires at Annual Meeting in December, 1900,
                 H. W. SCOTT, MRS. HARRIET K. McARTHUR.

           Term Expires at Annual Meeting in December, 1901,
                        F. G. YOUNG, L. B. COX.

           Term Expires at Annual Meeting in December, 1902,
                 JAMES R. ROBERTSON, JOSEPH R. WILSON.

           Term Expires at Annual Meeting in December, 1903,
                 C. B. BELLINGER, MRS. MARIA L. MYRICK.

                             --------------

The Quarterly is sent free to all members of the Society. The annual
dues are two dollars. The fee for life membership is twenty-five
dollars.

Contributions to The Quarterly and correspondence relative to historical
materials, or pertaining to the affairs of this Society, should be
addressed to

               F. G. YOUNG,

                    Secretary.

EUGENE, OREGON.

Subscriptions for The Quarterly, or for the other publications of the
Society should be sent to

               GEORGE H. HIMES,

                    Assistant Secretary.

CITY HALL, PORTLAND, OREGON.




------------------------------------------------------------------------




          VOLUME 1.]          MARCH, 1900           [NUMBER 1.

           --------------------------------------------------

                             THE QUARTERLY


                                 OF THE


                       OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.


 THE GENESIS OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY AND OF A COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT IN
                                OREGON.

    [Printed by the author for private distribution, August, 1899.]


At the present time, when interest is becoming more generally centered
upon the Pacific Coast and the future which seems to be lying before it
during the next century of our national life, any contribution to a
knowledge of its history can hardly be out of place. It is quite clear
that from now on through the future it must more and more pass out from
the sphere of purely local interest and assume a larger place in the
current of our national history. Although the southern half of the coast
may be more familiar to the greater number of people, yet the northern
half has a history which is fully as rich and well repays most careful
study. Of the many interesting phases which have presented themselves,
none has had so great an attraction for the writer as the development of
civil institutions. It is interesting to review the gradual evolution of
a locality from primitive conditions of wildness to that perfect form of
social life where individuals act under the privileges and restrictions
of a civil government, voluntarily imposed and perfectly integrated with
the larger scheme of national government. It is a stimulating process to
try to make any correct estimate of the various agencies which have
taken part in the complex process of growth, and to place an accurate
valuation upon the services of leading personalities, the influence of
aggregates of less prominent individuals, and general determining
influences which may not at first be seen at all. It is a test of
judgment to put oneself at the different points of view, so often
conflicting, to be fair to all and to be firm in drawing conclusions
where the weight of evidence seems to lie; and a knowledge of the
slowness of this process of growth, with the careful thought and heroic
action by which it has come about, creates a respect for government and
prepares for a wiser use of the privileges enjoyed under its beneficent
rule. In following out the theme set before us it is to be remembered
that by Oregon is meant that piece of territory whose boundaries have
been gradually shrinking to their present compass from an area extending
from the Spanish possessions at the forty-second degree of latitude to
the Russian possessions at the fifty-fifth degree, and between the Rocky
Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

In many respects this history resembles that of the other states of our
Union. In common with them there has been a gradual growth from those
fragmentary germs of civic life out of which civil government grows,
which fragmentary forms begin to operate as soon as individuals come
together in social relation, often long before localities are entitled
to take their places as parts of a nation. As in the case of other
states, there was the acquisition of territory, in this case preceded by
a partial acquisition. Like the other states, it has passed through the
various steps prescribed by congress for the transition from newly
acquired territory to perfect statehood; but, as other states have
passed through this common process with a great variety of interesting
and unique experiences, so Oregon has had its own history, peculiar to
itself, and in some respects different from that of any other state. It
is the purpose of this paper to set forth briefly the leading facts, so
far as they may be gained from the sources at present available, and to
present them, so far as possible, in historical