to another futile attempt by sea in 1832, was the father of several expeditions, notably that of Wyeth,[1] and was the immediate cause of the settlement of many prominent pioneers; it was he, this fanatic, who stimulated senators to speak for Oregon on the floor of congress, and even shaped the presidential policy. I am not prepared to give Mr Kelley all he claims, but I am prepared to give him his due. With regard to the missionary brothers Lee, who arrived in the country before him, he maintains that they too received their first knowledge of Oregon through him, and that he was the first person to advocate the christianizing of the natives. That he did impress upon the new commonwealth some portion of his ideas, that he did influence its destinies, there is no question, though we have on means of weighing that influence with any degree of exactness. Regarding settlement his writings contain some practical suggestions; indeed, without clear discrimination between design and necessity, and read by the light of subsequent events, some of them might be pronounced prophetic.[2] For a sketch
- ↑ 'This novel expedition was not, however, the original or spontaneous motion of Mr Nathaniel J. Wyeth, nor was it entirely owing to the publications of Lewis and Clarke, or Mackenzie. . .They were roused to it by the writings of Mr Hall J. Kelley.' Wyeth's Oregon, 3.
- ↑ Take, for example, what he says about the designs duties, and probabilities of settlement in his unrealized scheme, entitled, A General Circular to all Persons of Good Character who wish to migrate to the Oregon Territory, embracing some Account of the Character and Advantages of the Country; The Right and the Means and Operations by which it is to be settled;—and all necessary directions for becoming an Emigrant. Hall J. Kelley, General Agent. By Order of the American Society for Encouraging the Settlement of the Oregon Territory. Instituted in Boston, A. D. 1829. It is a plan of 'Oregon settlement, to be commenced in the spring of 1832, on the delightful and fertile banks of the Columbia River.' Among the first results of inquiry is a 'clear conviction that the time is near at hand, and advancing in the ordinary course of Providence, when the Oregon country shall be occupied by an enlightened people, skilled in the various improvements of science and art. A people, thus enlightened and skilled, and enjoying the advantages of a climate, soil, and markets as good in their kind as the earth affords; and other natural means, which mostly contribute to the comforts and convenience of life; energized and blessed by the mild and vital principles of the American republic, and the sacred ordinances of the Christan religion'—must be made prosperous and happy. 'The settlement, carrying on a trade with the islands of the Pacific and with the people about the shores of that ocean commensurate with its wants, must advance in prosperity and power unexampled in the history of nations. From the plentitude of its own resources, it will soon be
