of September. Here they halted several days to recruit, and were kept busy answering the eager questions of the isolated missionaries concerning affairs in the States.[1]
From Waiilatpu the emigrants proceeded without accident to the Willamette Valley, which they reached on the 5th of October, some by Daniel Lee's cattle trail from the Dalles, and others by the trail on the north of the Columbia, swimming their cattle to the south side when opposite the mouth of Sandy River.
White, who appears to have been anxious to reach the settlements as early as possible, arrived at Vancouver about the 20th of September. Considering the circumstances of his departure from Oregon, it was but natural that he should have some feeling of self-importance and exultation on returning as the first officer of the United States appointed in that country. But as his commission as governor, or rather magistrate, was only verbal, and depended on the will of the colonists, it was prudent at least to ascertain the sentiment of the people, and that, too, before the arrival of the Hastings wing of the immigration, whose influence was likely to be thrown against him.
The position in which White found himself on presenting his credentials to the colonists was not an enviable one. A meeting was called at Champoeg on the 23d of September, which was addressed at some length by the doctor, who gave such information as he felt himself authorized to give, as he expressed it, concerning the intentions of the government in regard to the colony, and the feeling of the people of the United States toward it. Resolutions were then passed, to the effect that the people of Willamette Valley were happy that the government had mani-
- ↑ Lovejoy, who was of Hastings' party, had been left behind to search for a lost companion. When he reached Walla Walla, Hastings had gone, so he remained at the mission, and in the following month was engaged to accompany Whitman to the States.
