230 LOWNSDALE LETTER TO THURSTON
pended, saying "We are in much need of the 1500 dollars (or greater sum, as it might be)." And now comes the tug of war, and a man in their service (I do not mean industrial) must become a good Christian, of the Jesuit order, before he could receive any of these favors (formerly carelessly bestowed) as the former Governor and Doctor knew best how to use such being of the same persuasion himself. This is not fancy, for in reality the o'nly ones who were trusted with their business and who had labored for them for years joined the Catholic Jesuits.
At the first establishment of a temporary government, the way was prepared by these leaders to let in the English sub- ject with the American citizen on an equal footing, so far as word was concerned, and having our principal men broken into their service and so very tractable that for the first two years they took by storm all the fortification of American principle. The year forty-five, however, brought a large emigration and with that crowd many who were aware of the difficulties they had to encounter, but these same men only opened the way for greater struggles. At the opening of the second session of that after the Organic Law was formed, being in the fall of '46, the former controlling influence presented itself in the councils of the territory ; first in this shape, that the prospects being good for the difficulties having been settled between the two nations as was represented by treaty least by trickery former legislation, the company would suffer by any action, therefore, proposed an adjournment to await the extension of jurisdiction of the United States. As all legislation was in their favor formerly and any alteration would likely result to their injury; accordingly, Robert Newell, the American who was known to be a professed Hudson's Bay man of the first water, put in motion, but awful to tell the thing would not work as they expected, and a rally of all the troops made to secure their success ; but all in vain they now fell back onto the old expedient of using (not the Irish blarney) but Scotch affability o'n such as resisted their wishes but it is as awful to tell as in the first instance. There was a majority fell victims to their wiles. One had looked at a claim of land adjoining Fort Vancouver that pleased him and which he wished to record as an American citizen. But Mr. Douglas, now gover- nor of the Hudson's Bay Company, peremptorily ordered him not to do it, and this stirred the American's feelings so that he had declared vengeance against them and dared say so out of Douglas' presence ; but now this would come in good play ;
