Hall Jackson Kelley 169
edge that Kelley bad proceeded to Oregon with the purpose of establishing a settlement on the Columbia, The immediate suggestion, however, was due to no word or act of Kelley, who w^as then on the high seas en route for Boston, but to the fact that Slacum was "about to visit the Pacific ocean," thus pre- senting to the president an opportunity to obtain specific and authentic information upon a matter concerning which the government must soon take a definite stand.**
In the course of an investigation which extended from De- cember 22, 1836, to February 10, 1837, Slacum conferred with Dr. McLoughlin, Jason Lee, Ewing Young, and others, and collected much information which he submitted upon his re- turn. Some of this information appears in a memorial praying compensation for his services, which he presented to congress on December 18, 1837.«
In this memorial there is no mention of Kelley, though the names of several of the members of his party are given. The reason for this omission is unknown. Kelley believed that it was due to the desire of Robert Greenhow, librarian of the de- partment of state, to deprive him of the credit for having induced the first American settlers to locate in Oregon. Ac- cording to his statement Slacum declared' that he had seen a copy of Kelle/s General Circular in the hands of one of the settlers, and he "seemed satisfied" that Kelley was the founder of the first American settlement, and said that he would so report. He had brought from that settlement the copy of the General Circular and also a statement of Ewing Young declar-
5 "The investigations of Dr. J. R. Wilson led him to look upon this effort of President Jackson to get light on the situation in Oregon as bound up with his larger scheme of 'acquisition of territory in the southwest^ stretching from Texas to and including the harbor of San Francisco. Doctor Wilson came to this conclusion because Jackson's interest in this direction had in the first instance been aroused bv letters from Slacum. The scope and character of the report suggest that the author had a pretty clear and full appreciation of all the vital American interests in the Oregon situation in the thirties." — Young, Introductory note to reprint of Slacum^ report, Oregon Historical Society, Quarterly, XIII. 175-
6 Slacum, Memorial Prating Compensation for His Services in Obtaining Information tn Relation to the Settlements on the Oregon River. 25 cong. 2 ■ess. S. doc. 24. The material accompanying this memorial was reprinted as appendix **N" in Committee on Foreign AflFairs, supplemental report. Territory of Oregon, 29-47. ^5 cong. 3 sess. H, rep. loi.
