wrecked on petty obstacles, thrown up by the ignorance or injustice of their misjudging contemporaries; and it is not until later times, or it may be another generation, that full justice can be done to the enthusiasm, and due allowance made for the exaggerated feeling, which the contemplation of an elevated purpose kindles in their breasts."[1]
"And yet the occupation of Oregon was not without its knights of La Mancha, whose brains became somewhat turned, and that by difficulties more imaginary than real . . . A fanatic in religion, he became fanatic in his scheme of settlement. All the powers of piety and avarice were employed by him in the attempted execution of plans which grew more wildly dear to him as the years went by and failure became more apparent . . .
"If we measure his merits by his claims we must make him at once owner and king of Oregon. Nevertheless his writings did exercise influence, not as great as if they had been moderate, yet exceedingly weighty in those momentous questions so shortly to arise . . .
"With regard to the services which Kelley rendered the United States, or Oregon, it would be difficult to estimate the value. That his published articles and public lectures were the first to call attention to the feasibility of settling the Pacific coast by an overland emigration there can be no dispute . . .
"There are more than one in California like Vallejo and Alvarado, prominent in the affairs of the nation, who have seen cities rise from under the chaparal of sand-hills, and palpitating civilization fill the valleys where once they lassoed grizzly bears and chased wild men and women into the mission conversion pens; there are among the fur-traders those who have seen the rise of settlement and the wonders of progress in the Northwest; but there has been none like poor Kelley who laid upon the altar of his enthusiasm more than half a century of
- ↑ Cushing, Discovery beyond the Rocky mountains, North American Reviews, L, 122–3 (1840).
