Item #3594 [OREGON]. Oregon. Memorial of Citizens of the United States, Residing in the Territory of Oregon, Praying for the Establishment of a Distinct Territorial Government, to Embrace Oregon and Its Adjacent Sea Coasts, &c. House of Representatives 29th Congress, 1st Session, Doc. No. 3 (Dec. 2, 1845). 1845 U S. Congress, House of Representatives.
[OREGON]. Oregon. Memorial of Citizens of the United States, Residing in the Territory of Oregon, Praying for the Establishment of a Distinct Territorial Government, to Embrace Oregon and Its Adjacent Sea Coasts, &c. House of Representatives 29th Congress, 1st Session, Doc. No. 3 (Dec. 2, 1845)
[OREGON]. Oregon. Memorial of Citizens of the United States, Residing in the Territory of Oregon, Praying for the Establishment of a Distinct Territorial Government, to Embrace Oregon and Its Adjacent Sea Coasts, &c. House of Representatives 29th Congress, 1st Session, Doc. No. 3 (Dec. 2, 1845)
[OREGON]. Oregon. Memorial of Citizens of the United States, Residing in the Territory of Oregon, Praying for the Establishment of a Distinct Territorial Government, to Embrace Oregon and Its Adjacent Sea Coasts, &c. House of Representatives 29th Congress, 1st Session, Doc. No. 3 (Dec. 2, 1845)
Oregon residents' plea for a State Government

[OREGON]. Oregon. Memorial of Citizens of the United States, Residing in the Territory of Oregon, Praying for the Establishment of a Distinct Territorial Government, to Embrace Oregon and Its Adjacent Sea Coasts, &c. House of Representatives 29th Congress, 1st Session, Doc. No. 3 (Dec. 2, 1845)

Washington DC: Richie & Heiss, Printers, 1845. 8vo. 5, [3] pp. (last 3 pages blank). Single sheet folded twice (splitting along folds), uncut. Very good. Item #3594

AN APPEAL TO CONGRESS BY RESIDENTS IN THE OREGON TERRITORY IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH A GOVERNMENT.

The writers draw attention to the vast commercial opportunities, as well as the threat from the British ("a haughty government, on a foreign continent, [that] asserts her right to possess herself of Oregon"). The authors gloss over the impediment of the Rocky Mountains which -- we are informed -- ascend gradually and "present little more obstruction than a cornfield."

These "memorialists" further request that the Wallamette valley be surveyed; mail routes established (to arrive and depart "monthly"); land officers appointed; navy yards built on the Columbia River; protection from the "numerous Indian tribes which surround us"; the purchase of territories they may wish to sell; agents with authority "to regulate intercourse between whites and Indians." Finally, "We pray that the star-bangled banner may be planted in and unfurled over this territory."

It would take three more years for the Territory of Oregon to become an organized incorporated territory of the United States; it existed from 1848 until 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon.

Of this key tract, the only digital surrogate we have located is quite defective, having been ridiculously scanned so that scores of words were omitted.

From the Dorothy Sloan Collection of Western Americana.

Price: $250.00