Dr. John McLoughlin, the Father of OregonHolman, Frederick V.
History
Dr. John McLoughlin, the Father of Oregon
Holman, Frederick V.
McLoughlin, John, 1784-1857; Oregon Territory -- History
"1st. That your preemptive line be so run as to exclude the Island upon
which a private Company of Citizens have already erected a Grist
Mill--conceding to them so much water as may be necessary for the use of
said Mill.
"2d. That Mr. Waller be secured in the ultimate Title to the two city
Lots now in his possession and other lots not exceeding in superficial
area five Acres, to be chosen by him from among the unsold lots of your
present Survey.
"3d. That the Rev. Mr. Lee on behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Mission,
be in like manner secured in the lots claimed for the use of said
Mission. They consist of Church and Parsonage lots and are well known to
the public.
"I received a letter from Dr. McLoughlin dated 10th Novr. 1843, in
answer to mine, in which he declines complying with the above
Conditions, and thus puts an end to the offer of my Client to relinquish
his right of Preemption. Under these circumstances Mr. Waller has now
applied to the Supreme Court of the United States, which, under the
Constitution has original jurisdiction of 'all cases in Law & Equity,
arising under Treaties,' to grant him a Commission for perpetuating the
testimony of the facts in his case, _de bene esse_, in order that,
whenever Congress shall hereafter see fit to prescribe by law the
conditions and Considerations, he may be enabled to demand of the United
States, a Patent; also praying the Court to grant him such other relief
in the premises as may be consonant with Equity and good conscience.
"The Legality of Mr. Waller's claim rests upon the following Grounds:--
"1st. He was a citizen of the United States of full age and possessed of
a family when he first came to reside on the premises. 2d. He built a
House upon them and moved his family into it; thus becoming in Fact and
in Law a Householder on the land. 3d. He cleared, fenced and cultivated
a portion of it during two years and six months, before he was disturbed
in his actual possession. And 4th. That he is not at this moment
continuing the cultivation of his Farm, is not his fault since it was
wrested from him.
"The Illegality of Doctor McLoughlin's Claim rests upon the following
Grounds:--
"1st. He is a British Subject, owing allegiance to a Foreign Power, and
has so continued to be ever since the Spring of A. D. 1840. For this
reason alone he could not acquire preemption to lands in the United
States.
"2d. He is the Chief Officer of a Foreign Corporate Monopoly. For this
reason alone he could not acquire preemption to lands in the United
States.
"3d. He does not now and never did reside on the land in question, but
on the contrary, he resides and has always continued to reside on the
North side of the Columbia River, the Section of country actually in
dispute between the two Governments, about Twenty miles from the land
claimed by Mr. Waller, and there he is obliged to remain, so long as he
continues to be Chief Factor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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