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
The only persons who were not cordially received by Dr. McLoughlin were
Ewing Young and Hall J. Kelley, who came to Fort Vancouver in October,
1834, from California. Gov. Figueroa, the Governor of California, had
written Dr. McLoughlin that Young and Kelley had stolen horses from
settlers in California. Dr. McLoughlin told them of the charges, and
that he would have nothing to do with them until the information was
shown to be false. This was not done until long afterwards, when it was
shown that neither Young nor Kelley was guilty, but that some of their
party, with which they started to Oregon, were guilty, and were
disreputable characters, which Young and Kelley knew. The stand taken by
Dr. McLoughlin was the only proper one. He had official information from
California. Fort Vancouver was not an asylum for horse thieves.
Nevertheless, as Kelley was sick, Dr. McLoughlin provided Kelley with a
house, such as was occupied by the servants of the Company, outside the
fort, furnished him with an attendant, and supplied him with medical aid
and all necessary comforts until March, 1835, when Dr. McLoughlin gave
Kelley free passage to the Hawaiian Islands on the Hudson's Bay
Company's vessel, the Dryad, and also presented Kelley with a draft for
seven pounds sterling, payable at the Hawaiian Islands. On his return
home, Kelley, instead of being grateful, most vigorously attacked the
Hudson's Bay Company for its alleged abuses of American citizens, and
abused Dr. McLoughlin and falsely stated that Dr. McLoughlin had been so
alarmed with the dread that Kelley would destroy the Hudson's Bay
Company's trade that Dr. McLoughlin had kept a constant watch over
Kelley.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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