The office of justice was held by officers of the fur trading company, whose power and prestige was thus increased. The history of government for about twenty years is summed up in the person of one man, Dr. John McLoughlin. The exercise of authority by that masterful character of early times still lives in the minds of the oldest pioneers, and has found expression in many of the records which constitute the sources of Oregon’s history. Although the official agent of the English company, a Scotchman by nationality, a Catholic in religion, and loyal to all the interests he represented, he was a man of too large a mold to be anything other than the instrument of justice and good order for all classes of people who might come within the bounds where his jurisdiction was exercised. “From 1823 to 1845 he was the controlling power in the country, and did more than any one else to preserve order, peace and good will among the conflicting and sometimes lawless elements of the population.”[2] Autocratic in his methods and strict in the enforcement of justice, he was yet kindly and merciful. His tours about the country to settle any difficulties that might have arisen in any of the trading posts, or agricultural settlements of ex-employees, were regular features of the early days, and were very effective.[3] The inability of the independent fur trader to compete with the English company, and the comparative advantage that the English subject had in the protection by his country’s laws, naturally led to a feeling of dissatisfaction on the part of the American trader, and a belief that under the cover of a business enterprise the English civil government was gradually settling itself over the country to the exclusion of the American, whose interests and rights were equal according to the treaty of joint occupancy. That John Jacob Astor had not renewed his enterprise after the restoration of the fort at Astoria at the close of the war of 1812, was due to the refusal of the government, during Madison’s administration, to guarantee his company the protection of the United States in case of trouble.[4] Had that been done, company would have been in competition with company, and the conditions would have been more equal. As it was, however, the United States’ interests were represented and her hold maintained only by such independent traders and trappers as ventured into the country, and usually failed of maintaining themselves for any great length of time.