370 OREGON BEFORE CONGRESS.

The 7th of February, 1838, Lewis F. Linn, senator from Missouri, introduced a bill for the occupation ot the Columbia River, the establishment of a territory north of latitude 42° and west of the Rocky Moun- tains, to be called the Oregon Territory; the erection of a fort on the Columbia, and occupation of the coun- try by a military force; the establishment of a port of entry, and requiring the country to be held sub- iect to the revenue laws of the United States, with an appropriation of $50,000 for the purposes men- tioned in the bill. This was referred to the committee on military affairs. After some discussion of the ques- tion of title, Benton procured the reference ot the bill to a select committee of which Linn was chair- man. , «

This led to a resolution that the secretary ot war be requested to furnish the senate with all the infor- mation in his department relating to the Oregon Ter- ritory, and with a map embracing recent discoveries of all the country claimed by the United States in the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Out of a mass of material obtained from this and every other available source, Linn pre- pared his report, which was presented to the senate on the 6th of June. After referring to the message of President Monroe recommending that a military post should be established at the mouth of the Colum- bia or at some other point within the acknowledged limits of the United States, which should afford pro- tection to American commerce on the Pacific Ocean, and his suggestion with regard to an armed frigate to explore the mouth of the Columbia and the coast contiguous thereto, for which he advised an appropri- ation by congress sufficient for the purpose; and after alluding to the subsequent negotiations with Great Britain which ended in nothing definite concerning title; and after referring to the mission of ^ cum .- he entered on a history of the several treaties with Great Britain affecting the title, and the correspond-