1850.

the original occupant. That since the date mentioned, the occupant of the claim had donated for county, educational, charitable, and religious purposes more than two hundred lots, which, if the bill pending should pass, would be lost to the public, as well as a great loss sustained by private individuals who had purchased property in good faith. They therefore prayed that the bill might not pass in its present form, believing that it would work a "severe, inequi table, unnecessary, and irremediable injustice." The memorial was signed by fifty-six persons, 47 and a reso lution declaring the selection of the Oregon City claim for reservation uncalled for by any consider able portion of the citizens of the territory, and as invidious and unjust to McLoughlin, was offered by Wait and adopted, followed by another by Thorn ton declaring that the gratitude of multitudes of people in Oregon was due to John McLoughlin for assistance rendered them. In some preliminary re marks, Thornton referred to the ingratitude shown .

their benefactor, by certain persons who had not paid their debts to McLoughlin, but who had secretly signed a petition to take away his property. Mc Loughlin also refers to this petition in his newspaper defence; but if there was such a petition circulated or sent it does not appear in any of the public docu ments, and must have been carefully suppressed by Thurston himself, and only used in the committee rooms of members of congress. 48

47 The names of the signers were: Andrew Hood, Noyes Smith, Forbes Barclay, A. A. Skinner, James D. Holman, W. C. Holman, J. Quinn Thorn ton, Walter Pomeroy, A. E. Wait, Joseph 0. Lewis, James M. Moore, Robert Moore, R. R. Thompson, George H. Atkinson, M. Crawford, Wm. Hood, Thomas Lowe, Wm. B. Campbell, John Fleming, G. Hanan, Robert Canfield, Alex. Brisser, Samuel Welch, Gustavus A. Cone, Albert Gaines, W. H. Tucker, Arch. McKinlay, Richard McMahon, David Burnsides, Hezekiah Johnson, P. H. Hatch, J. L. Morrison, Joseph Parrott, Ezra Fisher, Geo. T. Allen, L. D. C. Latourette, D. D. Tompkins, Wm. Barlow, Amory Holbrook, Matthew Richardson, John McClosky, Wm. Holmes, H. Burns, Wm. Chap man, Wm. K. Kilborn, J. R. Ralston, B. B. Rogers, Chas. Friedenberg, Abraham Wolfe, Samuel Vance, J. B. Backenstos, John J. Chandler. S. W. Moss, James Winston Jr., Septimus Huelot, Milton Elliott. Or. Spectator, Sept. 26, 1850.

48 Considering the fact that Thornton had been in the first instance the