r to execute
all process issuing from the courts of that Province, and to "sit and
hold courts of record for the trial of criminal offenses and
misdemeanors" not made the subject of capital punishment, and also of
civil cases where the cause of action shall not "exceed in value the
amount or sum of L200."

Subsequent to the date of this act of Parliament a grant was made from
the "British Crown" to the Hudsons Bay Company of the exclusive trade
with the Indian tribes in the Oregon Territory, subject to a reservation
that it shall not operate to the exclusion "of the subjects of any
foreign states who, under or by force of any convention for the time
being between us and such foreign states, respectively, may be entitled
to and shall be engaged in the said trade." It is much to be regretted
that while under this act British subjects have enjoyed the protection
of British laws and British judicial tribunals throughout the whole of
Oregon, American citizens in the same Territory have enjoyed no such
protection from their Government. At the same time, the result
illustrates the character of our people and their institutions. In spite
of this neglect they have multiplied, and their number is rapidly
increasing in that Territory. They have made no appeal to arms, but have
peacefully fortified themselves in their new homes by the adoption of
republican institutions for themselves, furnishing another example of
the truth that self-government is inherent in the American breast and
must prevail. It is due to them that they should be embraced and
protected by our laws. It is deemed important that our laws regulating
trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes east of the Rocky Mountains
should be extended to such tribes as dwell beyond them. The increasing
emigration to Oregon and the care and protection which is due from the
Government to its citizens in that distant region make it our duty, as
it is our interest, to cultivate amicable relations with the Indian
tribes of that Territory. For this purpose I recommend that provision be
made for establishing an Indian agency and such subagencies as may be
deemed necessary beyond the Rocky Mountains.

For the protection of emigrants whilst on their way to Oregon against
the attacks of the Indian tribes occupying the country through which
they pass, I recommend that a suitable number of stockades and
blockhouse forts be erected along the usual route between our frontier
settlements