THOM (Adam).
The Claims to the Oregon Territory Considered.
Following the withdrawal of the claims of Spain and Russia, the only dispute over ownership of the Pacific Northwest rested between Great Britain and the United States. A joint claim had been established between the two countries in 1818, however by 1844, when Polk was elected President of the U.S. on this very issue, it was clear that a compromise had to be reached. In 1846 the Oregon Treaty was signed which gave the British navigation rights on the Columbia River and gave the boundary as latitude 49 N. The marine delineation was not made until 1872.
Thom divides his argument into three sections: Discovery, Settlement, and Convention; with a final Conclusion. The discoverers include Drake, Cook, Dixon, Meares, Malaspina and of course Lewis and Clark, whilst his Conclusion states that “Convention gives the whole of the disputed territory to England by a title paramount to all the pretensions of civilized jurisprudence…” Sabin, 95370.
