 Frontier Fighters Inspiring episodes in the dramatic careers of those intrepid sons of courage whose destiny it was to safeguard for posterity the glory of the Old West. In 1827 the American Congress and the British Parliament ratified the extension of the agreement of 1818 which gave joint occupancy to a great area of land in which lay the territory of Oregon. Oregon was almost a lost country until immigrants followed the missionaries and shrewd Yankee traitors began to follow the immigrants. The balance of power suddenly swung over to the Americans because of their numbers and with the advent of a political year Oregon under American rule as a free state became a national issue. The original agreement between the United States and Great Britain did not specifically speak of 5440 as being the northern boundary of Oregon but the settlers so interpreted the agreement because that parallel meant all of Oregon would be under United States rule. In July 1843 an Oregon convention was held at Cincinnati. At the Oregon convention we've done a great deal of wild shouting not a little applauding. We've given undue exercise to our military band. But gentlemen, to what definite conclusions have we come? We have not as yet declared for any kind of a parallel in this growing dispute between the United States and Great Britain. Time for hold and all. I often say that the parallel should be the 49. That's 5440 and that gives the whole of Oregon to the United States. Ain't fair for Great Britain and what ain't very... Get to hold for 5440 and United States rule. Looks like there's a majority. 97, 98, 99 out of 100. There's one more in its unilateral. The gates here convened that the northern boundary of Oregon is 5440. Bloomed upon the horizon as a purely territorial affair suddenly became an item of national interest which aroused the country. The chairman of the Democratic Party remarked to its candidate, Mr. Polk, I think I have a slogan for the Democratic Party that will put its candidate into the White House. You have and will it keep him there? Keep him there if he isn't afraid of trouble with Great Britain. Oregon and that boundary, eh? Yes, Mr. Polk, but not trouble that can be settled by talking all around the issue. The citizens of the United States do not wish to be under British rule. I suppose decisive measures of some kind will have to be taken soon. The entire country is being aroused. It is no longer a matter of hundreds of thousands of square miles of land. It is an affair of national pride, of dominion. And you think I should champion this cause for political purposes? If so, I should not care to have made of a national issue a political one. After all, if our sovereign rights are in danger, the politics of the presidency are of minor importance. Mr. Polk, when I came into our campaign headquarters, I looked upon you as the ultimate leader of our party. Now I look upon you as a gentleman, who is a defender of American rights and ideals. I hope you'll use the slogan even more now than ever before. Oh, yes, yes. That famous slogan that is about to elect me. Uh, what is it? Fifty-four forty or fight! As the campaign Polk for President progressed, the national and the political situation became so intertwined that the nation witnessed the spectacle of a man who was sure to ride into office on the slogan, Fifty-four forty or fight! The politicians sniffed the air and smelled Fifty-four forty or fight as a sure-fire issue. Gone was the careful policy of President Tyler and Daniel Webster. The country was in flames, and Polk, his eyes on the presidency, fed those flames with empty patriotic phrases, the whole of Oregon or none. But when the first Congress convened in the winter of 1845 and 6, and resolutions were introduced to give notice of the termination of joint occupancy, the senior Southern Senator Calhoun sprang to his feet and shouted, I go on to not wish to confuse issues. And I'll say, there is only one measure to be considered, and that is the annexation of Texas. No! Mr. President, the senators from the South, led by their own trickster, Mr. Calhoun, have betrayed us. I challenge you both. I challenge you. To the slavery state, until we learn that President Polk and the Southern Senators, all of us would work partly together for the addition of Oregon to the Union to balance the power of free states and slave states. And now, the senator from South Carolina says, there is only one issue. The annexation of Texas. I say again, gentlemen, that we have been betrayed by Senator Calhoun, our unit! Almost upon the heels of the fiery debates in the Senate came the pageant of the Mexican War. It was thought all questions raised by the frontier settlements in the Northwest would be subdued, while the conflict between the United States and Mexico raged on. However, in Oregon, the feeling became more tense. Men armed, men drilled, men burned to protect their rights. The whole of Oregon and none was the cry, along with 54-40 or fight. But, you men knew exactly where 54-40 was. 54-40 or fight? If Washington won't protect our sovereign rights, we will. We can be with the United States. We are the independent of the United States. No does is write notes. We want action. We want a fight for our rights. Hey, you men, they've mounted cannon in Vancouver, taking it from the warship. Mounted cannon? Well, we can mount cannon, too. But we can mount cannon. Well, stop, all of you! There'll be no mob rule here. It's the captain. Now, quiet. All of you. They've mounted cannon in Vancouver, sir. Let them, but we'll mount no cannon. We recognize this soil upon which we stand as American soil, and we protect it with our lives. But, God forbid, gentlemen, that we should, by one, act word or deed, start the war. With every hour the situation grew more tense. President Polk, involved in a war with Mexico, turned the entire matter over to James Buchanan, his new Secretary of State. Buchanan immediately opened negotiations with Lord Aberdeen, representing the government of Queen Victoria. The hotheads on both sides of the water clamored for war. But the British cabinet was eager for either compromise or arbitration. The government of Her Majesty had its hands full with military operations in distant Afghanistan and China. The stubborn fight was in progress with the Sikhs in India. There was friction with the Dutch in South Africa and the famine in Ireland. Polk hammered on all sides, advised Buchanan to sound out the leaders in the Senate. Well, well, Buchanan? Mr. President, we're caught between two fires. Many members are opposed to war with Great Britain. Others clamor for war. The militarists in England are crying for the kingdom to arm. In this extreme moment, what do you advise? I shall continue to sue for an amicable settlement of this tragically unfortunate issue. You, sir, to save the face of your administration, had better go before Congress and ask for an adequate military force to guard and protect such of our citizens as might think it proper to emigrate to Oregon. Weeks passed. In Oregon, desperate men, afraid they would become lost in a shuffle of political cards, afraid that the issue had died, decided to revive it and force the federal government to recognize Oregon, even if they themselves started a war. On the heels of these proposed desperate actions, the frigate Virginia, anchored in Fugit Sound, messengers on horseback raced to meet the boat. I'll bet there's red hot news from Washington, D.C. I ain't aimin' to speculate, but I ain't got a feeling it's war. I'm wonderin' if it was war, the United States wouldn't send out just one frigate. Oh, there it goes. Just about meet the boats as they touch the shore. Yeah. Yes, got dispatches? Yeah, two bags full. Now what's in them? Do we get Oregon? Yeah, under orders not to tell what I know. You'll find out soon enough when the commander at the port opens this bag of dispatches. It's nose that'll change the whole history of the United States. Gentlemen, attention. Gentlemen, I have the honor to announce that Great Britain accepts the 49th parallel. It's 54, 40 all right, and Oregon is ours without having so much as fired one shot. Thanks to the cool heads of Secretary of State Buchanan for the United States, Lord Aberdeen for Great Britain, a war was a burden. And while certain compromises were affected and concessions made to the Hudson's Bay Company, the limits of Oregon were at last definitely set. On Sunday morning, March 13th, 1846, Oregon was a full-fledged territory of the United States. Today in the vast territory of Old Oregon, citizens of the United States live in the closest possible harmony with her neighbors in British Columbia who salute the Union Jack. And both sides, during those stirring days of 45 and 46, can indeed be called trailblazers and frontier fighters.