William A. Slacum
Encyclopedia
William A. Slacum was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sailor and diplomat. He served as a purser in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and received a Presidential commission to gather information on the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...

. At that time the region was under the jurisdiction of both the United States and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

. Previously, Slacum served as a diplomat to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Early life

Slacum was likely born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

. Slacum’s family included sister Mary Louisa Slacum Benham and brother George Washington Slacum who served as a consul in the State Department.

On June 8, 1829, William Slacum joined the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. During his naval career in 1831, Slacum was the purser
Purser
The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain...

 aboard the USS Potomac
USS Potomac (1822)
The first USS Potomac was a frigate in the United States Navy.Potomac was laid down by the Washington Navy Yard in August 1819, was launched March 1822. Fitting out was not completed until 1831, when Captain John Downes assumed command as first commanding officer...

 as that ship spent four years at sea circumnavigating the globe. Then from 1835 to 1836 Slacum served in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 as a Special Diplomatic Agent for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. During this time Slacum sent a letter to President Andrew Jackson praising California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, then under control of Mexico. This letter is credited with raising Jackson’s interest in acquiring that region.

Oregon

In 1835 Lieutenant Slacum was selected by President Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

 to travel to Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...

 to gather information on the affairs of the region. Dated November 11, 1835, Slacum was ordered to inquire about the inhabitants and prospects of those white inhabitants living along the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

.
Slacum then sailed from Guaymas, Mexico on June 1, 1836, for the Sandwich Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

, arriving there on November 5, 1836. There he chartered the ship Loriot
Loriot (ship)
Loriot was an American sailing ship involved in exploration of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. This brig took a member of a United States presidential expedition to survey land and the inhabitants of the area in the 1830s...

for the trip to the Columbia sailing on November 24. On December 22, 1836, the Loriot sailed into the Columbia River.

Slacum then spent time interviewing Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 officials such as Dr. John McLoughlin
John McLoughlin
Dr. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. He was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest...

 and James Douglas
James Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...

 at Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...

. After this he then spent four days on French Prairie
French Prairie
French Prairie is a prairie located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem...

 with the missionary Jason Lee
Jason Lee (missionary)
Jason Lee , an American missionary and pioneer, was born on a farm near Stanstead, Quebec. He was the first of the Oregon missionaries and helped establish the early foundation of a provisional government in the Oregon Country....

 examining the settlements. Here Slacum helped to convince pioneer Ewing Young
Ewing Young
Ewing Young was an American fur trapper and trader from Tennessee who traveled Mexican southwestern North America and California before settling in the Oregon Country. As a prominent and wealthy citizen there, his death was the impetus for the early formation of government in what became the state...

 to give up his efforts to build a distillery and travel to California in order to purchase cattle that would then be driven overland back to Oregon. After this brief stay and information gathering, Lt. Slacum prepared to leave. On February 10, 1837, Slacum left the Columbia and sailed for California. By February 19, the Loriot with Slacum and some settlers in tow arrived at Fort Ross in California. Here the settlers and Slacum parted ways.

Willamette Cattle Company

While in the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...

, Slacum noted the dependency of the pioneers on the Hudson’s Bay Company. This was especially true when it came to cattle, as the HBC only leased cattle to the settlers. Any offspring were the property of the HBC. So the lieutenant offered to take any of the settlers to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 to buy cattle, and even provided $500 for the venture.

Congress

After returning to the United States, William Slacum prepared a report on the information he gathered on the Northwest Coast. In his report that was read in Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 on December 18, 1837, Slacum details the activities in the region and advocated that the United States extend jurisdiction over this area with a border of no further south than the 49th parallel. Amongst other things, one recommendation of his was to cut a channel through Cape Disappointment
Cape Disappointment (Washington)
Cape Disappointment is a headland located at the extreme southwestern corner of Washington State on the north side of the Columbia River bar, at . The point of the cape is located on the Pacific Ocean in Pacific County, approximately two miles southwest of the town of Ilwaco...

 in order to improve accessibility to the Columbia River and avoid the dangerous bar of the river.

On November 1, 1839, Slacum died. After his death, Slacum’s estate tried to receive funds from the United States government for Slacum’s expenses from his trip to Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

.
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