150 University of California Publications in History

was perhaps exaggerated because of the irritations of a long and
difficult negotiation. But Onis was not alone in this view. Bagot
was somewhat astonished at Adams' position, and commented:
 Although I was pretty well aware of the nature of this answer, I confess
to your Lordship that I was not prepared for the direct and high handed
defense of General Jackson... There is however a Key which will explain
this, and always will explain every measure of this Government viz:-Elec-
tions."
With the rivalries which culminated in 1824 already splitting the
Cabinet, such suspicions may have had some foundation. But any-
one who has read Adams' diplomatic correspondence and has seen
his conscience unfold in his diary must feel that a sense of national
pride and a desire to bolster his diplomatic strategy were the
dominant motives in this notable exposition.
 Debate on the proposed censure of Jackson continued in Con-
gress and in the press until two weeks before the signing of the
treaty, giving the diplomats many anxious moments. Finally, on
February 8, 1819, the House, in a session which set a record for
attendance, defeated resolutions intended to express official dis-
approval of the trials of Arbuthnot and Ambrister.'

 THE COLUMBIA RIVER
During the time that negotiations were suspended, the word Onis
most anxiously awaited was authorization to negotiate concerning
the Northwest. It has been seen that most of the other issues had
been clarified. Along the frontier, Texas no longer was the source
of worry that it had been previously, now that the Sabine had been
settled upon as the limit and the French adventurers had been
driven from the Trinity. Farther west, the problem of keeping the
United States border a safe distance from Santa F6 had presented
itself when Adams demanded that the Red River form the bound-
ary line, and various trading and exploring parties had learned
that the New Mexico frontier was not to be a peaceful one. But the
greatest uncertainty centered in the region beyond the "Snow
mountains."
 The area actually in controversy lay between the Columbia and
the Forty-first Parallel. The only settlements to be found there
were Fort George (Astoria), Fort Nez Perc6s near the mouth of
the Walla Walla, and such temporary posts as fur trappers and