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Show ., Page 108 14 Oregon to Texas." In April, Orson Hyde left Nauvoo for Washington to bring this missive to Orson Pratt. This was not the first Orson Pratt had heard about the Rocky Mountains. Just before leaving Nauvoo in March, he had discussed with the Prophet in council the possibility of securing "a resting place in the mountains, or some uninhabited region, where we can enjoy the liberty of 15 conscience guaranteed to us by the Constitution..." The meeting had considered various policies to attain this end, but now Joseph Smith was decided - he enjoined Orson to be aggressive, to press hard the most influential men of Congress, including John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. Hyde reported late in April that Orson Pratt had been "indefatigable in his exertions in prosecuting the business entrusted to his charge." Apparently, the Mormon proposal was met with some interest, for Pratt and Hyde had talked with Illinois Congressmen James Semple, Stephen A. Douglas, and others, "who received us with every demonstration of respect that we could desire." One of the representatives though the bill objectionable because an armed force headed for Oregon would certainly be considered an infraction of the treaty by which the Northwest was administered jointly under British and American authority. Mormons settling in the character of emigrants, the apostles then pointed out, could not be regarded by Britain as a deviation from the treaty provisions. Most of the gentlemen from Illinois agreed with the Mormons; however, Semple observed that the politicians were moving very slowly on the questions of Texas and Oregon and he doubted the issue would even be discussed before the presidential election in the fall. The Mormons concluded from this that no action was pending, that the politicians were fearful of the British and apprehensive that the election would be decided on the basis of territorial movements in the West. "Oregon is becoming a popular question," |