The text is divided into 2 parts, the first presents a concise history of the Oregon territory and an impassioned argument for the United States to lay claim to the region. Part II of the text contains the first person narrative account of Peter H. Burnett (unnamed) of the 1843 emigration. Burnett later became the first civil governor of California. An Appendix on pp. 114-127 contains the diplomatic correspondence, letters, and treaties between Russia, Spain, Great Britain and the United States relevant to Part I.

Embracing an analysis of the old Spanish claims, the British pretensions, the United States title; an account of the present condition and character of the country, and a thorough examination of the project of a national rail road, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. To which is added a journal of the events of the celebrated emigrating expedition of 1843; containing an account of the route from Missouri to Astoria, a table of distances, and the physical and political description of the territory, and its settlements, by a member of the recently organised Oregon legislature. The whole concluding with an appendix, containing the treaties, diplomatic correspondence, and negotiations between Spain, Russia, Great Britain, and the United States, in relation to the North West Coast

Embracing an analysis of the old Spanish claims, the British pretensions, the United States title; an account of the present condition and character of the country, and a thorough examination of the project of a national rail road, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. To which is added a journal of the events of the celebrated emigrating expedition of 1843; containing an account of the route from Missouri to Astoria, a table of distances, and the physical and political description of the territory, and its settlements, by a member of the recently organised Oregon legislature. The whole concluding with an appendix, containing the treaties, diplomatic correspondence, and negotiations between Spain, Russia, Great Britain, and the United States, in relation to the North West Coast