THE QUARTERLY OF THE Oregon Historical Society. (continued 2)

Houses during this year were in great demand, and many were built. The Astorian thus speaks of the building boom:

It may seem surprising, but nevertheless it is true, work is progressing in all stages upon one hundred and eighty-nine new buildings in the city of Astoria at this moment. * * Were we to attempt to enumerate the long list of structures erected in this city since last fall we should fail to do the subject justice. In building wharves and warehouses, canneries, and other packing establishments, ship yards, and machine shops, stores, and residences, many thousands of dollars have been spent.

And again:

Houses are being erected at an alarming rate. Last Saturday ten new structures were raised—one for every working hour of the day.

The river trade, a very important factor in the upbuilding of the city, had greatly increased during the past three years. Twenty or more steamers, large and small, were engaged during 1878 in making daily trips between Astoria and lower river points and upper river points as far as Portland. At this time seven steamers were making regular trips between Portland and San Francisco, but stopping at Astoria and bringing many passengers and much freight to the town. The Astorian of May 5, 1877, commenting on the number of people arriving at Astoria, says "last month two thousand six hundred and twenty-eight bona fide immigrants landed at Astoria by steamers. About one thousand seven hundred proceeded inland in search of homes." This was about the beginning of the fishing season, and no doubt most of those who remained at Astoria were fishermen and cannery workers. The people at that time remained in Astoria during the fishing season, and returned to California for the winter.

The effect of having such a large floating population was soon felt on the morals of the city, and it was during these early years of the salmon industry that Astoria acquired the reputation for vice and crime that remained long after the city had rid itself of its undesirable element. During the year 1877 there were forty saloons in the city, and all reaped a rich harvest during the fishing season. The Astorian was strong in its protests against the immorality of the town, and urged the closing of all the dives and gambling houses, but for a time without avail. Later we shall see how the city did rid itself of its lowest class of inhabitants.

In 1878 the roadway to Upper Astoria was completed, and the Upper Astoria post office abolished. The completion of the roadway was an event of great importance to the people of both towns, and had the effect of putting an end to the rivalry that had existed since the starting of Upper Astoria in 1849, when the customhouse was built. The towns were now in fact one, though considered locally as two separate towns. By the legislative act of 1891 the corporate limits of the town were extended so as to include upper town.

The intense rivalry between the companies operating steamers on the Portland-San Francisco route brought about the reduction of freight and passenger rates so that there was much travel between Oregon and California. As every steamer stopped several hours at Astoria the town received considerable patronage from the passengers. The Astorian speaks of the town being crowded during the stay of one of the ocean steamers. The Great Republic frequently carried a thousand passengers, and always took on a considerable part of its cargo at Astoria.

The population of Astoria in 1880 was two thousand eight hundred and three and the population of Clatsop County seven thousand two hundred and twenty-two. This increase in the number of people in the county meant much to Astoria, since the supplies for a large part of Clatsop County are taken from the city.

In 1883 the salmon industry reached its highest point. Not only were more fish canned than at any previous year but a better price than ever before was paid for the raw material, thus distributing a larger amount of money among the fishermen and cannery workers. During this season six hundred and twenty-nine thousand cases of salmon, valued at over $3,000,000, were packed on the Columbia River.

It was during this year that the fire, known locally as the "big fire," occurred. It started July 2, 1883, in the sawmill near the site now occupied by the Foard & Stokes Company and swept the entire water front from that point east to Seventeenth Street, including the large warehouse owned by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. The volunteer fire department worked heroically and succeeded after several hours in gaining control of the fire, though not until it had destroyed several blocks of business houses, wharves, and dwellings. The wooden streets, built on piling over the water acted as a means for carrying the fire from building to building. The loss was very heavy but the fishing season was at its height and money plentiful, so that in a short time new buildings were erected in place of those destroyed by fire.

An interesting chapter in Astoria's history is connected with the fire of 1883. During its progress a large quantity of liquor was taken from the saloons in the path of the fire and carried to places of safety only to be stolen by the rougher class of onlookers. In a short time great disorder prevailed in the vicinity of the fire and the officers were powerless to prevent the wholesale stealing of the goods taken from the stores and houses. Drinking was kept up throughout the night but after the fire was checked the scene of disorder was transferred to the lower part of town, known as "Swilltown." Here the drunken fishermen were soon relieved of their money by the denizens of this section. Later some of the fishermen threatened to burn the rest of the town in retaliation. The business men of the city fearing that this threat would be carried out organized a committee to assist the officers in preserving the peace should their aid become necessary, the mayor at the same time issuing a proclamation calling upon all saloon keepers to close their saloons each night at 12 o'clock. One saloon, owned by Riley and Ginder, two ex-policemen, refused to obey and when the officers went to arrest the proprietors they were fired upon through the barricaded doors. During the conflict three taps were sounded on the fire bell, the signal for the citizens' committee to assemble. The committee responded quickly and arrived upon the scene fully armed and ready for action. The officers in the mean time had succeeded in entering the building and had arrested Riley and Ginder who were brought before the committee. After a short deliberation they were informed that they must leave the city at once under penalty of being hanged from the city hall. The threat was sufficient and they closed their saloon and left the city. To one who knows the condition of affairs that existed in the city after the fire, and the character of the men who led the citizens' movement, it is evident that Riley and Ginder used the best of judgment in obeying promptly. After disposing of this case the committee decided to drive out the crowd of disreputable characters that lived in "Swilltown," and accordingly served notice on all such to leave town within twenty-four hours. This order, backed by a resolute set of citizens, was generally obeyed, only one man openly defying the committee. This man, an Englishman by the name of Boyle, was known as a "bad man." Nevertheless he was captured, whipped, and sent out of town. Recognizing three members of the committee he brought suit against them in the United States court for damages and secured the verdict. The amount was quickly raised by general subscription, $20 being the usual individual contribution. The citizens' committee having accomplished the purpose for which it was organized now disbanded.

Notwithstanding the steady decline in the salmon pack on the Columbia River since 1883 and the closing of many of the canneries in the city, Astoria has had a steady growth, due in a great measure to the increase in trade with the growing towns and the farming and dairy districts tributary to the city, and to the growth of the sawmill industry, which though still in its infancy here, is growing rapidly. By the close of the summer four and possibly five large mills will be in operation.

In 1890 the city had a population of six thousand one hundred and eighty-four, a very great increase over the census returns of ten years before. Two years before this the Astoria and South Coast Railroad was started and the road built from Sea Side to the middle of Young's Bay, a distance of about fifteen miles. Though this road did not enter the city for several years its building had a marked effect on Astoria. Prices for city property increased very rapidly, and during the years 1889 and 1890 a real estate boom was in progress. While considerable property changed ownership very little building was done so that when the period of activity in real estate ended the city did not contain rows of empty houses as did so many of the boom towns of Washington.

Almost from the beginning of its history Astoria has dreamed of rail connections with the East. The coming of the railroad has been regarded as the one thing needed to make Astoria the seaport of the Northwest. The Astoria and South Coast road had stopped near the center of Young's Bay. About three years later a new road that was to run up Young's River, thence through the Nehalem Valley to Portland was started. This company, after building several miles of trestle around Smith's Point and up Young's River, suspended operations owing to its inability to secure sufficient financial backing to complete the road. The Astoria and Columbia River Railroad Company was given subsidy of a million and a half in money and property and in 1898 built the present road to connect with the Northern Pacific track at Goble. The city has been greatly benefited by this road, although the long expected period of rapid growth did not accompany it, owing to the fact that Astoria has not been made a common point with other cities of the Northwest.

The population of the city in 1900 had increased to eight thousand three hundred and eighty-one. A conservative estimate places the population now at a little over ten thousand.

This is substantially the story of Astoria's settlement and growth, both in wealth and population. It remains now to trace the influence of its main industry, salmon packing, in determining its social conditions. In Astoria foreigners and native born of foreign parentage form the great majority of inhabitants. Representatives from almost every part of the world live in Astoria, the principal nationalities, however, being Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, and Finns. The Finns form a greater part of our population than any other nationality.

During the first thirty years after the real growth of the city began the population was almost exclusively American, but with the advent of the fishing industry came the hardy fishermen and sailors of northwestern Europe who found here an opportunity to carry on their customary avocations with the assurance of profitable returns for their labors. During the first few years of the salmon business a great number of fishermen came from other states, so that Astoria had a floating population of nearly two thousand during the summer months. They were a free and easy set who made money and spent it without reserve, the saloons getting a large share of their earnings. As a result saloons flourished, carrying with them their many kindred evils, and Astoria became a rough place. The foreigners who in more recent years have engaged in fishing are, as a class, sober and industrious, and home builders. Gradually these adopted citizens have displaced the transient fishermen, until now the term fisherman is no longer synonymous with rowdy, but rather indicate a hardy, industrious citizen of foreign birth. In Upper Astoria and Alderbrook the people are mostly Scandinavians, or descendants of this race. In Union or Finn town, as the name implies, the people are almost exclusively Finns. They are progressive and almost to a man own their own homes, not shacks or hovels, but well built, roomy houses. These people, as well as the Scandinavians, come from a country where the public school system is well established, and are zealous in the cause of the public schools of this city. A year ago the people of Union town attended the annual school meeting almost in a body, and succeeded in carrying through a measure and voting a tax for the construction of a school building in the west end of the city, at the same time offering to donate a considerable part of the necessary labor. The present Taylor school building is the result of these efforts.

In the last city election, out of a total of eleven hundred names registered, nearly six hundred were of foreign birth. Of this number one hundred and seventy were natives of Finland, eighty-seven of Sweden, seventy-two of Norway, sixty-four of Germany, and forty of Denmark. The Finns are very clannish, which accounts for their almost exclusive Finnish settlement in West Astoria. It is their custom to send for their relatives in their own country as soon as they have earned the necessary money. In this way the foreign born population is steadily increasing. They do not appear to be a speculative class, but seem content to work hard, secure a home and save something from their yearly earnings though a few cooperative companies have been formed for the purpose of packing salmon.

The struggle for material advancement in the way of developing resources, securing a railroad, and other enterprises has not been greatly aided by the foreign population. Since the coming of these foreign-born citizens the fishing element is no longer regarded as a rough class of people, but rather as the sober, working class of the city. During the winter months most of the fishermen are employed carpentering, street building, as workers in the mills and factories or engaged in knitting nets and preparing gear for the next season.

Astoria at the present day is a cosmopolitan city of about ten thousand inhabitants, composed largely of foreigners. As in earlier times fishing is the main industry, though the rapidly growing lumber industry bids fair soon to surpass it in importance. At the present time there are only seven canneries in operation in Astoria, but the cold storage business has assumed large proportions during the past two years. Astoria now possesses an excellent water system, a thorough school system, consisting of six grammar schools and a high school, all together accommodating about fifteen hundred children and employing thirty-one teachers. Trade with the surrounding country has increased very rapidly during the last few years, but Astoria has been but little benefited by the increased export trade from the Columbia as most of the cargoes are shipped direct from Portland. During the ninety-two years of its existence Astoria has grown from a small fur-trading station to the second city in size in the State. While its growth has been apparently slow, it has kept pace with the development of Oregon and the Northwest as a whole.

ALFRED A. CLEVELAND.

A PIONEER CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY IN OREGON.

Note.—The material from which this paper has been prepared was derived from the following sources: manuscript account of "Woolen Mill," the "Journey to Washington," and the "Cargo of Wheat to Liverpool," written by Mr. Watt and loaned to the author by Mr. S. A. Clark, of Washington, D. C., in whose possession it has been. A series of articles in the Oregonian in 1881, by Mr. S. A. Clark, describing the journeys across the country and other incidents, obtained from manuscript and from conversations with Mr. Watt, with whom Mr. Clark was on most intimate terms; a paper containing recollections of his brother's life and incidents by Ahio Watt, of Portland; conversations with the widow and daughter of Mr. Watt, who are now living at Forest Grove, Oregon.

A unique place in the industrial history of Oregon must be given to Joseph Watt, the first to undertake the manufacture of woolen goods on the Pacific coast and the first to send a cargo of wheat to the market at Liverpool, both of which acts mark the beginning of important industrial and commercial policies in the history of Oregon.

Joseph Watt, or "Joe," as he is more commonly called by those who mention him in connection with the history of Oregon, was born at Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, on the 17th of December, 1817. His earliest ancestor in America was a silk weaver of Scotch-Irish descent who came to this country about 1760, settling in the vicinity of Philadelphia. His grandfather, Joseph Watt, crossed the Alleghany Mountains in 1802 and took up a donation claim in western Pennsylvania. His father, John Watt, who had taken part in the war of 1812 and served with Perry in his first cruise on the Great Lakes, migrated to Knox County, Ohio, in 1815. Here he married and reared a family of ten children, of whom Joseph was one.

As a boy Watt seems to have been always a dreamer, building castles in the air and planning great schemes of business and adventure. Because of these dreams of verdant fields and herds of cattle, he desired to join the movement for the settlement of Texas, then being effected under the leadership of Sam Houston, and was prevented only by the ill health of his father and the large family which needed his aid. As a sort of compromise his father agreed to migrate to Missouri in 1838. This move resulted only in hardship and privation, and soon young Watt was turning his thoughts again toward the prairies of Texas. In the winter of 1840 and 1841 he started south, stopping in the country of the Creeks and Cherokees to earn money at his trade of carpentering. It was at this time that the Oregon country was coming prominently before the people in Missouri. Watt became interested and returned to his home with the intention of migrating to Oregon. On his way through the southwestern part of the State in the spring of 1843 he came in contact with many who were planning to start that year. Senator Lewis F. Linn, of Missouri, had introduced a bill into the Senate in 1838 providing for the settlement of Oregon and offering six hundred and forty acres of land to each settler. Watt read all that he could find upon the subject, listened to everything which he could hear and talked much with his associates. By the spring of 1843 he was ready to start, but his father had become equally anxious to better his condition and proposed that the whole family prepare to go the following year. By the spring of 1844 it was clear that the expense of so long and difficult a journey could not be met, and Watt, unwilling to defer his hopes longer, started with two companions, expecting to earn his way across the plains by driving the teams or cattle of well-to-do emigrants. The assets all told with which he started on this long journey were $2.50 in cash and a stock in trade of a pair of new boots, some pins and fishhooks, to be used in trade with the Indians.

Watt had succeeded in securing employment as driver for a well-to-do emigrant, but fell out with his employer before they had gone far. With a job here and there, and a trade to his advantage, he managed to reach Burnt River with a cow and a rifle to his credit. As the journey neared the end however provisions grew scarcer, and those who possessed them were less able or willing to share with others. Finding that he was not welcome at the camps of the emigrants, and obedient to vigorous hints, he started ahead with a single companion and began the dangerous and difficult journey over the Blue Mountains. The snow lay from twelve to eighteen inches deep, and the trail could only be followed by scratches made on the trees by wagons that had passed over before. Watt's moccasins had given out and were mended with leather cut from his buckskin pants. For provisions they had but a loaf of bread between them. The rifle was useless because there was no game in the mountains. His cow had been left in the charge of a friend in a party behind. All difficulties were surmounted however and the valley of the Umatilla was reached. Here they were in the region of game. A number of prairie chickens were shot, powder was traded to the Indians for a few potatoes, a kettle was borrowed and the weary travelers gave themselves over to a feast, which, at intervals, was prolonged through the night. Their spirits rose when hunger was appeased, and they knew that soon they would be at the mission station at Waiilatpu. Ragged and disreputable in appearance they were not cordially received, and the independent nature of Watt ever cherished a dislike for missions and missionaries. Remaining at the station until the party having charge of his cow arrived he effected a trade by which he secured a supply of provisions for the last part of the journey to the Dalles, where he expected to take a boat down the river. Various experiences were yet to be met. Fate decided that he should partake of but a single meal from the supply of provisions which he had earned so dearly. He escaped death by the arrival of unexpected help when he was grappling with an Indian in which encounter the expectoration of tobacco juice figured as a peculiar weapon of defense. Finally, however, he reached the Dalles where boats belonging to the Hudson Bay Company were at anchor. Those who had money to pay their passage were packing their goods on board and going themselves, but the chances for a passage for a penniless and ragged traveler were small. It was Watt's purpose to work for his passage and he made application to the boatman. "You are like one of those worn out oxen," was the reply, "you haven't strength enough to hold yourself up, let alone work;" and the boatman went on with his loading. Sitting on a rock by the river Watt was a despondent figure. But the boatman, turning back with the exclamation that "it was too bad to leave the poor devil to starve" for he might have some "come out to him after all like a lousy yearling in the spring," asked if Watt could sing. On learning that he could he bade him find a place on the bow of the boat and earn his meals as best he could. Under the title of the "figurehead," therefore, he kept his allotted place on the bow, and by his skill in singing and telling yarns earned his meals as well as his passage down the river. One song, entitled "the bobtailed mare, or the man who went to heaven horseback," made a decided hit, and Watt fared sumptuously for the remainder of the journey down the Columbia.

Ever at the van across the continent Watt was the first of his party to reach his destination at Oregon City, in November of 1844. A curious spectacle he must have made as he appeared upon the streets with his walnut roundabout, buckskin pants reaching to the knees and patched with antelope skin, with a red blanket for an overcoat and woolen hat, so worn in the crown that it hung about the neck rather than rested on the head. Such was the young castle builder who had made his way across the plains with a capital of $2.50 in cash and a stock in trade of pins, fishhooks, and a pair of new boots. Such was the picturesque appearance made by one who was destined to play no unimportant part in the industrial development of Oregon.

For a time he slept in the shavings of a carpenter shop. He tried to trade his last possession, his beloved rifle for decent clothes but failed. One day in his wanderings along the street he chanced to meet the chief factor of the Hudson Bay Company, the hero of his life. After a few inquiries Doctor McLoughlin gave orders to a clerk to furnish Watt with clothing. "Tut, tut, tut," said the old man, "what people these Americans are, wandering vagabonds across a continent. What are they coming here for? Give him some clothes." After a bath behind the shade of a neighboring bank of the river Watt emerged clad in his suit of British corduroy and with all his preconceived and inherited antipathy toward the British and the Catholics removed. With the first money earned from the task of bricklaying, an employment given him by Doctor McLoughlin, he sought to pay for his clothes, and purchasing a bath tub, a cake of soap and some tobacco, which was his one luxury, he had begun his career as one of the pioneer captains of industry in Oregon.

It was not long before an opportunity for advancement presented itself. The Catholic Church on the French Prairie was then in process of construction and its builders were in need of a workman competent to complete the cornice. As Watt was something of an adept at the carpenter trade he was offered the work of constructing seven hundred feet of cornice at $3 a foot, when he was on the point of offering to do it for fifty cents. The return from this employment was sufficient to give him a financial start. Not only industrious but shrewd in the matter of trade, Watt made the most of the opportunity. About this time the brig Henry came up the river at a time of high water, with a cargo of goods, among which was a stock of Seth Thomas clocks, an article for which the demand was great in this remote region. With the savings from his carpenter work Watt purchased the lot, and found little trouble in disposing of them in exchange for wheat. The harvest for the year had been abundant, while the demand was small, and the clocks, which had cost but $4 apiece, were sold for sixty to eighty bushels of wheat. Shrewdness in anticipating the oversupply of the one year would be followed by the scarcity of the next was more than rewarded. Wet weather and other climatic conditions caused a small supply while a large emigration increased the demand and the bushels of wheat were in turn exchanged for the pieces of gold. Thus in the space of two years the capital of $2.50 had increased to over $1,000, and the way was open for larger plans.

Watt had never in the meantime ceased his dreaming. It was not now, however, the broad plains of Texas and the herds of cattle, but, rather, the luxuriant meadows and hills of the Willamette Valley, which his imagination covered with flocks of sheep. Pleased with the opportunities of a country which had profited him so much, and desiring his parents and family to come, he started back to Missouri in the spring of 1847. The return was also to be made the means of realizing his dreams. It was his intention to bring back a flock of sheep. Already he seemed to see the demand that would grow up in a damp country like Oregon for woolen garments, and perhaps, likewise, the need of suitable clothing for his eight sisters. There were but few sheep in the country at that time. Some were in the possession of the Hudson Bay Company; others had been driven over in the emigration of 1844, and possibly there were a few besides. The return journey was made by the southern route. Evidences were visible of the terrible sufferings of the party who, in 1847, had been induced to come that way. Along the Rogue River the Indians were hostile, and Watt was enabled at various times to kindle his fire for breakfast with the arrows which lay thick about the camp. On the broad plains he was frightened by a band of hostile Pawnees, but, escaping all danger, at length reached in safety his home in Missouri.

Before his return to Oregon Watt made a journey to the East, mainly on business. Boston, however, with its bleak weather, had few charms for him. "With all their steamboats, railroads, fine stores, fine cities, fine women and all, give me Oregon," is the reflection which appears in the reminiscences of his visit. While in the East and in the neighborhood of Washington he decided to visit the national capital and carry back to his fellow pioneers in the Far West whatever he could learn of the disposition of the administration toward his country. As this "self-appointed delegate" was walking about the streets of the capital city he was indulging in the reflection, typical of the western spirit, that "a great deal of money was being spent foolishly in that city." He took occasion to look up old friends upon whom the city life failed to exert a helpful influence. His purpose there, however, was not curiosity, but information that might be of value, and to gain this he sought admission to the Chief Executive. President Polk was at the time too busily engaged to give him audience, and the disappointment was great, for his reminiscences record the exclamation: "What right had he to be busy when I was there, all the way from Oregon?" Unable to see the Secretary of War, Mr. Davis, for similar reasons, he finally was advised by his friends to visit the little brick house, on a back street, which was occupied by Senator Benton of Missouri. There he felt he would surely receive a cordial welcome. "I must go and see Benton," he says: "Haven't I shouted for him in Missouri, and hasn't he made speeches in favor of Oregon? Yes, he can tell me what the government is going to do for Oregon." Admitted into the house by the colored servant, he stood in the presence of the Senator whom he thought well named "Burly Benton."

The interview was far from pleasant, if we may judge from Watt's account. Upon learning the residence of his visitor, the Senator immediately began a eulogy upon the services to Oregon of his son-in-law, Colonel Fremont, which aroused the ire of the westerner. "Ah, yes," said Benton, "we know all about Oregon. My son-in-law, Colonel Fremont, has traveled all over that country. The country is, or ought to be, under everlasting obligation to him for the information he has given at the greatest sacrifice a man ever made." To this his visitor warmly replied: "As to any information given you by Mr. Fremont regarding what the people are doing and their prospects, it is certainly guessed at, for I know he was never there. His map of the road is good, but when it comes to making roads, he never did. He followed the road to Oregon made by emigrants, men, women and children to the Dalles, took bateaux to Fort Vancouver, got supplies, returned to The Dalles and struck out for California on the east side of the mountains."

Watt says in his reminiscences that he shall never forget the look that Benton had on his face as he started across the room, rubbing his hands and storming, "Perhaps I don't know the movements of my own son-in-law." While the picture is completed by the clerk, to all intents writing at a desk near by, but whose sides were "prying out and in like a pair of bellows."

A tribute paid by Watt to the services actually rendered by Colonel Fremont mollified the old senator and the remainder of the interview was pleasant. The conversation turned to the object of the visit which Watt had expressed to Benton in the following words: "I was in the neighborhood of the city and was anxious to learn something about the intent of the government concerning Oregon so that I could have something to tell the settlers on my return, for we only get the news once a year." Watt told him of his plan of transferring his family across the plains and of driving sheep and introducing the manufacture of wool. To Benton it seemed "quite an undertaking," but Watt, with the true pioneer spirit, replied, "Yes, but the people out there do not mind hardships and dangers. Somebody has to do it if the country is ever settled." To the praises paid by Watt to Oregon and the need of an extension of government, Benton replied, "There are a great many things to contend with, I am afraid, before that can be done. England has to be treated with, for they have some claims out there; and we have many designing men here who will give us trouble. I am sure I do not know how it will be done, but I think something will be done that will satisfy you people. I have been frustrated in some attempts to relieve the country but am still in hopes we can do something." The conversation then drifted to mutual acquaintances in Missouri, and Watt left with some maps and reports of Fremont, presented by the Senator, under his arm.

The journey by boat down the Mississippi River was the occasion of another experience. A collision occurred just before daylight and many of the passengers, unable to get to land, were drowned. Watt narrowly escaped by reaching the hurricane deck and wading out of the cabin waist deep in the water. "I thought that worse than all the Indians in the world," is the remark with which he sums up this experience.

Upon reaching home the preparation was made for crossing the continent. A band of sheep had been gotten together during Watt's absence, much to the amusement of the neighbors, who could not believe the enterprise would succeed. The progress, indeed, was slow. When rain fell the mud was deep and in dry weather the dust was equally trying. "I have driven day after day, pushing the sheep along by my knees, and could not see them for the dust," says Watt.

The emigrants of 1848 had a comparatively easy time, and a comfortable journey. They were more numerous, were better provided with necessities and better organized than those of former years. How great the contrast between crossing the plains in 1848 and that which had been the occasion of so many difficulties four years before. The ample outfit consisted of two large freight wagons with five yoke of cattle to each. There was loose cattle and sheep and drivers and herders to help with the work. Watt's familiarity with the route, his knowledge of the best camping places and sources of water supply caused many to look naturally to him as a leader, although the dust that rose from the path of the flock of sheep was too much for a close following. Watt was a lover of a practical joke, and his knowledge of the country often gave him an opportunity to indulge this taste. By his advice a company of the emigrants had been induced to camp by the Dry Sandy with the promise that water would be abundant. When they reached the place there was none to be seen. The bed of the stream was as dry and dusty as a desert. To the surprised and indignant inquiries of the fellow travelers for water Watt only said, "I have struck the rock and water will soon be here." Doubt and despondency, however, were clearly seen on the faces of the emigrants, and many thought that they had trusted too far. Those who were fortunate enough to have kegs of water in possession for such an emergency now brought them out and began the preparation of supper. Those less fortunate gathered in groups where grumbling could be heard in undertones; but Watt was calm and unconcerned through all. Without warning, when darkness came on, a thread of ice cold water that the midday sun had released in the snow-capped mountains, came trickling down. It grew larger and larger and shouts on every side arose "Here's water! Water for all! Moses still lives." The thirsty cattle rushed in without questioning the source of supply, but the emigrants touched it reverently, half doubting the reality of their senses.

The usual vicissitudes of the long but somewhat monotonous journey across the plains were enlivened one night by the sudden arrival in camp of a messenger, on horseback, from the West. He had been riding hard and seemed anxious to proceed as fast as possible. It was Joseph Meek, messenger of the Oregon colonists, on his way to Washington to announce to the government the Whitman massacre and the Cayuse war. "The Cayuse Indians have broken out," he said, "and are murdering far and near, sparing neither man, woman, nor children. Men are all up from the valley fighting them hand to hand. Our boys charge and the Indians charge back, death and destruction at ever charge." The effect of the vivid account, that none could give better than Meek, was great. Women and children were frightened and crying. Even the men questioned the wisdom of proceeding. Watt, however, being well acquainted with Meek knew his proclivities for exaggeration when striving for effect. Gradually the facts were brought out and the situation, though still serious, was not sufficient to turn back the emigration. For the rest of the journey Watt was the most cautious of the party. No Indians appeared and the fear of the emigrants wore off; but, like the water from the mountains, the Indians might come unannounced into camp at any time, as the experienced traveler across the prairies well knew. Even the seriousness of this occasion furnished Watt material for his practical jokes. When the party had exceeded the usual limit of carelessness in sitting late and burning the camp fires in the enjoyment of social intercourse, Watt arranged with the guards of that night a plot. The alarm for Indians was to be sounded at early dawn. The plan worked to a charm. The emigrants, who had retired to rest with a feeling of security, now crept out in confusion or hid themselves away in ridiculous positions. The bully of the crowd who had boasted that he "would like to eat an Injin for breakfast every morning," was now pushed from the wagon by his delicate wife, with a rifle in one hand and his pantaloons in the other. The heroine of the hour was a young girl, Mary Greenwood, the daughter of one of the reliable men of the party. She was seen amidst all the confusion kindling a fire and beginning to mold bullets for the men to use.

The journey was made without mishap to the sheep until Snake River was reached. Here the current was strong and they were carried down the stream. The dreamer of Oregon's new industry stood on the bank, helpless, and awaited the issue. The enterprise might easily have terminated at that point; but fate decided otherwise. One fellow in the flock, with all the qualities of a leader, struck out for shore with a strong stroke and soon the larger part of the flock reached the land and the wool industry for Oregon was safe.

Without other incidents of importance the journey was finally ended and the family were all together in their new home in Oregon. The wool weaver had proved a worthy successor to the Scotch Irish silk weaver of colonial days. He had shown the stuff from which new countries are settled and new industries started. The sheep, after their long and dusty drive, were placed upon the rich pastures of the farm in Yamhill County, and to all appearances were well pleased with the new environment. The cards and reeds and castings for loom and spinning wheel were put in place and cloth was made, sufficient to meet the needs of the family and in particular of those eight sisters whose needs had played so important a part in the beginning of the wool industry for Oregon.

The wise dreamer, however, had been unable to see fully the future. He had not known that while his plan was under way the discovery of gold in California had attracted the notice of the world; that the population flocking there would cut off the demand for his woolen cloth, while abundance of goods would come in from the East by water to increase the supply. The enterprise was well conceived, but as a financial move it was doomed to temporary failure. The sheep, however, were here and could wait for more favorable conditions. "About six or seven years after the gold mining excitement wore off," says Watt, "and people began to sober down to the home business, a few began to think about the prosperity of the country. We were buying too much and had nothing to sell. Stock had run down; there was little inducement to go into wheat largely. We must do something to prevent so much of an outlay for merchandise from other countries. Wool was almost worthless and there was plenty to keep a small mill going if we could only get the mill." Being interested in sheep himself Watt was anxious to make that industry profitable. He believed that the time had come when woolen goods on a considerable scale could be manufactured at a profit; that the cheapness of raw material would overbalance the high price of labor.

Watt had no personal knowledge of woolen mills but there were in Oregon, at the time, two millwrights who understood the subject and were anxious to be employed in such an enterprise. As the subject was canvassed the interest grew. In 1855, therefore, articles of incorporation were drawn up for the erection of a woolen mill to be located somewhere in the Willamette Valley. Subscriptions to stock were sought and offers of bonuses solicited. The articles provided that the capital stock should be $25,000, and that when $9,000 was paid in a meeting should be held to decide upon the location of the mill. A committee of five was appointed to take charge of the matter. The meeting to decide upon location was held at Dallas when the requisite amount of stock was paid in. It was a meeting of considerable importance, as much rivalry had arisen regarding the location. One party wished it to be placed on the Luckiamute, west of the Polk County hills, and the other desired it to be located at Salem on the east side of the hills. Lively work had been done; the party favorable to the Salem location had secured a bonus worth about $7,000 and had control of the voting stock. Considerable scheming, preliminary to the vote occurred, and when it was taken "you could hear a pin drop," says Watt. The result was favorable to the Salem site, and plans were begun for the construction. Within a few weeks all the stock was paid in and the company had possession of a piece of land for the mill. A board of five directors was elected and orders were given to begin the work. The water power was to be brought from the Santiam River by means of a ditch. The task was not great as the bed of Mill Creek could be used and the water power was soon secured. An agent was sent East to purchase the machinery and by the time it arrived the building was ready for its occupation.

Before the machinery was placed the introduction of this new industry was the occasion of a splendid ball in the spacious building. It was one of the most brilliant social affairs ever held in Oregon up to this time. Among the list of those present from all over the territory were dignitaries of state, including the Governor; dignitaries from the army, including Lieut. Phil Sheridan, and as Watt himself says, "even dignitaries from the church were present." Watt was an inveterate lover of song and dance, and would go many miles at any time to engage in such festivities. He was therefore in the height of his glory, which was not even destroyed by the fact that his chosen lady, Miss Lyons, beautifully adorned in a gown of blue velvet, with golden stars, was led to the dance by the Governor. Indeed, he had no reason to be uneasy, for the understanding between them was good, and a few years later, 1860, he was married to her, dressed for the occasion in a suit of wool made in the mill which he had done so much to establish.

By the first of May the machinery was in place, and everything was in running order. Cloth bearing the name of "Hardtimes" was produced, and the first blankets ever made west of the Rocky Mountains were sold at auction. The first pair went to Mr. Watt for $110, and the others brought $75 to $25. At first all the product that could be turned out found a ready market; competition, however, soon set in and the managers of the mill were undecided what course to pursue. Unwilling to discontinue the enterprise Watt was consulted, and agreed to take the entire product of the mill for a period of three years at a fixed price. By an aggressive process of advertising, in which he personally carried the goods into all the important places along the line of the old Holladay stage route, both in Oregon and California, a market was created for the goods. In three months after the agreement had been made the managers of the mill were willing to give a large consideration in return for a relinquishment of his contract. The goods found such ready market that the building and machinery were doubled. Prices continued to rise; debts were paid off; the value of the stock rose; a gristmill was built by the company; the race through the town constructed, and salaries of officials were raised "as high as their consciences would allow them to take." A woolen fever began to spread through the country. Mills were built at Oregon City, Brownsville, and Ellendale. This was the period of greatest prosperity. Conditions changed, but Watt was not then connected with the business. Divisions had arisen among the stockholders of the company, and Watt had disposed of his stock in 1866, when it sold for a value of $800 per share. He continued to be interested in sheep to the close of his life, and large flocks of the finest breeds were kept on his farm under the care of a Scotch herder employed for the special purpose. He was ever interested in furthering the sheep industry in other parts of Oregon, and it was partly through his influence that sheep were first placed upon the ranges of eastern Oregon.

But the dreams of the dreamer broadened as time passed. In 1866, when divisions led to his withdrawal from the woolen mill, the crop of wheat in the valley was unusually large. The wheat industry had been increasing for years. Oregon was rapidly passing from the fur trading and pastoral stages of industrial life to that of agriculture. With an ever-increasing supply the market was restricted, and here was a problem to attract the mind of Watt. Shipments of wheat were made to California, but the markets beyond had tempted only the most daring. One line of steamers had been established between Portland and New York and four or five vessels had been drawn into the trade. The Sally Brown was the first to make the trial and Watt was the man who gathered up the cargo which she carried from the wheat fields of the Willamette. Ever in the van through life Watt conceived the idea that a cargo of wheat could be sent to Liverpool, the market of the world. With him to think was to act, and in 1868 he went through the valley gathering wheat for the first cargo to the greatest wheat market in existence. It was an adventure in magnitude exceeding anything that he had tried before. Failure would mean a heavy loss, and success would usher in a new day for the industrial life of Oregon. The cargo was gathered and the vessel set forth on the long voyage. The destination was reached and the grain inspected. It was unlike any that had ever been seen before on the docks of the great market. The inspectors had never seen kernels of wheat so large. The decision was pronounced that it could not be right, and the whole cargo was condemned as water soaked and unfit for the market. The loss fell heavily upon the consignor of the cargo, but a beginning had been made that was destined to grow until Oregon's industrial isolation should be ended.

In closing this paper it requires but a few words to sum up the chief characteristics of Joseph Watt. He is best seen in the narration of his life. Ever engaged in enterprises that were ahead of his time, he belonged to the vanguard of industrial development in Oregon. Ever a dreamer, he met with heavy reverses but yet retained a competence sufficient for a comfortable old age. Independent and genuine in his character, there was no cant in his make-up. One of the company of kindred spirits that includes the names of Nesmith, Matthieu, Clark, Boise, Minto, Crawford, and others, his company was always appreciated, for he was genial and sociable in disposition. By the Indians he was loved, and they gathered about him at his home in Yamhill as they would about no other. Deeply interested in all that pertained to Oregon, he was truly one of her benefactors. Always loyal to the early state builders, he conducted a party of them in an excursion to the East when the railroad connection was completed. Always deeply interested in the Pioneer Association, Watt was its president for a time and rarely was absent from its meetings. By gift from his widow the author of this paper has deposited in the vaults of the Oregon Historical Society the little book in which he kept the names of the members in their own handwriting. It is worn and soiled through frequent use, but it will ever be a valuable reminder of the earliest of our state builders, as well as a reminder of him whom the author has chosen to designate as a "pioneer captain of industry in Oregon."

JAMES R. ROBERTSON.

DOCUMENTS.

TWO WHITMAN SOURCES.

Correspondence to the New York Spectator which describes Doctor Whitman as a passenger on board the steamer Narraganset on Long Island Sound. Doctor Whitman is on his way from New York to Boston.

Editorial from the New York Daily Tribune of March 29, 1843.

ARRIVAL FROM OREGON.

We were most agreeably surprised yesterday by a call from Doctor Whitman from Oregon, a member of the American Presbyterian Mission in that territory. A slight glance at him when he entered our office would convince any one that he had seen all the hardships of a life in the wilderness. He was dressed in an old fur cap, that appeared to have seen some ten years' service, faded, and nearly destitute of fur; a vest whose natural color had long since faded, and a shirt—we could not see that he had any—an overcoat, every thread of which could be easily seen, buckskin pants, etc.—the roughest man we have seen this many a day—too poor, in fact, to get any better wardrobe. The doctor is one of those daring and good men who went to Oregon some ten years ago to teach the Indians religion, agriculture, letters, etc. A noble pioneer we judge him to be, a man fitted to be chief in rearing a moral empire among the wild men of the wilderness. We did not learn what success the worthy man had in leading the Indians to embrace the Christian faith, but he very modestly remarked that many of them had begun to cultivate the earth and raise cattle.

He brings information that the settlers on the Willamette are doing well; that the Americans are building a town at the Falls of the Willamette; that a Mr. Moore of Mr. Farnham's party, some sixty years of age, was occupying one side of the Falls, in the hope that [the] government would make him wealthy by the passage of a preëmption law; that the old man Blair, another member of the same party, was living comfortably a short distance above, as all who have read Mr. Farnham's travels will know that he deserves to do. Doctor Whitman left Oregon six months ago; ascended the banks of the Snake or Laptin River to Fort Hall, and was piloted thence to Santa Fé by the way of the Soda Springs, Brown's Hole, the Wina, and the waters of the del Norte. From Santa Fé he came through the Indians that have been removed from the States to Missouri. The doctor's track among the mountains lay along the western side of the Anahuac Range; and he remarks that there is considerable good land in that region.

We give the hardy and self-denying man a hearty welcome to his native land. We are sorry to say that his first reception, on arriving in our city, was but slightly calculated to give him a favorable impression of the morals of his kinsmen. He fell into the hands of one of our vampire cabmen, who, in connection with the keeper of a tavern house in West Street, three or four doors from the corner near the Battery, fleeced him out of two of the last few dollars which the poor man had.

[This editorial was quoted in full by the Boston Advertiser of March 31st.]

From the New York Spectator, Wednesday evening, April 5, 1843.

CRUISING IN THE SOUND.

Gentlemen: Respecting the goodly Bay State I can say but little, because since I saw you, I have been only an occupant of steamboat and railroad cars. I had long supposed that a three-day trip to Boston was only hereafter to be a notion and reminiscence of olden time, but alas! I have had the stern reality of things as they "used to was." I left New York on Monday, in the Narraganset, at the usual time. We had a rough trip into the Sound, and at 12 o'clock Captain Woolsey, with sound discretion, carried us into the New Haven Bay, where we anchored till Wednesday morning, when we proceeded to Stonington, and on going over [to?] the railroad and finding it in the vocative case, owing to the outbreak of the waters, we retraced our movements and again took boat, and made a passage around Point Judith.

It is due to Captain Woolsey and his very gentlemanly aid, Mr. Richmond, to say that everything was done to make a large body of disappointed passengers feel happy; good and plentiful meals were gratuitously provided, and it can hardly be possible that any wayfarer on this occasion left the Narraganset without a deep conviction that, under the severe and awkward circumstances of the passage, all had been done that was possible to obviate the inconveniences and disagreeables of the passage through the Sound. I would add that the boat worked well. We had a very pleasant set of passengers. Among others I may mention the Hon. Robert Rantoul of Boston. This gentleman is by far the ablest man of the Democratic party in Massachusetts, and unless I could see him embarked for Salt River, (which I think must be his final destination,) I would rather have him embark on the same boat in which I sail, than any other. He is a very interesting, affable man, of great research, and will, I doubt not, yet render good service to the country.

THE REV. DR. WHITMAN FROM OREGON.

We also had one who was the observed of all, Doctor Whitman, the missionary from Oregon. He is in the service of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions. Rarely have I seen such a spectacle as he presented. His dress should be preserved as a curiosity; it was quite in the style of the old pictures of Philip Quarles and Robinson Crusoe. When he came on board and threw down his traps, one said "what a loafer!" I made up my mind at a glance that he was either a gentleman traveler, or a missionary; that he was every inch a man and no common one was clear. The Doctor has been eight years at the territory, has left his wife there, and started from home on the 1st of October. He has not been in bed since, having made his lodging on buffalo robe and blanket, even on board the boat. He is about thirty-six or seven years of age, I should judge, and has stamped on his brow a great deal of what David Crockett would call "God Almighty's common sense." Of course when he reached Boston he would cast his shell and again stand out a specimen of the "humans."

I greatly question whether such a figure ever passed through the Sound since the days of steam navigation. He is richly fraught with information relative to that most interesting piece of country, and I hope will shortly lay it before the good people of Boston and New York. Could he appear in New York Tabernacle—in his traveling costume—and lecture on the Northwest coast, I think there would be very few standing places. Much of his route was on foot and occasionally on horse or mule back, with a half-breed guide. To avoid the hostile Indians he had to go off to the Spanish country, and thence to Santa Fé. A rascally hackman took him in at New York, and carried him from place to place at his whim and finally put him down near the Battery, close to his starting point, charging him two dollars, and it being midnight he succeeded in the vile extortion.

CIVIS.

In connection with our friend's communication we subjoin an interesting account of Doctor Whitman's mission, as given by Mr. Farnham in his travels in 1839 over the Rocky Mountains. [Fills over one and a half columns.]

DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE OREGON EMIGRATION MOVEMENT, 1842-43.

OREGON—PITTSBURGH MEETING AND DOCTOR WHITE'S REPORT.

The following paragraphs we find in several of the eastern papers this morning:

"The Settlement of Oregon.—The meeting at Pittsburgh last week, reported that it was not expedient for American citizens to emigrate to Oregon until the United States Government had taken measures to secure and protect the emigrants in their rights.

We see, by a letter in the New York papers, that Elijah White, who went as United States agent to Oregon, and took with him a large party of emigrants, writes, under date of August 17th, that his party had increased to one hundred and twelve, although they had lost two, one by sickness and the other by accident. They started with nineteen wagons, and their journey had been slow and tedious; but they had passed two thirds of the way, and were in excellent health and good spirits. A favorable opportunity for emigration will occur in April, through the aid of Mr. Fitzpatrick, at Independence. Mr. White advises those who intend to go to prepare light strong wagons, and to take no loading except cooking utensils, and provisions for four months. Mules are preferable to horses. He says no doubt exists as to ultimate success of the colony."

From the Jeffersonian Republican, September 17, 1842.

THE SETTLING OF OREGON.

We learn with gratification that it is at least rumored that an expedition is about to be got up in Saint Louis, to colonize the rich and interesting Territory of Oregon. To such as have so laudable and advantageous an enterprise in view, we are prepared and feel warranted in saying, that it rests not upon "rumor" that many of our fellow-citizens of upper Missouri intend emigrating to that highly celebrated region next spring, and will no doubt be glad to be joined by as many of the enterprising citizens of Saint Louis as may think it their interests to join them.

We learn from the "Oregon Correspondence Committee" of this place, that already they are beginning to receive names of gentlemen desirous of joining the expeditions, and from present indications, there seems to be no doubt remaining that there will be quite a large company formed. Let not those who now [have it?] in contemplation, draw back, but steadily persevere, and they may confidently promise themselves success. The country which they seek is no doubt one of equal attraction and advantages as any on the globe, and we rest assured that so soon as the number of inhabitants will justify, the fostering hand of a territorial government will be extended to it. Up then every pioneer, and let your cry be "Onward!"—Western Missourian.

From the Ohio Statesman, March 7, 1843.

LETTER FROM AN OREGON EMIGRATION AGENT TO A FRIEND AT PITTSBURG.

Washington City, February 21, 1843.

Dear Sir: Nothing of importance has transpired in Congress since my last. I am informed by members of the House of Representatives that the bill for the occupation and settlement of Oregon Territory will come before the House this week. It will pass when acted upon. It was referred to the Committee of Foreign Affairs. John Quincy Adams, chairman of the committee, reported back the same without amendment, on the 13th, and, as might have been expected from him, recommended that the bill do not pass. It is evident, notwithstanding, that the bill will pass when acted upon. Captain Stine [Steen], commanding the Dragoons at Fort Leavenworth, has addressed several letters to Dr. L. F. Linn and others, wishing the Secretary of War to grant him permission to accompany us with the Dragoons. I have postponed an interview with the Secretary of War till I am ready to leave for the West. I have sent many documents to you and others. You will please send some of them to your friends in Ohio, Wheeling, and other places, if you have any to spare. I have given the names of the several committees in Pittsburgh, and west of it, to a number of the members, who promise that they will continue to send all the documents calculated to throw light on the subject of Oregon, etc.

I am happy to learn that the citizens of Pittsburgh take so warm an interest in the matter.

I am your most humble and obedient servant,

J. M. SHIVELY.

From the Ohio Statesman of March 3, 1843.

The War Department made the following responses to the inquiries of Prof. Joseph Schafer for information as to provision of military escort in 1843 for body of emigrants going to Oregon:

First indorsement.

War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, September 5, 1902.

Respectfully submitted to the Chief of the Record and Pension Office, War Department.

No information touching the matter of escort for emigrants from Fort Leavenworth to Oregon in the year 1843 has been found in this office.

J. PARKER, Major of Cavalry, Assistant Adjutant General.

Second indorsement.

Record and Pension Office, War Department, Washington, September 10, 1902.

Respectfully submitted to the Quartermaster General of the Army.

The records on file in this office show that J. M. Shively, of St. Louis, Missouri, stated under date of March 25, 1843, that his party would start for Oregon on April 20, 1843; and that he desired a company of troops. The records also show that the communication of Mr. Shively was charged to the Quartermaster General.

Nothing additional has been found bearing on this inquiry.

—— ——, Chief, Record and Pension Office.

[Name signed not decipherable.]

Third indorsement.

War Department, Quartermaster General's Office, Washington, October 6, 1902.

Respectfully returned, by direction of the Quartermaster General, to Mr. Joseph Schafer, No. 311 Park Street, Madison, Wisconsin.

No record of any correspondence with Captain E. Steen, 1st Dragoons, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, during the year 1843, bearing on the matter of a military escort for emigrants is found, nor is there any record of the communication of J. M. Shively referred to in the second indorsement hereon.

S. F. LONG, (?) Major and Quartermaster, United States Army.

From the Ohio Statesman February 24, 1843.

OREGON.

The Xenia Free Press says: A farmer in this county informed us a few days since that he could raise a company of fifty families who, if [supported?] by the Government, would march, on short notice, for Oregon.

Also on the same page: The State Register (Illinois) says that the largest meetings it ever witnessed were held in Springfield on Wednesday and Thursday evenings in the hall of the House of Representatives, a couple of whigs talking the British side of the question.

From the Ohio Statesman, February 17, 1843.

THE OREGON MEETING.

[The meeting was evidently held on Saturday, February 11th.]

The meeting on Saturday evening at the Council Chamber was much more fully attended than was expected, the proceedings of which will be found in our paper. After the organization and the appointment of a committee to report to the adjourned meeting to be held on Thursday evening next, William B. Hubbard, Esq., in answer to a call of the meeting, commenced a most interesting address, prefaced by offering a resolution complimentary of Doctor Linn of Missouri, and those senators who stood by him in the advocacy of the bill for the settlement of this territory. The cry of fire caused Mr. H. to close his remarks, with a request by the meeting that he would proceed with them at the next meeting. We hope Mr. H. will prepare a synopsis of his remarks for the press. Nothing would be read with greater interest at this time.

The Government should speedily establish military posts from the frontier settlements on the Missouri to the Pacific. Settlements would speedily take place around each post, and produce in abundance would soon be raised to supply the post and the flow of emigration.

An adjourned meeting of the citizens of Columbus and its vicinity was held in the United States courtroom on the evening of Thursday, the 10th instant, in pursuance of a resolution adopted at the last meeting.

[Colonel Medary (editor of the Statesman), from a committee appointed to collect facts, reported that the committee wanted more time. The subject growing more and more interesting, on motion the committee was allowed till next Thursday.]

The resolution offered at last meeting was then taken up, and on motion of Mr. Hubbard, was amended by adding, at the end thereof, the words "without the violation of any international law."

The resolution, as amended, read as follows:

Resolved, That this meeting duly appreciate the untiring labors and distinguished abilities of Senator Linn and others in Congress, in their successful advocacy of the just claim of the United States to the Oregon Country; and that, as a component part of the Great West, we hope for a speedy adjustment of our rights upon the borders of the Pacific Ocean, and a like speedy occupation and settlement of that country, without the violation of any international law.

[Copy ordered sent to Hon. Joseph Ridgway, member of Congress for the district.]

The Ohio Statesman of March 10, 1843, contains the report of the committee appointed as per the above accounts. The report seems to have been drawn up by Col. Samuel Medary, chairman, and is a strong and interesting document of considerable length. It discusses in full, with all the information available at the time, the economic advantages of the Oregon Country, as well as the question of title. The report is accompanied by a map.

From the Ohio Statesman, March 14, 1843.

OREGON.

The people are again in motion here in relation to the emigration to Oregon this spring. Peter H. Burnett, Esq., one of our most estimable citizens is among the foremost here in exciting a laudable spirit in relation to the settlement of that desirable country. On Tuesday evening Mr. Burnett delivered a very able lecture upon this subject, in which was embodied a vast fund of information calculated to impress all who had the pleasure of hearing him with the advantages attendant on an early settlement of our western demesne. The American eagle is flapping his wings, the precurser of the end of the British lion, on the shores of the Pacific. Destiny has willed it.—Platte (Missouri) Eagle.

From the Chillicothe Intelligencer, March 17, 1843.

[At a meeting on March 8th, held in the Courthouse, Amos Holton presented a series of resolutions, and addressed the meeting at length] showing the origin and justice of our claim, and the immense value of that territory to the United States, in a commercial point of view, and to the West in particular, when, on motion the preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted.

JOHN A. FULTON, Chairman.

WM. E. GILMORE, Secretary.

From the Ohio Statesman, April 26, 1843, quoting the Iowa Gazette (Burlington).

OREGON.

(The article aims to give a plan of preparations for emigrating, including detailed advice as to outfit, route, etc. The suggestions are similar to those adopted by the Bloomington meeting, for which see The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Volume III, page 390-391, December number.)

[The writer thinks that there is a ferry at or near Council Bluffs.] I speak of Burlington as a very suitable point to start from, because we have an abundance of the necessary supplies, and an excellent and very commodious steam ferryboat for those who are east of us.

(Signed) One Who Intends to Emigrate.

N. B.—Newspapers who are friendly to the enterprise are requested to give the above an insertion.

The same issue of the Statesman still further quotes from the Gazette as follows:

OREGON.

The Oregon fever is raging in almost every part of the Union. Companies are forming in the East, and in several parts of Ohio, which, added to those of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri, will make a pretty formidable army. The larger portion of those will probably join the companies of Fort Independence, Missouri, and proceed together across the mountains. It would be reasonable to suppose that there will be at least five thousand Americans west of the Rocky Mountains by next autumn. This, if nothing else, will compel Congress to act upon the matter. We have reason to suppose, however, that we shall have a congress which will assume the responsibility even without any inducement other than the protection of American honor and American rights.

From the National Intelligencer (Washington), June 7, 1843.

EMIGRANTS FOR OREGON.

The Liberty Banner, published in Clay County, Missouri, says: We are informed that the expedition to Oregon, now rendezvoused at Westport in Jackson County, will take up its line of march on the 20th of [May] this month. The company consists of some four or five hundred emigrants, some with their families. They will probably have out one hundred and fifty wagons, drawn by oxen, together with horses for nearly every individual, and some milch cows. They will, we suppose, take as much provision with them as they can conveniently carry, together with a few of the necessary implements of husbandry. There are in the expedition a number of citizens of inestimable value to any community, men of fine intelligence and intrepid character, admirably calculated to lay the firm foundations of a future empire.

From the Ohio Statesman, May 3, 1843.

We attach the suggestions in the report of General Worthington, adopted in this city on Saturday evening, in advance of the publication of the report:

"The committee, then, do most respectfully recommend that a convention of the western and southwestern states and territories be immediately called, to urge upon the General Government immediate occupation of the Oregon country by a military force, and to adopt such measures as may seem most conducive to its immediate and effectual occupation, whether the government acts or not in the matter.

"That it be declared to the world, that the Californias never should pass into the hands of England for any purpose whatever; and that if they go out of the possession of Mexico, they should at once be attached to the future North American Republic of the Pacific Ocean.

"That all rumored negotiations of the surrender of any part of the Pacific border for an equivalent in the Californias, should be denounced as fraught with danger to the peace and honor and liberty of the American continents, and as a repudiation of Mr. Monroe's triumphantly sustained declaration of 1823, that these continents are not to be considered subjects of colonization by any European power.

"That it be declared that Great Britain should be excluded from the whole of the Northwest coast, between our boundaries with Mexico and Russia; and, that, to give her any part, will be a virtual loss of the whole, as it will cripple, or entirely prevent any important commercial operations by American citizens on our Pacific coast.

"That we recommend the Oregon Convention to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the third, fourth, and fifth days of July, 1843.

"That measures be immediately taken for the appointment of committees at the capitals of all the states and territories west and southwest of the Alleghanies, to urge such action upon their several legislatures as will induce Congress to immediate occupation of Oregon country by the arms, the laws, and the citizens of the United States.

"That an address be published to the people of the West, and the Union generally, setting forth, and urging the adoption of the principles and opinions above proclaimed."

[The meeting to appoint the delegates to this Oregon Convention was called to meet in Columbus on the last Saturday in June.]

EXPERIENCES OF THE EMIGRATION OF 1843.

From the New York Tribune (weekly), August 5, 1843.

We find the following letter from the Oregon Emigration in the Iowa Gazette of the 8th instant (July):

OREGON EMIGRATING COMPANY.

Kansas River, June 3, 1843.

* * There are over 3,000 and perhaps 5,000 head of cattle, mules, and horses attached to the company. Captain Applegate has over 200 head, and others over 100 head. This has been a bone of contention with some of the emigrants and very nearly divided the company. Indeed, I am not certain but it will be the means of a split yet, as there are a number without cattle who refuse to assist in guarding them. The dissatisfaction is not quite so violent now, as the cattle owners have agreed to furnish the company with beef, (in case of scarcity of buffalo meat,) work cattle and milch cows, the former at a price to be fixed by the committee, and the cows and oxen without charge. The company have agreed to this proposition, and the former law, limiting each individual to three head of loose cattle, is thereby repealed. The number of cattle is quite too large. It is impossible to guard them at night, and the Indians at this place have already commenced stealing horses and killing cattle. The company which leaves next spring for Oregon should keep strict guard on their cattle and horses at the crossing of this river, as some eight or ten horses and mules have been stolen in one night from our company. Doctor Whitman from Walla Walla, who is in our company, advises that the company divide into three or four parties, for speed and convenience, as there will be no danger from the Indians.

[The name of the writer of the above letter is not given. The letter, however, indicates that he came to the emigration from Burlington, Iowa, and evidently lived there, as his letter was printed first in a Burlington paper. He was chosen a member of the "cabinet advisers" of the captain—nine persons. Probably these points will serve to identify him. Was he M. M. McCarver?]

LETTERS DESCRIPTIVE OF OREGON COUNTRY AND ITS EARLIER CONDITIONS.

A letter by the Rev. Alvan F. Waller to his brother at Elba, New York. It was first published in the Christian Advocate and Journal.

Taken from the Ohio Statesman, March 10, 1843.

Wallamette Falls, April 6, 1842.

Dear Brother: Your last came duly to hand and very much refreshed our spirits. Write every opportunity, being assured that intelligence from our friends is to us in this land like cold water to thirsty souls. You will see by my letter where I am stationed. This is in some respects a pleasant though laborious field of labor. This is and is destined to be, the great emporium of the interior of this country. Its water power for manufacturing purposes is probably not rivaled in the States; at least, few and far between are the privileges which equal or excel it; besides here is an excellent salmon fishery. As to the country, taking it all and all, it is a good farming and grazing country. The winters are so mild that the cattle and horses do well without feeding. The country is well watered, and the inhabitants are, in general, healthy. The ague and fever is the most prevalent disease, although other diseases occur. On the sea coast I believe it is more healthy than back in the country. So far as I and my family are concerned, we have been as healthy as we ever were in the States. Our little ones are quite as hearty and as lively as the fawns that skip over the plains.

Produce of all kinds, except corn, does well here, so far as it has been fairly tried. Some corn has been raised. Wheat, peas, and oats, I believe, so far as quality is concerned, can not excel in any country. Potatoes are tolerable, and in some parts excellent. Indeed, it is my candid conviction, that an industrious and economical man can live as well (fruit excepted) and make property as fast as in almost any country, and far easier than in any part of the State of New York where I have lived. Let him bring with him a few hundred dollars in cash or property, his farming utensils, etc., and settle on one of these delightful plains and the first year he can support his family from the soil, as he has nothing to do but fence, plow, and sow, and prepare a shelter or house for his family; yet he will have to encounter some difficulties incident to all new countries. Our mills are few and far between, and not all of the first order, but rather multiplying and improving; though a good millwright is very much wanted, as well as apparatus for building mills and a great many wholesome settlers, embracing some capitalists who will open trade with the Islands and China, which can be done from this coast with great facility. But first of all, our government ought to extend its jurisdiction and protection over this country. The state of the country in this respect (especially for Americans), as well in respect to a currency, is unpleasant. The Hudson Bay Company seem determined to monopolize as long as possible; yet in many respects they are quite accommodating, at least, so far as it is to their interest. They profess to claim many of the best and most valuable parts of the country by putting up a little hut without habitation and forbidding any one settling in those places. They made a claim at the Falls, on the side where I now am, about twelve years since, hewing a quantity of timber, etc., and a few years since they put up a small hut and covered it with bark.

Last fall an American took possession of a small island in the falls, but no sooner was it known at Fort Vancouver than a company of men was sent off with boards to put up a hut, and soon the governor of the fort came up, greatly incensed, called the man a pilferer, and anything but good; he, however, went on! A cooper wished to build a shop near me, but was informed, by orders from the fort, that if he built his shop would be torn down. He, however, went on and built; his shop still stands. These are naked facts; and others of the same kind, if necessary, can be forthcoming. By this you will have some clue to the state of things in this country in this respect.

I have written in great haste, as this is to be off early to-morrow morning. Besides, I have plenty of company, a number of men being here to buy salmon, of which I have the care. Others are on their way down the river. Indeed, my house is at times, as to travelers, more like a public house than a Methodist preacher's.

Your affectionate brother, ALVIN F. WALLER.

A letter by Titian R. Peale to Thomas Morgan, Esq., of Washington, Pennsylvania:

Washington, D. C., February 6, 1843.

Dear Sir: Observing the interest you have taken in the "Oregon Bill," now before Congress, I conclude that a few notes, coming from one who has recently traveled through a portion of the Oregon territory, will be acceptable to you, and probably be of use to some of your neighbors, who may feel disposed to profit by the inducements offered, should the bill pass and become a law.

Being a member of the Scientific Corps of the United States Expedition, in 1841, I had the misfortune to be wrecked, in the ship Peacock, at the mouth of the Columbia River, and subsequently traveled that portion of the country south of the Columbia River, known as the Wallamette Valley, and thence across the mountains to California.

The soil, we observed, generally on that route, although not as rich as that of the Mississippi Valley, was still sufficiently so, when cultivated, to produce from twenty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre, of as good quality as any I have ever seen in my native State (Pennsylvania), which, added to the facilities for settlers in finding the land ready for the plough, without the labor of clearing, while sufficiency of the finest timber is found on the banks of the numerous streams, is alone sufficient to invite to the further settlement of the country when known. But this is not all. The winters are so mild that it has never yet been found necessary to house cattle, or provide winter food for them. They thrive and multiply beyond expectation.

Salmon are procured in great profusion in almost all the streams, and ready markets are found for them, as well as all the other products of the territory, in the markets of Mexico, South America, and the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean. Thus, from its position in the Pacific, it has all the advantages which we possess in the Atlantic Ocean; gaining in the China what might be considered as partly lost from the European trade.

The tract of country to which I have more particularly alluded is about two hundred and fifty miles long, including the mouth of the Columbia River, and reaching to about one hundred and fifty miles from the coast. This tract of country I considered quite equal, if not superior to Pennsylvania, both in commercial position and capability in agricultural product, and much superior in its advantages for raising cattle, etc., being generally interspersed with prairie and woodland.

Would the above hasty notes prove satisfactory to you or any of your friends, or if they only serve to awaken a spirit of inquiry, it will always be a source of pleasure to me in having communicated them.

With great respect, I have the honor to remain, yours truly,

TITIAN R. PEALE.

To Thomas Morgan, Esq., Washington, Pennsylvania.

Letter by Peter H. Burnett to the St. Louis Reporter:

Taken from the Ohio Statesman of September 11, 1844.

Fort Vancouver, November 10, 1843.

Friend Penn: I reached here on yesterday, and the grass is now as luxuriant as a wheat field. Provisions are abundant here, and Doctor McLoughlin (who is the most liberal and hospitable man in the world,) furnishes the emigrants with wheat to be paid for in cash or in wheat next year. At the Cascades we met provisions sent us by the Doctor, and all purchased who applied, even without money. Two boats have been sent us with provisions, and the Doctor has lent two boats to the emigrants free of charge. We find him doing everything to aid the emigrants; and those who are here in the Wallamette Valley, are as hospitable as they could possibly afford to be. Business is very brisk, and labor finds ready employment and prompt payment at high prices. Necessaries of all kinds can be procured at Vancouver.

Most of the emigrants have reached here with their cattle and baggage, and will soon have their wagons here also. We find that cattle bear a fine price here and will sell readily. Cows at from $50 to $75, oxen at from $50 to $100 per yoke; labor $1 per day; beef from 5 to 6 cents; salt salmon $9 to $10 per barrel of about 300 pounds; wheat $1; flour $4 per 100 pounds. Anything can be sold here. Butter from 25 to 37½ cents; sugar, tea, coffee, and dry goods—plenty. American horses bear better prices than they do in the States.

The country exceeds my expectations, and certainly if man can not supply all his wants here he can not anywhere. Lieutenant Fremont, who bears this, can give you further information. I must close as he leaves immediately.

PETER H. BURNETT.

Letter of Peter H. Burnett's, taken from the Ohio Statesman of October 23, 1844, which quotes it from the Globe, Washington:

Linnton, Oregon, July 25, 1844.

I am here in our new town, which we have named as above, in respect for Doctor Linn's services for this territory. Gen. M. McCalla [M. M. McCarver] and myself have laid out the town together. He is a gentleman from Iowa Territory, and laid out Burlington, the seat of government. He is an enterprising man. Our place is ten miles from Vancouver, on the west bank of the Wallamette River, at the head of navigation, and three or four miles above the mouth of the Wallamette, and twenty-five miles below the Wallamette Falls. I have no doubt but that this place will be the great commercial town in the territory. We are selling lots at $50 each, and sell them fast at that. At the falls there is quite a town already. I own two lots in Oregon City (the town at the falls). They are said to be worth $200 each. I got them of Doctor McLoughlin for two lots here in Linnton. I was six weeks at Vancouver, where myself and family were most hospitably entertained by Doctor McLoughlin, free of charge. He has been a great friend to me, and has done much for this emigration generally. I find provisions high—pork 10 cents, potatoes 40 cents, flour $4 per hundred.

But I find it costs me a little, even less to live here than at Weston. I paid for wood the last year I lived at Weston $75, for corn and fodder $50, all of which is saved here. We use much less pork here than in Missouri. The salmon are running now and will continue to run until October next. They generally commence running the last of February and end in October. I have had several messes of fresh salmon. At this point we purchase of the Indians ducks, geese, swans, salmon, potatoes, feathers, and venison, for little or nothing. Ducks, four loads; geese, eight loads; swans, ten loads; salmon, four loads of powder and shot each. Feathers cost about twelve and a half cents a pound. There are more ducks, etc., here than you ever saw; also pheasants in great numbers. They remain here all the winter. I have hunted very little, being too busy. We find it very profitable to get of the Indians, to whom we trade old shirts, pantaloons, vests, and all sorts of clothing. They are more anxious to purchase clothes than any people you ever saw. You can sell anything here that was ever sold. Stocking Cary ploughs $5 each. We have an excellent blacksmith living in our place who makes first rate Cary ploughs at thirty-one and a quarter cents a pound, he finding it. [Omitting an elaborate description of the Willamette Valley.] American cows are worth here from $50 to $75; American horses from $50 to $75; oxen from $75 to $125 per yoke. This is the finest country for grazing cattle you ever saw. They keep fat all winter. Butter sells at 20 to 25 cents. And, what I did not expect to find, this is a good country for hogs. At all events you have here plenty of grass, a root they call wappato, and also plenty of white oak mast. A first rate market can be had for any and everything, and you have never seen business more brisk. Times are first rate and everybody is busy. The manufacturing power is unsurpassed in the world. There are more fine sites than you ever saw. Such water power as that at the falls of Platte can be found everywhere. * *

[Omitting a portion of the letter describing the timber of Oregon.] I will not persuade you, nor will I any of my friends, to come to this country; but were I in the States again, I should come myself. For $300 you could purchase one hundred young heifers; and in driving them here you might lose from five to ten. When you reached here they would be worth $4,000, and in ten years, without labor or expense, would make you a splendid fortune. You can move here with less expense than you could to Tennessee or Kentucky. Your provisions, teams, etc., you have; your oxen and horses, especially your fine American mares, would be worth double as much as they would cost you there. There are very few good American horses here. The Indian horses are not so gentle as the American, nor so fine blooded. The American cattle are greatly superior to the Spanish for milk, as they give more milk and are more gentle; but the Spanish cattle are larger. Cows have calves here from fifteen to twenty months old, and sheep have lambs twice a year in some parts of territory. The reason is they are always fat and get their growth much sooner. It is my deliberate opinion that no country in the world affords so fair an opportunity to acquire a living as this. I can see no objection to it, except it be by a man who loves liquor, for he can get none here.

PETER H. BURNETT.

From the Ohio Statesman, October 23, 1844. Quoted by the Statesman from the St. Louis Reporter.

We make the following extracts from two letters which were published in the Western Pioneer of the 6th instant, written by William L. Smith and John Holman, two emigrants to Oregon. The information from that territory, received this year, is of the most interesting character:

The prospect is quite good for a young man to make a fortune in this country, as all kinds of produce are high, and likely to remain so from the extensive demand. The Russian settlements in Asia; the Sandwich Islands; a great portion of California, and the whaling vessels of the Northwest coast, procure their supplies from this place.

There is as yet but little money in the country, and the whole trade is carried on by orders on an agent or factor. For instance, when I sell my crop of wheat, the purchaser asks me where I wish to receive the pay. Vancouver is as yet the principal point, and an order on that point enables the seller to procure goods, or cattle, or anything else for it.

The population of this country consists of French, sailors, mountain traders, missionaries, and emigrants from the States. The French population consists of old worn-out servants of the Hudson Bay Company; they universally have Indian wives, and many children, some of whom are very handsome; this part of the population are Catholics. The sailors are those who deserted from vessels while lying on the coast, and have also intermarried with the Indians, and but few of them have embraced any religion—they are, however, generally good citizens. The mountain traders are similar to the sailors, except that they have nearly all embraced the Methodist or Catholic religion.

The citizens held a meeting some time since and unanimously adopted the statutes of Iowa Territory for their code of laws until the government of the United States should make laws for them. There is little or no crime in Oregon as yet, which is attributed to the absence of spirituous liquors—and so sensible are the citizens of this fact that they are unanimous in favor of excluding it. In fact, Doctor McLoughlin has several cargoes in his warehouse now, which he bought in preference to allowing it to be sold in the country. I can not speak too highly of this excellent man for his kindness to us all. He sent several boats loaded with provisions to meet the emigrants last fall, and continued to distribute little luxuries among us as long as we remained in reach of him—he is always on the lookout for an opportunity to bestow his charity, and bestows with no sparing hand. His intention is to quit the Hudson Bay Company and become an American citizen.

Our prairies are beautiful, soil good, and the best stock range I ever saw. I have located and recorded six sections of land, which I can hold for one year by making certain improvements thereon, which I intend doing. I can stand in my door and see over all of them. Everything is plenty, but sells high. The prospects for industrious young men are truly flattering. I do think the six sections we have now in possession are intrinsically worth $20,000; that would be $5 per acre, and that is not near the value, taking everything into consideration. The situation for trade and commerce is certainly better than any other country. The climate, soil, timber, water, health, products of the country, and the prospects for good society combine to make it delightful. It would astonish you to see the state of society here—more hospitality and friendship, more morality, industry, and I do believe religion, than you will see anywhere. There are a good many scattering Indians, but nothing to be feared from them.

From the National Intelligencer, October 28, 1843.

EMIGRATION—THE FAR WEST.

We presume most persons thought that when the tide of emigration reached Oregon it would go no farther, for it did not seem that the "Far West" could get beyond the Pacific. We find, however, that some of the emigrants who have reached Oregon are "dissatisfied with the country, and contemplate going to California this spring." So says a letter in the Iowa Herald from one of the settlers, who for his own part likes the country very well, and expects to end his days there. He describes the Oregon region as rough and broken, generally heavy timbered, principally with fir, yellow pine, cedar, hemlock, oak, ash, and maple—well watered, with about one tenth prairie of excellent quality. In the streams is an abundance of fish, among which are the finest salmon in the world. Oregon City is a thriving little place, and from its advantageous position it is likely to become a thriving great one. It is situated at the head of navigation on the Oregon or Columbia River, and at the foot of Walhammat Falls, one of the greatest water powers in the world.