8
THE WEST SHORE.
February.
Fob tub Wkmt Rhokb.
CROSSING THE PLAINS.
BY DAVID NEWSOME.
This text brings to the minds of thou
sands of persons in Oregon the scenes,
dangers, toils, friendship or dislikes on that
memorable journey across a broad expanse
of the North American continent. One
association or society of pioneers was organ
ized in this State of those who came here
prior to January 1st, 1851. Another was
formed of those prior to December, 1853,
The Pioneer and Historical Society aims
lo accomplish a noble puriose to collect,
collate and finally publish a concise history
of Oregon. The writer was, four years
ago, elected a corresonding member of
this society; but, having arrived in Oregon
in October, 1851, he could not be an active
member. The Fionccr Association in
cludes all up to 1853. This association
aims mainly at the same results as the other,
and the two should assuredly merge into
one.
One thing seems strange to many per
sons, and that is the wonderful growth and
development of Oregon and Washington
Territories for these should yet be one
for the last thirty-three years. Cut off from
the outside world to a great extent, crowd
ed to the extreme northwest corner of the
United Sutcs possessions the broad Pa
cific Ocean washing our Western border,
the llritish possessions on the north, Cali
fornia on the south, and the great North
American mountain chain on the cast; hut,
made up of such men and women as those
were who crossed the great American des
ert between the Missouri and llurnl rivers
in ox wagons, living in tents like the sons
of Israel, anil enduring what those immi
grants did, it is no wonder that they should
build up a country as we see it to-day. We
may talk nhnut military campaigns, hard
ship anil toils; hair-breadth escapes, bra
ver) and endurance; but if a tithe of all
that those immigrants saw and endured
during their long six-months' journey were
written out, it would exceed in interest any
story of fiction.
At Springfield, III., I procured a six
quire blank liook, a leather valise, ens
and ink ; anil kept an accurate journal of
the trip. I have that book yet, and from
its --ages I may draw data which may be of
some interest lo my plomer friends and
others.
Twenty-live years ago our train left
Coumil Hlntl's and entered the great Indian
territory then almost undefined and un
known to the w hites. The first while per
sons we saw except a few renegades from
prisons and matrimonial chains who had
taken up their aliodcs with the Indians
were at Fort Laramie, alknit 500 miles
west. These were officers ami soldiers of
the I'. S. lurracks there. At Soda Springs,
on Pear river, seventy-live miles northeast
from Salt Lake City, were a parcel of the
saints and a lot of Indians their allies.
At old Fort ILill were a score or more of
Hudson Pay Coniptny's agents and em
ployees (whites), and next was the Indian
agent of the United Slates and his family at
the Umatilla agency, ten miles east of
llutlcr Creek. Next were the soldiers and
some settlers at The I'alles. At the Cas
cade Falls were some traders and sundry
shar-ieri who had come there to buy stock,
wagons and carriages of us at less than half
their worth at Portland. At old Fort Van
couver was a small start of a town and
barracks for soldiers. At Portland were
ihoul 800 inhabitants. The third street
horn the river was full of big lit sliunis.
My family were now tick, and 1 had hard
work to tind a shelter for them. At last
Skidmorc A Kuggles tixik us in. and we
uid tit bits a meal each (or live of us, and
the same for cots,uniil we could pass up
the valley.
We had tiivcled 1.575 miles in ox
wagons, and been on our way full six
montlis. The Indians were hostile that
season, as the number of immigrants that
year was not sufficiently large to deter
them from their depredations upon us and
our stock. Kvery murder, theft and raid
upon us from Fort Laramie to Grande
Ronde we could trace to Mormon inllu-1
ence and plans. I recorded very many !
instances in my journal of thefts, robberies
and murder on the journey. For the first 1
500 miles west of the Missouri jiver the
Mormons had no scapegoats ujoq which
to place their outrages. Since 1851 what
changes in that vast district through which
we assed have occurred! All the way up
the splendid bottoms of the Hi; Platte
river solitude reigned, broken only by the
howling of the wolves or the low, rumbling
sounds of vast herds of affrighted buffaloes
stampeding from the trains. What fine
districts we passed on Powder river, Grande
Ronde, Umatilla and the highlands east of
The Dalles. There was no thought that
much of the country from Fort Laramie to
the Grande Kondewas underlaid with gold,
silver, iron, coal, copper, lead and cinna
bar. Could the pen of the ready writer
have traced out the changes since that lime
on that long route the new Stales and
Territories formed in it, the population,
public and private improvements, discover
ies of mines, the building of the Union
Pacific railroad, and the telegraph lines, by
which thought flashes from New York,
London or Petersburg to Portland in an
instant "Wonderful!" would have been
our ejaculations.
In traversing the dreary, treeless, sandy
wastes on the journey, we did not suppose
for a moment that a railroad could ever be
built across those wilds. When we arrived
at the culminating ioint at the South Pass
(July 16, 1851), and there turned our faces
exstward and exclaimed, " My native land,
adieu!" little did we think that by 1870
we could siart from Portland, Oregon, and
dine in Chicago in less than ten days.
When 1 bade farewell to kind friends and
relatives al Springfield, III., 011 the morning
of April 3, 1851, and saw the cars move off
towards Meridocca, forty-lhree miles west,
the only railroad then in that Slate, my
'carl sunk within me. I never expected
10 sec steam cars again. Ten years ago I
conversed with an ex-Governor of Oregon
as to the Missibility or probability of a rail
road from Portland, south. He declared
that that event was Pcrha- fifty years
hence, if ever. Hut we have had a road,
wth the steam horse pulling along, for four
years pasi for joo miles south, and now a
good assurance thai it will tap the Central
Pacific at Winnemucca before three years
more.
I can hardly realise or accredit my own
senses when 1 compare Portland, Oregon
City, Salem, Albany, Fiigcne and Koseburg
with what they were twenty-five years ago.
Koseburg was not then in existence. A
mighty empire is rising u-wn llie western
slope of this great continent. ( )ur isola
lation will soon lie ended. Heforc long
we shall l-e in direct communication In
land and sea with all the princiial marts in
the world. Tliank God we are under the
protection of the stars and stri'ics, and our
hundredth anniv ersary as a nation witnesses
us a united people. In conclusion, I give
this toast for July 4, 1816 :
" Oregon first, and then our great Ameri
can Union, one and insciarablc, now and
forever."
Sai km, Oregon, t'rimart, 1876.
Oki.min Coal. Speaking of the coal
mines near Utter City, Coos county, the
.VrtM says: "The vast amount of coal
which lies inilieddcd in these hills is al
most incredible. The foreman and the
miners say the crop of eight-good workable
veins are distinctly visible on the side of
the mountain owned by Utter Ojcda.
F.ach one of these veins is a mine of ii-
-lf in.! run AyW tut ,..! , . I...
, ..... .t. ,alv , juttiucc
I 1 50 tons daily the product of the eight
j vn '- aggregating atotal of i.rec tons
per day."
THE HOTEL CLERK.
Mr. W. D. Howells photograplis the
American hotel clerk, in "Their Wedding
Journey," as follows: "It was with a
sudden sinking of the heart that Basil be
held, presiding over the register, the con
ventional American hotel clerk. He was
young; he had a neat mustache and well
brushed hair; jewelled studs sparkled in
his shirt-front, and ring-son his white hands;
a gentle disdain of the travelling public
breathed from his person in the mystical
odors ol Ihhng-inlang He did not lift
his haughty head to look at the wayfarer
who meekly wrote his name in the regis
ter; he did not answer him when he
begged for a cool room; he turned to the
board on which the keys hung, and, pluck
ing one from it, slid it toward Basil on the
marble counter, touched a bell for a call
boy, whistled a bar of Offenbach, and, as
he wrote the number of the room against
Basil's name, said to a friend lounging
near him, as if resuming a conversation,
'Well, she's a mighty pooty gul, any way,
Chawleyl'
"When I reflect that this was a type of
the hotel clerk throughout the United
States, that behind unnumbered registers
at this moment he issnubbing travellers in
to the dust, and that they are suffering and
perpetuating him, I am lost in wonder at
the national meekness. Not that I am
one to refuse the humble pie his jewelled
fingers offer me. Abjectly I take my key,
and creep up-stairs after the call-boy, and
try to give myself the genteel air of one
who has been stepped upon. But I think
homicidal things, all the same, and 1 re
joice that, in the safety of print, I can cry
out against the despot whom I have not
the presence lo defy. 'You vulgar and
cruel little soul,' I say, and I imagine my
self breathing the words to his teeth, 'why-
do you treat a weary stranger with this
ignominy f I am to pay well for all I
get, and I shall not complain of that. But
look at me, and own my humanity; confess,
by some civil action, by some decent
phrase, that I have rights, and that they
shall be respected. Answer my proper
questions; respond to my fair demands.
Do not slide my key at me; do not deny
me the ioor io!itcncss of a nod as you
give it in my hand. I am not your equal;
few men are; but I shall not presume up
on your clemency. Come, I also am
human."
Our writers seem to lie making a simul
taneous assault on this insolent class, for
Ralph Keeler, who is travelling in the
South, cauterizes the clerk of a Mississippi
steamer in this wise: "Then at the office
we must confront that terrible autocrat, the
chief clerk, who is, perhais, a little better
than the average wretch of the great hotel
clerk the world over, lie assigns us a
room with a tone of outraged dignity in
his voice, and we wither gradually out of
his sight to deposit our valises on our beds
and lock them in, lest that awful fellow
should take it into his head 10 throw them
overboard."
"It is an exploded theory," savs one
who sieaks with knowledge, "that women
dress to please the men. They dress to
please or spite each other. Any girl of
sense and experience knows that it is just
as easy to break a man's heart in a two
dollar muslin, neatly made up, as it is in a
(ive-hundred-dollar silk costume made by
a man-dressmaker." It is, jn tact, a great
deal easier. The natural charm of a
young girl is often utterly destroyed In
excessive dressing. Men like tasteful and
not extravagant toilets; and the rivalry in
dress among women is not to catch a beau,
but to mortify an enemv.
At Omaha, a few dayTa,, red flag
was placed in front of a house used for the
"l-tion of small-,, pauents. A large
""' ''' wh0
the Iront door and wondered when "the
auction WAS In tinn " U-l.. . -
h. -.I . r K" 'ntormca o
Ml of case they scattered in
The Old Oaken Bucket." This
beautiful and popular song or ballad is
said to have had its origin under the follow
ing circumstances, which give it additional
interest :
Some years ago when Woodworth, the
printer, and several other "Old New
Yorkers," were brother-typos in a printing
office which was situated at the corner of
Chestnut and Chambers streets, there were
few places in the city of New York where
one could enjoy the luxury of a really
"good drink." Among the few places
most worthy of patronage was an establish
ment kept by Mallory, in Franklin street,
on about the same spot where St. John's
Hall recently stood. Woodworth, in com
pany with several particular friends, had
dropped in at this place one afternoon, for
the purpose of taking some "brandy-and-water,"
which Mallory was famous for
keeping. The liquor was superexcellent,
and Woodworth was inspired by it; for,
after taking a draught, he laid his glass up
on the table, and, smacking his lips, declar
ed that Mallory's lau de vie was superior to
any he had ever tasted. "No," said M.,
"you are quite mistaken; there was one
thing which, in both our estimations, far
surpasses this in the way of drinking."
"What was that?" asked Woodworth,
dubiously. "The draught of pure fresh
water that we used to drink from the old
oaken bucket that hung in the well, after
our return from the labors of the field on
a sultry day in summer." The tear drops
glistened for a moment in Woodwork's
eyes. "True, true I" he replied; and soon
after quitted the place. He returned to
the office, grasped the pen, and in half an
hour "The Old Oaken Bucket,' one of the
most delightful compositions in our
language, was ready in manuscript, to be
embalmed in the memory of succeeding
generations. '
Let is the Sunlight. We wish the .
importance of admitting the licht of the
sun, freely, as well as building these early
anu late nres, coma be properly impressed
upon our housekeepers. No article of
furniture should ever be brought to our '
homes too good or too delicate for the sun .
to see all day long. His presence should
never be excluded, except when so bright
as to be uncomfortable to the eyes. And -walks
should be in bright sunlight, so that
the eyes are protected by veil or narasol. '
when inconveniently intense. A sun-bath '
is of far more imortance in preserving a
healthful condition of the body than is
generally unuerstood. A sun-bath costs
nothing, and that is a misfortune, for peo
ple arc deluded with the idea that those
tilings only can be good or useful which
costs money. But remember that pure
water, fresh air, sunlight, and homes kept
free from dampness, will secure you from
many heavy bills of the doctors, and give
you health and vigor, which no money can
procure. It is a well-established fact that
people who live much in the sun nrft
usually stronger and more healthy than
those whose occujiations deprive them
of sunlight.
But few persons have amr idea of the
magnitude of the Texas cattle trad. It i
stated that during the past year no less
than 60,000 beeves have been driven from
Texas into Arkansas. Nebraska, and the
Western States. It requires about jo.000
neau 01 cattle to feed thtf Indians, which
are not included in the above estimate, but
which are purchased by the Government
rom 1 exas traders.
An economical Iowan -hn bait tivtth-
ache, determined to remove it in the
Indian fashion. AcrorHlniri,, K. hnt
down a sapling in the woods, lay down
himself, and attached a stout cord to his
tooth and the sanlirar. Thi ), tn.-r-l,)
the spring, and the next he knew he had
jumped over a grove of about forty small
trees, and was trying to get out of a. small
pond that he happened to alight in.