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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1876)
May. THE WEST S HO HE. the l;aru.loi.c Wands, and did not square away far her destination till nearly noon on the 3 1 si of Jannary. Stjc arrived in the Mersey river in 104 days, healing the time of the T'.ree Jirothers eight days and that of thc.Itriii&h King fourteen days And Oregon was avenged ! On the return trip of the W'esitrn Short she made the mailer still worse for the Three Ihothtrt and lirUish King, making the lossigc in no difS, vhily the pet ship of San Francisco was 1 2 A.iyt and ihe blawnled Iliitid, monarch ij2. This ijavc San Francisco Uic worat kind of a helly-achcand the sub ject iia.sore one among the old salt.s of the CJoMen City. The 'Ihrtt HrtJnrs il atari;-: vessel and an cnorinui ca.ricr in proportion to her m- : hut I" claim her as a S::i Fmih Uco-huill ship, is u firce. Jicr syr's mi ! rhinij were ma le I'.tc.'c. 11 is Inn;, but h :r hull is lh old M l.-uhcel steamer Va'uh'klt, wh'kh a' mr linn: ran between Nc.v York aiid Ham-. The Wtttern Shrt, on the contrary, was built in Oregon and, save the lamina door WiLi in Ii .t cihin, In nut a splinter about Iicr that did not grow in the forcsS of WchfoutUud. Her total iot was ?'Y-,gcj and her owners can iryl ?:oo,t:o fur her my day within the net four years' Thc mil of Mich a ship at lialh, Maim-, would rot be kv: than ?in.o"X) or $100,000 at New York or Kal Ho -ton. And w hen you la!!; of Oregon pndiKt at the Cen tennial let me I ike ouusion to say that the exhibit of Oregon will be incomplete with-1 ouUhc WtsUin S!i"n. She will do umrc for tie: Slat1, in tin- way of inducing itnniigratijii, thin all the wheal and (lax trill Commissioner Dulur can carry there, lam nware that this sounds a good ikal JjVc "bo:incr," but I think I am n kmkI ilcil m re justified in bragging over (his khip than ihe hvgon pros were in crow ing over the victory of Foster, a Kcntikky bred race-horse in whom an (tregonian hid th.uiecd to purchase a one-third interest. Shim thin itrlicle win jittt m tyM tliu culiii- tin- )tatiflt nmiotinro nnntlior vii'tury fur tliff M'rttern Share. Hl.u nuiile tlio trijt from tliu Colutnlim Bivui far t IavurHHil in llli-luy bt'n.tiii(( dor wiJijwtftur, tlio (trmurn (nlle 1'J il:iyr,fuilut the miu tini mnltniH tlio fimtcut trip 011 reisml I-tw-n tint oxM ninl l.ivrsH)l, ly 8 lny. l?AMHMNti Nt H I S ON oUF.N TIM KS. m W. I.. A OA Mi, m. n., a. m., 1. 1.. n. The pioneers who drove their ox teams, wa.il ed to skeletons, inio the Willaiuelte Valley in un early day had generally liulc thought of living to witness the magic changes that have occurred here Mine I then changes that perhaps for the discov ery of gold mines would have been much iiIuti in coming. Neveitheless llu-y had tfith in the bright future of the country. Thry loved it passionately, because of its many advantages and because it was so dif ferent from the land fiom whence ihiv amr. Some loved it for its mild climate, preferring even the winter rains, where ea'jle liied on native grasses without lew!, to the long winters of snow, sleet and iie atuMins of annually recuiring horror, they hi I been used to; but hail olten, in M at tering fodder with frozen lingers to cattle ciwcird with frost and kicles, wondered whether (lod had 'nt really nude a belter coaiilry tumewhere away oil towarb the iUiin- sun, as a home lor the "elect," as (Vuan, far tvumd a wilderms once was for ihe Jews the new Canaan Ut ew ftn.) tieutiles, having kvn pur(o;.ely placed lyotul the KiK'ky Mountains and bevond ih? age plainsso that -only men of stam ina ctiu! J reach 11. Some h'u-d it UvauH vhry had in them a Munetlmig that warmed or Inijjlueiicxl into emotions of pleasure, known ouU to sucrtor sou1 in gating at j'Klutcsque Undsca)KX inoimuiiik totem! vWi stately evefiecns, with hero and there 4 pincing Ihe clouds, and cucrl with eternal snows, lee ling iieis olrvtal polity that dashed down the m.umt.hii over a hundred nurin. i,vca hs, an 1 sought the ocean through their tortuous windings among rich and beautiful valleys below. Some, occupying a lower plane, j saw liulc of beautv in the new world when . gazing at it throughjopiics, the lids of which were not entirely washed of Mississippi Valley soil, learned to love it because a trip back over the route thty came was re garded then as an imjMssibility. Thci former class believed in the future empire to spring up on this coast, and were more than MiUficd after seeing :iic country, of ils adaptability to such a state of things.! The most sanguine, however, while they hoped it would be so, and sometimes, w hen ; ihey heard of a hundred emigrant wagons en route to Oregon that year, had their faith much strengthened; yet, they often finiiid themselves relapsing into skepticism regarding what Tom Henton told the St.1 I.ouU people in a speech (let. t 1S44 " I say the man is alive, lull grown, and is I i. -.leuing to what 1 say (without believing il perhaps) who will yet see the Asiatic commerce traversing ihe North Pacific Ocean entering the Oregon river climb ing the northern slope Usuing from its gorges andspreading ils fertilizing streams over our whole extended Union! The steamboat and the steam car have not ex hauMed all their wonders. They have not yet even found their amplest and most ai propu.ue theaters the tranquil surface of the North Pacific Ocean, and the vast in clined planes which spread cast and vet from the base of ihe Kocky Muunlains. The magic boat and the Hung car are not yet seen upon this ocean and upon this plain, but they be seen there! and St. l.ouis is yet to find herself as near to Can ion as she now is to London! with a better and safer route, by land ami sea, to China and Japan, than she now has to France and Oreat Britain-" In that early day, while some of . us had faith in Henlon's predictions we somehow never could imagine cities being built, ves sels discharging mighty cargoes at ' our wharves, am! steam cars sweeping along every half hour, in the alienee of jKipula- lion. Fveu those w ho came here sighing "for a lodge in some vast wilderness,"were soon surfeited wilh the monotony of a nvnlicr life, and either for commercial advantages, or from a desire to see others enjoying w hat alforded them pleasure, were soon so anxious about an increase of pop ulation, that no news was so acceptable as a Hying rciort that the advance wagons of; a heavy immigration had readied Foster's, and would be out in the valley after resting their cattle a day or two and roasting ota- loes. Another reason the immigration w as so anxiously looked for, they generally brought letters letters fresh from "the Stales," telling of the weal or wo of ab sent friends. A man who brought a letter then, though for some person far from where he settled, had only to lav it by his trunk and it was sure to be called for sometime and devoured with interest. In passing through Missoun, a native visited our camp and requested us to write him a teller to a relation in Oregon and carry it to him. We cheerfully agreed to. when we learned that he could neither read or write himself, and saw how- his great heart yearned to communicate with absent friends. medicines w ithin our reach wc soon mill-1 cited the aggravated character of the dis- i 0,-der. and finally (succeeded in restoring , the children to their utual health without the aid of a physician. The old mare, Jule, has brought me two fine colts since you left, and one of them being a particu larly fine one, brought me a hundred dol-, lars in hard cash." Here he jumped to his feet, rolled up, his eyes, and raising both hands, exclaimed "That's off, stranger! blast my skin if that don't tell the whole story. I ll be dod rotted if it aint the perfectest letter I ever seed writ afore. Jist put my name to it, and when you git there give il to the old j man, tell him 1 got ynu to w rite it, and the old woman will give you the nicest cup of coll'ee and the best pone of cawn bread vou ever eat. W the way, stranger, whai in out vour name be r" It mom be Smith but it is'nt. Mav 1 ask you w hat State you moul be from;" I inoul be from Posy county, In diana, but I came recently from Illinois. F.eleiiois ! Scuse my ignorance, stran ger, I haint traveled much how far is F.el eiiois from the State of I.inkum in Ten- wee ?" Just here an old fat lady dressed in lin y with a blue calico night cap on her head, with bare feet waddled up to camp, having heard lh.it we w ere for Oregon, and w ith a shrill double tenor voice broke in An your'e boun for the Origons are ye? You'll rue the day you ever went to the ( rigons, fur you 11 get no warnuek bark thar, That's a dead shoar thing, stranger, for when I lived up on Hig Yaller, Flder Uosaw told us as how the neighbors 0 hisn up near the lowa line went over into tnc Iowa bottoms for bark, w hen their own gin out, and how the Iow a boys run them back home before they got warnuek bark enough to color a pair 0 socks. Then the Klder slid some 011 em moved to the Origons, and how they writ back, that thar want no warnuek trees grew thar. Stranger! (point ing her linger at us and shaking her head in dead earnest) it's my opinion and so 'lis of Flder liosiw's, that the alwlitionists wilt soon run all the dimmverats outn the Origons, and you'll soon see 'em migratin back to this kedentry. totin their young-tins on tleir backs." We told her we were going to Oregon to see the country and carry a letter to old man Hunion and so we did, and he got it ton, for on reaching the valley we were asked for letters by nearly everybody we met. We told them of the only letter wc had, and somehow the old gentleman who lived a hundred miles away got wind of it during the winter, and the next spring he saddled up his horse, and rode down the valley after il. lie seemed as much de lighted to get such fresh news from home, as a girl would be to get a tender episile from an absent lover. In those days, ev erybody welcomed the new immigrants, whether they brought letters or not. Kv cry where we stopped for the night, the old Oregonians crowded around our camp lire, and after asking for letters, alwavs enquired j if we had any old sacks, powder, lead, or ! erctision caps to trade for Haioes, chick j ens or pigs. Fortunately for us we had a I dozen boxes of percussion caps, five or six greasy hicon sicks, and one old ieansco.il We said, what shall we write. He re- which we could si.urc. Wuh these articles, plied - 1 ell the old man how that .Nancy . wc succeeded in pureeing five bushels of and ihe children is all well cxcepiin the potatoes aWmt as large as hickory mils, hoopin cough which they had last fall but0ne chicken, two sow pigs, which we put gtrt well without a doctor." Well! wh.U;jnarail km., covered with up.m ,.l i..A els- ? I don't tlunk of anthing more- im jx)Ul0 slvius aiul a Uul(, u but hmi to me there is something else - We ohon gad for hours at those pigs ni whv.v.-s-tetl lummy Ole Jule mar has ( whether thev could bo made to grow had iw o powerful line colts, and I o!d one anv (aster, on rather a light diet, and think of Ihem for a hundred dollars." Well, 1 how lUppV wc should k when from their what else? Read what youv'e win and let hureiw and il.ti ,vf il,.. ..;..! ... i MHl 1U , have ham and eggs. "I.irrt.i Yaiikr, Mismu m. ) i The graces everywhere covered the -April S, .84S. i prairie and hills which we then thought . W Aj,Wr .... Nancy and the would l mil un the omnium when our dren are alNell. They had lh; whoop- ( children crc grown. Within sight of us, cotll;h last fill, bul by a timely use of on a prune now ihicklv seulod and nearly utc m'c tutu il somnlv" all under the plow, roamed al will, (our hundred head of Spanish cattle, wild as buffalo, and elk grazed with our milch cows within a few rods of the log hut which served as a temple of science, in which we trained the young ideas of boys who finally put off their buckskin, and became Gov ernors, Presidents of Colleges, and Supreme Judges on the bench. The cordial welcome that new immi grants everywhere met with in those early days, made everything bright and glorious, though we had to undergo what well Ted immigrants nowadays would perhaps call "great privations." Not satisfied with rush ing in from all the settlements to look at, shake hands wilh, and tradc with, the dust covered and ragged new comer, the poets tuned their harps, and welcomed him in Homeric verse. In September, 1846, one of these bards addressed the immigrants ol that year through the Stdtilor " Wt'lcnme ye frecliorn yo.mieii of the soil, tliglit wek'omo are you to our new made home, Now ends your weary pilgrimage and toil, You've reached the goal, ami need no longer roam O'er dreary waste., and arid sterile sandi, O'er mountain emu;, through torrcuta mad'aing roar You've toiled uuduuntod, ill courageous biimU, To seek a homo on this far distant shore. Here wuita ye then, ye tillers of the laud, The verdant jiniirie mid proline Held. Kich forest dells where giant cedars stand Shading fresh treasures yet to he reveuted. The cunning artisan of every trade, Tho learued nrofossor and the mail of wealth, Will for his journey here he soon repaid With ample competence, and blooming health." When we reached the Willamette Val-. Icy in the fall of 1 848, the men had nearly all gone to the newly discovered gold mines of California, leaving the women to man age business al home. Wc rented a farm of Mrs. Fulton, on North Yamhill, and boarded with her while we were building a log but to live in. We were in luck, for some who crossed the plains in the same train with us, settled in a newer por tion of the country and mauled rails, sub sisting all winter on bread and water alone. We occasionally had meat, a few potatoes, and several limes we carved a small cab bage head, and enjoyed a baked squash. Sugar, butter, milk, tea and coll'ee, wc had none. Yes, we had coffee pea coffee for when the women put on a jiot of peas to boil they always browned a few for cof fee. Our table always groaned under peas, whatever else was lacking, there smoked a huge tin plate full of boiled peas. Our appetite was fearful, and we felt as though we could cat a granary full before Spring. In the morning we ate peas till wc were ashamed, and drew back hungry thinking, as the days were short, dinner would soon come. It did come regularly at twelve, hut it seemed an age. When the )ot was finally over the fire it seemed to boil as slow as the mills of the gods are said to grind. It was in vain that we rushed in every few minutes with an armful of dry kindlings. Wc could never smell the odor that told us llic peas were about done, and made us frantic, till the slow moving sun had nearly reached the zenith. It was the same thing over quit hungry at the dinner table for shame. From tliat lime till supicr, it seemed as though some Joshua was tinkering wilh the sun. We gazed at it a hundred times, and sighted past the corner of the cabin to sec whether the thing moved. I In December, Mr. Fulton came home j from the gold mines, and then there was a I general clamor among the women of the j neighborhood in urging us to move our I liulc family and slop awhile with ihcra. M we borrowed Hilton's wagon and oxen, loaded up and started for the cabin of Mrs. Dr. Mcltride, whose husband was yet at the mines. Midway on our journey we j nnrco down to the wagon hubs, ihe cattle ( broke out the wagon tongue and we left , the prairie schooner standing in the mud, I after unyoking the cattle and turning therrt ; loose in the praiiie. The team tlut. Mrs. Mclhide sent to our rescue carried us