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