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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1886)
222 THE WEST SHORE. who luul Bettlod in tho vulloy in 18119, combined with a general fiimncnil depression in the Wostern states to di rect much nttnntion to Oregon. Tlie two senators from MiHHouri, ThomiiM II. Benton Bnd Lewis F. Linn, whose names have since lioon lestowod upon counties in this state, ceaselessly urged ijH)n tho government the claims of Oregon. In thin way the fume of this region spread nnd a determination to nave Oregon from tho clutch of hngland grew up among tho pioneer of tho West To tliin wan added the belief that con grew would pass the 1)018 introduced by Senator Linn, giving each Oregon immigrant ono square imlo of land Tho immigration of 18-11 consisted of ono hundred and eleven (orsonB, who, owing to the Bupwwed inipoH. sibility of crossing tho mountains with wagons, brought no vehicle with them. The samo year twenty-three families of I- roneh-CanadiuiiB wero brought by tho Hud son's Bay Company from their settlements on Red river, with tho design of using them to counteract tho olToct of A merican BettlemenU. Many of these becamo thorougli ly AmoricaniKod and Bro among the moHt resected of the pioneers. 1 ho immigration of 1812 consisted of one hundred and nino ooplo, half of them adults. They started with wagoim, but one-half of theHo wero disman tled at Green river and mado into pack saddle Tho others were taken as far as Fort Hall, on Snako river, when) they wero abandoned Uxm the advico of Captain (Irani, the factor in chargo of the Mmt maintained thoro by the Hudson's Hay .Company, who assured tho immi grants that wagons could not lie taken across tho moun tain further west In the spring and summer of 1813 these pioneer sot tiers held a series of meetings at which a temporary form of government was adopted, purely democratic in principle. A few weeks after this tho great immigra lion of 1813 arrived, consisting of threo hundred men upwards of sixtoeu years of ago, with women and chil dren suflicient to nrnko a total of about eight hundred. These immigranU brought wagon as far as Fort Hall, where they were ndvisod, as formerly, to leave thoni; but Dr. Whitman was with tho party, and upm Lis earuost solicitation and assurance that the wagons could bo token through, the advice of the Hudson's Bay Company agent was rejected, ami in consequence tho wagons wero brought through to the Willamette valley, though with infinite difficulty. Those now recruits combined with their predecessors to orgauixe a provisional government, which continued in power until Oregon became an or. ganisod territory of the United 8Ute in 1819. The im migration of 1844 was nearly as great as thnt of the pre vious year, adding strength and confidence to the strug gling settlement In 1845 some three thousand people started acioss the plains. About oue-third of them turned off at Fort Hall and went to California, tho re mainder coming through to the Willamette, some of them being induced to try a new route and suffering great liardidiita in consequence. In 18IG some two thousand eople started with four hundred and seventy wagous. Home of them followed tho old route down Snake river, others came by a new one across Northern Nevada to Klamath lake and Southern Oregon, and about one-hnlf of the entire number went to California. The same year the great controversy between Great Britain and the United States was terminated, nnd the title to Oregon was confirmed in the United Slules, Ihiu grand achievement boing the result, in a large measure, of the labors of the pioneers, who, with infinite difficulty, had forced a path through the wilderness and laid the foundation of a republican government in this far-distant land The immigration of 1847 has been estimated at five thousand souls, fully two-think of whom came to Ore gon. These immigrants brought with them a greater assortment and quantity of articles needed in develop ing this region than had any of their predecessors, in cluding mill stones, fine Durham cattle, fine blood sheep, slocks of goods, vegetable seeds, fruit seeds and the cel ebrated "traveling nursery" of valuable fruit trees' bro lght by Hondorson Luolling. The immigration of 1848 was quite largo, though statistics in relation to it have never boon gathered. Many who hnd originally started for Oregon chonged their destination to Califor nia uj on hearing whilo enroute of the discovery of gold at Sutler's mill. In 1848 came the massacre of Dr. Whitmni, which brought the pioneers to arms to avenge his death nnd defend their homes by administering to tho Indians severe chastisement Those were perilous times, but bravoly did those self-reliant men and women deport themselves. In the spring of 1849, Oregon be came an organized territory under Governor Joseph Lane, and the simple, but effective, republican govern ment tho pioneers had instituted was morood into thnt authorized by congress. There was practically no im migration w uregon in 1811), but a great tide of adven turers surged across the plains, around the Horn nivl across tho Isthmus of Panama into the gold fields of California. Of these many afterward became citizens of Oregon. Nor did the year 1850 see irmnv fimitrrAnfa on the road to Oivgon. Coliforuia was still the glitter ing goal ot western adventurers. In 1851 the tide be gan ngain to set in tho direction of fWnn BA - -w - -)UU uuu iu iuom came one of the lurgest immigrations known, seeking vim mum oy oom u,e northern and southern routes, practical experience in the mines had served to dispel, in a measure, the glsmour surrounding them, and peo ple bent on a journey westward began to realize that the homestead generously offered them in Orarrrn woo Vnt tor than the hazards nnd uncertainties of the mines. Many of them came with the intention of locating a home in the Willamette valley before trying their for- inn a in J 1 Cy t mi .u . BU1U ueuis. rno season wag a dry one, and the great throng of cattlo and horoA Qtnn rliarvaA1 r$ every vestige of grass along the route, bo that thousands i wee lanrnnea and died, their putrid carcasses mark ing the trail for those who HOB, UJ much sickness among the emigrants, caused by scarcity of water and food The slow progress made by the en- w causei we supplies in many of the wagons