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About Oregon free press. (Oregon City [Or.]) 1848-1848 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1848)
rovvrvi r all dulios in the transit or goods from one lieprttiiont to another, wJiich duties being prejudicial to rr:( i.tu and restrictive ot the exchange of imports ior i xj-urls, rvere abolished on the 31st of March last. OREGON FREE PRESS Geo. L. Currt, Editor and Proprietor. OKEtiON CITY, SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 1848. Cold! gold ! gold! gold ! ilnyht and yellow, hard and cold, toiler), graven, hammered, rolled; Heavy to get, and light to hold; Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold; .Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled; Spurned by the young, but hugged by the old; 'io the very verge of the church-yard mould; Vricc of many a crime untold; Gold! gold! gold! gold 1 i.ood or bad, a thousand fold. Truly it is gold, gold, gold and for the last ten das mis same yellow substance has been crazing our whole community. The desire to get rich suddenly, without undergoing the accustomed ronline of labor cr business, is now being manifested throughout the country br leaving employment of every kind the plow literally in the furrow forsaking 'kith and kin' and rushing to California to dig in 'the bowels of the harmless earth' for gold. The chances are deemed too magnificent to be hazarded by the least delay. YS hat the deuce are to become of such poor fellows as cursclf, who, unfortunately, belong to the 'Can't get away Club,' it is impossible to determine. That wc vrant as much of the 'filthy lucre' as we can conve niently scrape together, we are free to confess, and if we could but get even a little of it, nowadays, it ivould astonish us marvelously. Here ue are up to ur eyes in type pi and matter promiscuously jum bled together, about us all because the worthy young gentleman who has been printing our paper (Mr. Craw ford) has, and very properly loo, gone to try his luck wild the rest of the gold seekers. That good may come of all tiiis we most heartily wish, yet we have misgivings as to the end, for our friends who have gone and are going, and for our rountry. It will take Oregon a long time, we fear, to recover from the baneful effects of this gold ma nia. Some of the good fellows who are leaving ns, may never live to return disease, and want, have fatal power in such places, as the mines of California are likely to become. However let us hope for the best. Marine. The brigHenry,Capt.Kilborn,leaves Port land during the coming week, for California, loaded with flour, salmon and passengers. There is a flying rumor of the arrival of a ves sel in the river we give it as report. "Free Press. "Notwithstanding the many incon veniencies we labor under, inconsequence of having no printer, we shall endeavor to continue to pub lish, as usual and with a little indulgence at first, we shall be as regular in appearing, as heretofore. The Immigration. From our information we judge that the 1st company of immigrants haio crossed the Cascades and are now at Foster's, on the Clack amas perhaps this side or there. CATIIOL1C PRIESTS-ARMS AND AMMUNITION. Mr. Editor: It is a matter of surprise, how the pro fessional Editor of the "Oregon Spectator" for the 7th inst. should have overlooked the explanation, given m your paper of the 26th ull. , regarding the purpo ses for which a certain quantity of arms and ammu nition have been sent, by the priests, to the Cas cades. This, unaccoutable, oversight of the Editor of the "Oregon Spectator" obliges me here to re peat these reasons, which, if attentively considered, will prove satisfactory and silence all complaint. The Missions of the Catholic Priests arc established among six different tribes the Flathcads, the Kalis ispels, the Cocurs d' Aleines, the Okanagans, those of Colville and those of New Caledonia. All of whom live so far remote from the country inhabited by the hostile Indians, that arms, provisions, etc., i i order to be conveyed to the country of the for mer, does not pass through, nor even touch upon, the country of the latter: and thus all danger of arms or provisions, falling into the hands of the host in; Indians, was completely precluded. It has always been the custom of the Missionaries, to bring up an annual supply of arms and ammunition to their Indians, since their first establishment among tbnti in 1841, to the present; nor did the supply of this year exceed that of former years: and when too jou take into consideration the number of persons, whitr?, half-breeds and indians, among whom this ammuni tion was to be distributed, (whenever phrmissiiv should be granted) the quantity shall appear rery trifling and quite inconsiderable. The purposes of supplying these six tribes of Indian with ammunition are that by shootinir down game they may supply the Missions and themselves wit the means of subsistance, and that they also may de fend themselves against other hostile tribes. Much also of this ammunition was to be distributed among the Whites as part payment of theier wages; aud a large portion of it was destined for New Caledonia, situated in the British possessions, and containing, in this ono Mission alone, a population of upwards of 5000 natives, who depend chiefly on the labors of the chase for their subsistance. Subtracting than the quantity of ammunition to be forwarded to New Caledonia, with that destined for the service of the " whites and half-breeds and dividing the remainder among the five other Missions at the Rocky Moun tains, you may perceive that the portion allotted to each Mission is very inconsiderable, and should not excite unjust suspicions against tho Priests. Those six tribes of Indians have always been, and still are, most friendly to the whiles they disapproved of the massacre at VVaiilatpu, and are ready to exert their endeavors to avenge the murder, if properly invited to do so. To continue, therefore, to supply the am munition, as usual, will maintain them in a friend ly dispositon, whilst to withdraw, or to postpone, this heretofore regular provision of ammunition may raise suspicions against the whites, and will certainly deprive many of those miserable beings of their only .means of subsistance.