Oregon spectator., April 29, 1847, Image 4

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For the Oregon Spectator, (migrants themselves, is easily seen : fur it
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14 U'lill tltltttvil lllllf fllern Wnln lliiliimrititr tn
the immigrants loose cattle, which were in
good condition enough to have fed them lor
months, and he thus covertly insiuuute.s that
those who had cattle would sec their fellow
travelers starve rather than relieve them.
An tv criiiled hy accident was Mint by his'
ohiht, ami imr of the quarters taken nil'
and this is the whole louudaliuii ujhui which
he builds his revolting stun, niul this Mr.
T. Knew or might have Know n hud he been as
anxious in state facts as to misrepresent
them.
j To notice his anaixit in i.nler. Iloc.ir
I rics his piiint in his first arrrntrnt, hy mak
ing a family of two bachelors, ijimry
'who is the head of that family.' or has it i
two iiruils, unit no IknIv .'
Averment 'Jd nnnlytiul, means That the
people remained in the I'mpiMiK vail, y In-,
cause they could not yet away without as
sistauce. A majority of people left in this,
deplorable c mdition are here to prow this
assertion a falsehood. The came w ithoii'
i anv a.ssistaiu-e, bringing with them their
wagons, teams, utul lo&c cattle, which are
in much betti r condition than any wintered
in this valley. They eroded the Cnlupooia '
mountain in February, and found m snow
to impede or olistruct their passage, though '
the alh-s of the northern portion of the
Tcrritoiv were .still wrapped in tin-ir'w inns ,
covering. They report .Mr. Hall, wi.o Mr.
T. vvas going to shoot Ibr splitting vvmiI tear
hi cauiii. t have oiu t the Ft anHbat
' tli Rev. Mr. Cornwall, and perhaps the
1 bachelor laiiuly remain m charge ol the pro
pertv b ft in their care, at tin ij p;rnil to do. '
Sethis subject lor .Mr. T's commit ration is i
lust.
t'nftnr liiu !lil lwirifl lm envu Atinf.t i.v.
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i cry innn (peihaps indeed every one,) who
came, imo i 'regon nv ue souuiern rmiir, is
TO MARV
Can I forgtt the how of ulw,
Ttat I hre pent with thee .
Can I formt the parting kim
Whkh M-al'd thy Wth to met
Can I forget the. fond, fond mIi.
That breauYd thy Isrt ndirii '
The tear that Rem'd tin' wftfiid cje.
Like ahotreni on violets blue '
Though thou anil I no more may meet.
Nor be where wo half been,
Yet rtill to dear remembrance sweet,
Shall be our parting wrene.
Ilanbof the Columbia, Mnrcii, 1S47.
A Legal IaEtnrr of creat vtilue i l!ie fullinvin;,
from tlie pen of JiPliee Story. Wi rommeinl it M
the members of the bar, in an eieci.il manner.
' When e'er you rpeak. remember every c.iiiiie
Standi not on cloiiueiice, but Manila on Iavv
l'regnant in matter, in eireion brief.
Lei every aentence, utand in IwM relief: ( ,
On trifling point, nor tune nor tulenls waste,
A ad offence to lenmini! niul to tnte ;
Nor deal with pomjwti pliM; nor e'er supNio.
Poetic flight belong to reiu-oiiing pros...
Look declamation may ileceiv v the crowd
And eem more lriknig. k" it growrnore loud :
Dutaoberaetue rejectn it with dirdain,
A nouht but empty noise, nnd weak, an vain.
The froth of woribtho clioolliyV .iin p.ir.ulo
Of book and cose all hi Mock in tride
The pert conceits, riiccuinmig trick and play
Of low attorney-, rtniug m long array,
The unseemly jet, the petulant reply.
That chatters on, and care not liow. or why.
Studious avoid unworthy theme. to wan.
They sink the rpeaker.uiid digr.ice the man, '
Like the faUe light. by flying hadow caM.
Scarce teen, when present, ami forjot when p-it.
Begin with dignity; eapound wuh grsiee
Macli ground of rvaon in it time and place :
Let order reign throughout each tp.c touch.
Nor urge iU power too little, or two much.
Give each rtrong thought it ma-t attractive icw,
In diction clear, and yet severely true.
And, a the argument in splendor grow ,
Iet each reflect it light on all below.
Vhen to the close arrived, tnuke no delay
By petty flourwhes, or verbid plajh.
Hut turn Uic wiioi- m one ueep, iwiemn F-.rnin.
like artrong current hateniug to the main."
For the Oregon Spectator.
RlCKBEALL VaLLCY, VoUl CoUXTY, )
Oregon, April :id, 1917. $
Mb. Editou In the tfd No. of 2d vol. of
the Spectator,.! have seen an article over the
signature of lJ. yiinn inornion, wiucii,
...inw'thn niiiao nT rout radict in" an editorial
..rttln nf n. former nlnnbcr of the Spectator,
is in reality a most bitter and fulso attack
v upon myself and my associates who were
employed last season in exploring the south
cm route to Oregon.
Supposing you held yourself responsible
for such matter as appeared under the odito
rial, hwd of your paper, I expected you
would havo given to Mr. Thornton at least
n passing notice. Though a full knowledge
of the character and standing of .Mr. T.
would justify you, with the most fastidious
on the subjectof honor, in treating him and
his tirade with tho contempt they merit, yet
I think as the article appears in paper un.
dor your conduct, and the author is in the
same sheet announced Supreme Judge of
Orcon, at a distance where the author is
not known, your silence may be iniscon.
strued.
ssi.nnainir vim suffered Mr. T's charges
. ...! I;,, cilonfi.. heeausc. a the Kditor of inuiii''rant.s on the southern loutc Iu.t all
the only newspaper in Oregon, you did not their property, lie goes on to viy
wish to be drawn into a poi-MJiial dispute, 1 j -'Mr. Apphgate met th- company in
have ventured to point out some of the inuc-1 which I traveled, August 5th. a lew miles
curacies of this great advocate of truth on this jiide of Fort Hull. Although among
and justice," and to give the public a .small , the lirst of my company to gi t in, I did not
peep under the ermine. .arrive until Sov. 'JOth ; while othcis who
However incorrect the article this literary ' hud enteied upon the old road only about
chimist submits to tie-- torturing process of fiirtywiglu hours before Mr. A ppiegute urn. p
decomposition, I think ho is the lust man ed u the jioint where the old road turns oil"
who should undertake to expose the errors , to the right from the Caliibrnia( road, univ. ,
of others. For his name first appears in ' ed Sept. i:itli twound a half months earli-,
vour paper subscribed to a falsehood, anil , er." I do not quote this long sentence to
tho first act of his honor wan to confess it : deny its truth, for that I think is u-eless ; i
and while on the subject of the dead caltfr but to give to the public some information on
bein" eaten ut thcUm'pqua mountains, I will ' that subject, which it appears to be the dis. '
roe; Sv remark, that although he uckriowl-1 position of some persons moro deserving id'
edtr'es " published what ho did not know to notice than Mr. T. to suppress,
be true" his explanation is an false as the! Maj. Harris ami myself met Mr. Vainer,
original' and can bnlv be regarded us a shin- pool's company at (Joose creek, where tl.ey ,
der on' his fel!ov 'innnigrunl-i, and his at- had encamped on the full day of August. (
tempt to fix tho stigma on a particular intli. , As (loose creek is l wo days' travel for wagons j
..i.i.Li ii. n,,nl.ir rviuld onlv bo dictated i on this side of the forks of Ihc road, and tho
by thjt fiemlish spirit of envy' ami inalcvo. ' rear of tho immigrants on the old road (ox
lencoVtth which this inUu uppcars to over- cept the Iowa company,) wen; a day ahead
flow. Mr. 1)., to an unblemished character, ( of them, it follows that they must havo ar--.1.1..1
i... r.,,.,.i nf kiu fnllf.w inivnlbos. I rived at the forks of the road on tho Sit! day
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oi Migusi. air. ;ppieguu: mutiu i "
forks d tho road on tho morning ol tno utn,
in a tieuuniarv iKiint of iow ruined b s..
doing." To -prove th. false in the ' ne.-al.
may most easily beilonlby proving it false
in in a special ease; flir f.amp!e Mr.
i noriiioii mmseii, wuu hum nomine "j m
own to lose. I cannot' see how " in u pi etin-1
itiry point ol e-w," a man can be rumi'l,
who leave s the Lf . Satqs hid in the Ijottoui of a
wif-on owned, or nt leoxt nlnimeil liv unothto- ,
pi.-rsoii, unless " indegu" ho is disappoiiTTTd
in defrauding those who have assisted him
in ilefiaudiiiL' his hist creditors.
The " mice story Tl Ruppose is about hn1f
true, which doo.s yevy well for Mr. T. The ,
mice wer" acJiuJIy eaten : but us I iau state .
on the authority of one of the immigrants
(Mr. Whitley) that the ' estimable fld man I
and bis wifo and grand-child'' had plenty of!
bed' at the time; the "small game,'' 1 pre
sume, were eaten by way of a desert.
For a man appointed to the highest judicial
ofiice in the Territory, and a proJ'r..td wor
shipper of the liodof truth, sj far to forget '
what was due to tlio dignity of his new up- j
poiritnient, and to the sanctity of his new i
profession, as to make statements so gros.-lj '
and notoriously false us arc contained in the-
un division ut ins tiraue, is to me unac
countable. After asscrtiii" in his lirst sen nee that
whilst Mr. Thornton was the compuiativc of
every thing that was dishonest und mean.
That tho " immigrants wcrtv.jn a starving
condition, and already eating the dead cat
tic in the kanyen," U a slander upon the im-
and .Mr. Linville's company, who were the
lirst wjio turned into tho now' road, arrived
Ihcro the evening of the 7lhof thut month,
being f) days travel, or nearly 100 miles be
hind the rear of the immigrants on tho old
road. Mr. I, inville's couipuny united to that
ol Mr. VunderpooPs alone broke and made,
the road to the Sncrununto river; nnd he
sides losing much time ii awaiting the com.
ing up of the rear companies, they were fur
the i delaveil in reopening the road over the
nhrpMtrriiiiiiiiitiiiii wliieli a lire hud filled
with tuiiM r. t tin y uiried in the lt"gne
liver alle west of the I'liscad iiiitains,
and within I "." miles of this alley, on the
!li dun of Ih'lobcr, while the rear of the im.
inier.iiits who were days ahead of t In in
ut the I'tU of the mail, did not armeut
(lleoll Cit. until about the 'Jtllh of that
month; ami of the Iowa company, who urn v.
ed at I'mt Hall, but two days after Mr .
left that pest, (i or 7 wagons, by using the
.'rentest diligence, reached t fregon Cu the
lirst week in November, und the remainder
wi re unable to cross the mountains at all.
),.es tin- I'.!, like the southern rMitc is a
I'irther ami wnrsc load than the old one
Again. t!u. Ituggs's eompanv m which Mr.
Thornton was li.ivelmg, left their camp a
l.-w miles from the forks of the road mi the
morning "f the tilth of August, being 11
ilujs or miirlv '-'HO miles in the rear of tiie
hindmost iiiiiiiiL'rantHon the road. A part of
this coinpanv, according to the journal of Mr.
Isaac Kiihindall, arrived ut the I'mpiiua
mountain' within H.r miles of this vallev. on
the tith of t h t iber, which show s that in d ..
pite the burning of the grass, and other an
lioyauees and delays to which they were
subjected by the Indians tiny not only kejit
even pace with those on the old road, but ac
tualh gained nearly Kill miles upon them.
That tin- roiid through the rmpiui un-
tain i- at present a bad one.no one ha-deni
! or w i .hi s to deny ; and that the uei e.s.i.
ry lalcir will make it a g'd one is as gene,
rally conceded. That much property was
left there, that may be lost or destroyed, and
that some individuals were severe stitli rers.
is tine, and to be regretted : but that tin- nail
hunters are to blame for it, none but fools
believe or liars Ilsscit.
The immigrants were told it would reijuire
much lab'.r 'o open the road that the L'mp.
(ju.i mountains nlone would reijuire the la
bor of V!tl men 1(1 days to make it passable,
and the necc-sity of sending forward a sulli
cii nt company to open the road before the
wagons, was urged ujion every company nnd
almost upon every innn. They could not
sjmre the men, nnd the road hunters did all
they co'ild to supply the deficiency with
their own labor; but unhappily for Mr.
Thornton, the terriMc kaninn canuiU be made
available in his casr; long beforem' reach
id that plac -of disaster, he had willfully and
maliciously threw away and destroyed some
property b ft in his charge, and to make its
los certain o the owner, he forbade any jier
son to In ing it along.
Mr. T. cannot even tell the truth in a mat
ter of so little importance as hit mm arrival
in the settlements. He was in the Ilickrcull
settlement on the .A Novrnihrr, which is
7(1 or H) miles below the first house the road
parses in this valley.
If the cool contempt with whitrrfhis ready
praises of tho road were reccivi d, ami his
jiroji'iieil s,. rviccs rejected by one of the road
company, may excuse his resentment tmvards
that individual, his conduct to me has been
marked by the basest ingratitude. At a time
when this man's conduct hud made him so
odious to the company with which he travel
ed, that scarce a hanil would have been rais.
ed to defend his life or a hole dug to hide
him when deud ; and when he hud uctuully
been abandoned, and his wagon remained
out all night ut the mercy of the Indians,
I spoil a whole day in bringing him up to the
company : for this service he has repaid mo
by inventing and circulating a slander on my
character-! lint he bus yet to receive his
(iiitlaiice, which he may rest assured shull
be written in plain characters.
In conclusion, I would say to Mr. Thorn
ton, than I consider him merely a " volun
leer" in the cause of hi "injured fellow
travelers;" for if they hud felt themselves
aggrieved by the road' party, or your edito
rial, and wished an advocate, they would
have chosen on, who had at least a churac
tor for lionciiy and truth.
If his object has been to gain popularity,
anil to recommend himself "where thrift
may follow fawning" ho has certainly miss
ed tho mark by doing too much. Ho should
have remembered that, the traitor, the assas-
din, and the liur, am despiaed even by those
for whom thuy do their dirty woik. Thut
the iiiihble, subterfuge, und falsehood which
might puss unnoticed in the pettifogger, be
come conspicuous in the. judge, and Ids pres
ent elevation, like the monkey on the pole,
only shows the plainer, that the robe of er
mine hut half coiicciiIh the dog.
Instead of the triuiuibuut advocate oi an
injured immigration, and e.Migerating tho ,
l the length and dilliculties of the southern
' route, and culuiging ujiou the losses und mil',
feiiugs of the iiiiioigYuiitN, creutc a syiupu
thy in bis favoraud'hiutt the judgment of a
jiiiv that issooii to sit o miii Ins conduct: ho
iuusttaud before them the I'tpnwd liar, and
the veidiet of that iirv will finish his char
acter bv adding clout and swindler to his
other " blushing honors."
The men in whose cause he volunteers bis
serticcs, are In ginning to sec for themselves
and to understand ibi--tnuUves of many who
have, like Mr. Thornton, Tieeomc tender
hearted mi a siuldi u," in their behalf. They
s. cthat " vesti d lights" ami 'local interests"
have jiroduccil mm b of this inert Niup:ith .
They find the ro.m lie have traveled, aftei
I passing lf() miles through the rich ulles
of the south, enters that of the U'dluineite
at by far the most valuable portion for settle
mint, and whatever their losses may huvo
been, liny have mnr airr more cattle than
those who came h tin- way of Ml. Hie!.
They si e jiarti" s again preparing t bruvit
tl hostile savage" on thor ri turn to mei t
their friends ami illations to conduct them
ovi r the iiiiumtaiiis mid "along the rocky
glens and almost imjiassnlile hiiuv on which
uiuik this di .Ustious cut nil"."
i They see the immigrants for California
for the lirst tine- preparing wagons for their
convivance to t hut country, ovi r the most
dreadful jmrt ol this most dreadful road,
and b reti rring to the map they ice thai by
the discovi ry of the new road, that the route
' to (Iregon fi'om the I'latle to the I'licilic. lies
for the whole distuncc between the parallels
of II and IU degrees ol north latitude, mid
I the conviction is fore d upon their minds
thut they have not only traveled the best,
. but also the nearest route to Oregon.
Fxcuse the length of IllV epistle. Mild if
there be in it any expression whith may
sound harsh to delicate ear-, I hone vou and
your readers will excuse an old man who
jius been always accustomed to call things
by tleir right names.
I YoiIj, resiicetfullv,
iiAVIN (idi'F.
i Ki.i:ctko Maii.vi:tism. Tin- discoveries
in Klectrieity und Magnetism are daily lie
coming o the most absorbing interest, and
we fully e;ipecl that they will, ere long,
reach that rcscnt nr.zle, their connection
with spirit. We read that :
I Mr. l)aveiiKiil. of Itruudou, Vermont, w Im
, bus for a number of years been distinguish
ed lor his close und d'eji iuvesiigutions in
1 physic al science, has recently mndciin e.xhi
iiition bcline a ImmIv of scientific men, of mi
ajipliciitiou which he has made of electro,
magnetism to the propelling of machinery.
My thisugi ut, a triji hummer is made to fly
almost with the rapidity of lightning, and ro
tary ami recijirocating engines work with
admirable correctness.
In summing ti the grand iriuciihs of
galvanism and electro. magnetism, Mr. I).
advances the hyothesi.s that the sun is a
! magnificent galvanic battery, und that the
' earth and ull the ilaiiets, take their motions
J from the current of galvanism evolved by
' that greut luminary ; und, what is singular-
i ly wonderful, he proves by the laws of elec-
tro-maguetism, thut the planets may huvo
i originated from the sun, without diminishing
i tho power or si.e of thut great dispenser of
1 light und bent.
I An Kuropean 'elter writer, in speaking of
a forthcoming If dure of Faradays, says:
j The iihilosoiiher will, in tint before men
I.?.. i i... ... .i.!i.!. .i .:.. r.
lioucii iciaiuc, c.xinim inn niugiicuu iniur,
and a nrw magnetic combination of mutter.
Mr. F. has already proved the identity of
machine, chemical, magnetic, and animal
cleciricitv."
OtT The advertising coliiinns of n news
paper arc invaluable to a tradesman ; and'
for every dollar that he expends in thus giv
ing publicity to his business, ho reaps multi
plied returns.
Tho Philadelphia Chronicle says that, and
wo are inclined to think that it is more than
half true.
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