Page Eleven
cers
French Prairie Town Prospered in 50s When Legislature Incorporated Pudding
River Transportation Co. ; Only Old Mill and Hotel Building Are Yet Standing
: i 'i .
Oregon City, Ore., March 28, 1851 Salem. Ore., March 28, 1931
When
FJ i .1
ville Flourished
rail
By Lillie L. Madsen
PARKERSVILLE is dead. The gayest, lightest hearted,
. fnpst thriving city of the early Willamette valley is for
gotten and deserted. Few knew Parkersville was ever born.
'Fewer still know that it lived and prospered, almost out--growing
its infaney.
Yet 80 years ago Parkersville, lying on the edge of French
Prairie a few miles from Salem and less from Silverton, was
a trading center of considerable promise. In fact so im
portant was Parkersville in 1854. that the Democratic county
.convention was held there. Today the hurrying motorists
passingr by aft-., to' notice the oldO-
hotel and the "haunted" mill, or,
i noticing-, realize nothing of what
once was.
In the early days of Oregon, the
French Prairie district was the
most thickly settled country along
the Willamette river. Here the
French Canadians had come, de
serting their traps and hunting,
and with their Indian wives had
settled down to farm life. Not the
farms of today, to be sure, but the
farms of pioneer days, with small
patches of grain, tiny gardens and
scrubby cattle.
; Here Father Blanchet had taught
' the Indians the way to heaven by
means of the "Catholic Ladder,"
and later Jason Lee established his
mission not far away.
White Settlers Came
to Dot Prairies
With the coming of the mission
aries, interest in the country was
quickened and gradually white set
tlers came. Before long cabins dot
ted the prairie, fields of grain were
, there and the pastures held ever
growing herds of cattle.
And then, in 1848, William Par
ker, an Oregon pioneer who had
taken up a donation claim just
west of Silverton, envisioned a fu
ture city on the banks of Pudding
River, moved his family there and
erected a flour mill. Parkersville
was begun.
Ben Simpson, believing in Par
kersville, opened a general store
there in 1851. For a year Parker
and . Simpson worked as partners,
then Parker withdrew and; joined
one Pfeffly in a harness and saddle
establishment.
Mill Business Heavy
for Millman Parker
Parker did a rushing business at
his mill, handling "wheat, oats,
butter and eggs." It is said that in
his 10 years ot business at Parkers
ville before his death at the age of
48 in 1857, Parker made $50,000.
F. E. Eldriedge, a wealthy farm
er Of the district, built a fine hotel
in 1852, and a year later Marion
Harpole opened a store. The town
became "the busiest place on the
prairie. A meeting was called for
those "who were favorably disposed
to clearing out Pudding river to
Parkersville." The legislature, al
ways r busy, incorporated the Pud
ding River Transportation and Na
vigation company.
A few years passed. Mr. El
driedge moved his family to Salem,
where he built the imposing El
driedge block in the heart of Sa
lem's business district.
V. Wattier, a Frenchman, who
owned the farm on the outskirts of
Parkersville, bought the grist mill.
Gradually, with the improved
roads, trade found its way to other
towns and Parkersville entered up
on its period of decline.
Haunted Mill Still
Alarms Some
The flour mill became "haunted."
Queer noises were heard by those
who passed it in the night and fre
quently a tiny light was seen dart
ing about the mill This story
clung to the old mill even after the
truth was learned that the mill was
over-run with rats and V. Wattier's
bachelor brother took it upon him
self to get rid of these. He spent
many hours prowling about the
mill and setting traps, guided by
his small kerosene lantern.
The LakejLabish Drainage com
pany came $nto existence and then
the long battle over water rights
began. The, late George II. Wil
liams, who was to become attorney
general of tie U. S., was Mr. Wat
tier's, lawyeV. The case was in
court a long time but Wattier lost
and the lake was drained. The
grist mill was hopelessly crippled.
And this sounded the death knell
for Parkersville. ,
Today, all that remains is the
old Eldriedge hotel and the grist
mill, whitened wrecks of the glory
that used to pbe. Boards are falling
from the sides of both buildings. (A
solitary family occupies a few
rooms of the hotel, the rest lis
deserted. .)
The mill Hses from clumps ibf
trees and brush and one can well
believe froiri; its appearance that
it is haunted. The post office is no
longer listed and Parkersville is no
more. i
Theatre Created
Furore in First
Days of Salem
On news of the death in New
York of Jacob Thoman, an old
actor, The Statesman of Jan. 31,
1886, added: ..;
"Thoman brought the first the
atrical troupe that ever played to
an Oregon audience. It was in
1856, and the troup consisted of
three men and two women: Lizzie
Gordon who j afterward married
Charles Stewart, a Portland saloon
keeper, being the star. They played
at all the principal towns, including
Salem, Oregon City and Portland.
Their entertainment opened with a
comedy, then; Miss Gordon present
ed some features of the terpsichor
ean art, and show concluded with a
farce. Many old-timers will re
member the advent of the theater
as it created quite a furore here
at the time. I
- r - . .
v.
t
tv;
THOMAS B. KAY
i State Treasurer
President Thomas Kay
Woolen Mills
GOLD CANE IS
HANDED DUFUR
35 Medals Brought to State
From Centennial and
Citiaen Happy
"Citisen A. J. Dufur having
wound up his connection with the
Oregon exhibit at the Centennial,
has returned home, completed his
labors and retired to his farm and
stock ranch in Eastern Oregon. On
his return the citizens of Portland
hung a gold chain around his "neck,
carrying a valuable watch ... here
at Salem we took the old gentle
man by storm when we heard he
was coming and subscribed a gold
cane, to be made of Oregon wood
and Oregon gold, as a memento of
our appreciation. . . Our friend
Dufur is a man of great earnest
ness and energy, and scarce an
other man in the nation comid have
gone to work as he did with the
samples of our products he could
gather, and win the success that
gave- thirty-five medals to our
state more in proportion, as I
lately read, than were accorded to
any other state or nation for sim
ilar products." Correspondence,
8. A. Clarke. 1876.
v
. '
v ; - .
Tholo by X.mU-EM
Henry Morris
Among the pioneer sons of Ore
gon Is Henry E. Morris, who
March 1 celebrated 25 years in
business. He began life in Polk
county the son of pioneers of
I84S. After graduation from Mc
Minnville college, now Linfield
college, he served a five year ap
prenticeship under E. O. Pattern
in Portland and then began prac
ticing in Tillamook. In 1910 he
went to McMlnnvllle add in 1919
Dr. Morris established bis office
in Salem.
Some of the outstanding chang
es in his 25 yesrs in business are
the change in the name from op
ticians to optometrist; the size of
the rims of glasses; . the shape or
the lens from flat to fully cor
rected; and the Increase in the
number of Instruments to be used
from fractlcally none to a regular
operating .room full of equip
ment, j
Another startling change is the
use of electricity. Twenty-fire
years ago electricity was not used
for business in the day time in any
of the small towns. To take the
place of the electrical equipment
now used entirely to test the
eyes, the old method was a small
mirror with a "peep-hole in the
middle through which was fo
cused the rays of light which
came a tiny clean spot in the
otherwise blackened lamp chim
ney of a kerosene lamp.
In his busy 25 years of practice
Dr. Morris has found time to
serve three times as a member of
the Oregon state board of exam
iners in optometry; to serve as
president of state optometry asso
ciation; to serve two terms as
vice-president of the national as
sociation of state boards and two
terms as president of the national
optical association.
r
Intimately Connected With State
By Frederick Steiwer
United States Senator
"rphe Oregon Statesman has been intimately con
X nectedfwith the history of the, state from its
foundation ifll 1851. Eighty years of service has found
it recording the outstanding events from Oregon Ter
ritory days until the present time. Under the admin
istration of Asahel Bush it was a factor in the forma
tive period of the constitutional convention. So long
and so significant a , service is noteworthy and un
usual and the whole state rejoices in the 80th anni
versary of The Statesman as a public institution. May
I join in wishing for a continued history of successful
public service."
M. -t -
Salem " has had. numerous or
ganizations of business men: a
board of trade, a commercial club,
and more recently a chamber ot
commerce, all doing effective
wnrlr In tnwn hutldlns'.
J-t.M i
i M
' r
1
'IT
ii'.
i!
17
'NO
' . r ,v ,
- i!
I LOBBY SENATOR HOTEL.
Photo. Erowm
Operate Three Hotels
The Stage Terminal Hotel Company was or
ganized in ;the spring of 1921. The hotel and
stage terminal were built by the Odd Fellows
for the company and opened in February, 1921,
but it was not until a year later that V. W.
Chadwick, keeingi the possibilities in this line,
bought control and became president and gen
eral manager. ;
i
In February, 1923, the second terminal hotel
was opened! at Rbseburg. In June of the same
year the terminal hotel at Eugene was opened
and January 1, 1929, the name was changed to
the Hotel Oregon. J. F. Reynolds is manager of
this hotel. I
In September, 1926, the Hotel Jackson at Med
ford was opened and W; M. Clemenson is man
ager. This :oon became Medford's most popular
hotel. With increase of business, it soon became
necessary that they have a larger place at Salem
and a contract was entered into with Hawkins &
Roberts to build a four-story hotel. The Senator
Hotel was completed and occupied in January,
1928.
The Senator Hotel has 111 rooms, nearly all
with bath, shower or toilet. This hotel is first
class in evety way and soon became, very popu
lar. The Hotel Senator is being managed by W.
A. Cummings. The monthly payroll of this ho
tel is around $2500. It is also in connection .with
the Salem stage depot from which all stages
operating through Salem depart. There are 150
stages in and out each day. This is the head
quarters of the Pacific Greyhound Lines, Ham
man Stages. The Coffee Shop payroll amounts
to $1750 per month while the payroll of the
stage company operating from Salem is around
$2500 per month. ;
The present officers of the company are W.
W. Chadwick, president and general manager;
R. W. Lemefj, vice-president; W. A. Cummings,
secretary treasurer, and W. M. Clemenson, J. L.
S. Snead, E. A. Hadfield and J. F. Reynolds, directors.