I j ' ' ' ' . ' ' ' " . ! " "j ' I
K
FOUMDCD 1651
Vol. 8U No. i
Salem. Oregon, . Saturday Morning, -Al arch : 28; 193U : i f
Section 2
f
regon:
iew o
s
0
the
50
i
By John
Professor and pirector of
TN 1851 there were only about 14,000 inhabitants of. Ore-
Agon. The census of 1850 gave the number as 13,294 includ
ing 1,201 who were residing in part of what was taken to
form part of Washington territory. The capital was at-Oregon
City. Thej governor then was John P. Gaines, who had
been appointed by President Zachary Taylor. Just two years
preceding, on March 3, 1849, General Joseph Lane had pro
claimed the territorial form of government as successor to
the provision government.
. In 1851' there were nine coun-Q
ties in" Oregon-i Yamhill. Wash
ington, Clatsop, Polk, Benton,
Clackamas," Marion, Linn and
Lane. Clackamas. I Marlon and
Linn counties extended from the
Willamette river to. the summit
of the Rocky mountains.
Among the principal ' towns In
Oregon ' Territory were Astoria,
Vancouver, Portland, Milwaukie,
Oregon City, LaFayette, Cham
poeg. Salem, Eugene. Albany,
Corvallis, Empire, I Port Ortord,
Lew is ton and Boise. But this
was ten years before towns in
eastern Oregon! like LaGrande,
Baker, Huntington, Pendleton,
Ontario and Vale were estab
lished. ' - . j
It was also jten years before
there was a rajllroad with iron
rails in. the Oregon country, the
- first being i the ! portage railroad
built in 1861 and 1S62 by the
Oregon Steam Navigation com
pany on the Columbia river.
Oregon City, the capital was
but 'a village; Portland was a
little hamlet on the wooded banks
f the Willamette; Salem was just
being: started on the Chemeketa
plain; Marysville; Corrallis) was
another young village on the river,
which was the means of travel be
tween communities. , There were
horses and wagons, but few or no
roads. Persons land goods were
transported on the Willamette and
Columbia in keel boats or batteaux.
In December, 1850, the Lot Whit
comb had been launched at Mil
waukie, and in 1851 she began ser
vice as a river steamer. Soon
steamers were running on all the
navigable rivers. i j
The occupations of. the people
were agricultural, j Settlers were
coming in by boat from California,
or overland by wagon or horse, and
taking up the fertile 'lands of the
Willamette valley, m
MAPS REVEAL
ts "!-s
A Hi' ' . .
14,000 People in Territory; Capital a t Oregon City ; First Railroad Yet Ten
Years in Future; People Confined to Agriculture, Hunting for Livelihoods
B. Horner '
Historical Research, O. S. C.
The gold excitement of 1849 ha
well-nigh drained the valley o
men. But by 1851 many were com
ing back, laden with precious gold
dust. There was a strong demand
for Oregon products in the Califor
nia mining towns, and money in
the form of gold dust and coin was
abundant here.
Rebellious Chief
Took General's Name
There were no bridges across
the Columbia or lower Willam
ette, and the new country was
awaiting development. Indeed
Oregon Territory was already
astir. The Rogue River Indian
war was in progress, and General
Lale had already made a treaty
with the tribe. When treachery
was designed by the Indians, the
Klickitat Chief Quitley seized
the Rogue River chieftain by the
throat and with a. dagger held
him captive and made him pri
soner. But instead of being a
prisoner, the chief came to be
General Lane's guest. The gen
eral won the chief who, In turn,
toek the name of "Chief Joe",
in honor of the general.
Willamette university with Its
group of academies at that time
was training congressmen, gov
ernors and educators.
Gold was discovered in laying
quantities
1851 and
at Jacksonville in
within sixteen years
the rick pockets and ledges of
the Oregon country were dscov
ered. I
Most of the first subscribers
of. The Statesman paid their sub
scriptions jn beaver coins 'minted
by a company at Oregon City,
when gold' worth $18 per ounce
was obtained for less in coined
money, there being much Cali
fornia gold dust in Oregon. It is
probable that at the time The
Statesman was founded there
HOW OREGON TERRITORY BECAME
PROFESSOR
was more gold per capita in s Oregon-
than ever , before or since.
The beaver coins were minted in
$5 and $10' denominations and
they contained about 8 per cent
more gold than U. S.-coins.
Hence they disappeared as soon
as government money came into
sufficient. circulation.
There ' were . but few .church
buildings.' Not unfrequently,
families traveled 15 or 2 0 miles
by ox team to attend religious
services. In school houses or in
groves, where . the meeting was
usually -protracted. The. camp
meeting - had its place in 18&1,
whem it was greatly appreciated
by the emigrants as an oppor
tunity for social as well as spirit
ual refreshment. There was
much Joy and occasional shout
ing. at camp meetings1; and the
shouting was inspiring when the
right person shouted.
Father JWaller not
Always Accurate -
In. country school hc-uses there
were no pianos nor organs to
accompany the ..singing, which
was generally pitched by guess
and was frequently in the wrong
altitude. In the Willamette Val-
ley Methodist conference, so the
OKtOOK
JOHN B. HORNER
etory ran, Father Waller, one of
the chief promoters 'of Willam
ette University, usually started
the hymns, and Bometimes
missed the correct : pitch. At a
certain conference ; session, the
bishop asked Brother Waller in
what! letter he pitched the
hymns? "reefer rip",: promptly
responded Father Waller, to the
delight of the bishop and the
conference. 1 !
There were but few books in
the early Statesman days, yet
the books were well-thumbed.
The late Jo . Minto, ancestor of
the well-known Mihto family of
Marion county, was accustomed
to take his wife and copies of
Robert Burns and Shakespeare
up a 'hillside on a Sunday after
noon where he and his compan
ion read the lines! of the Cale
donian, poet and the Barn of
Avon; and thus acquired a mas
terful use of English that would
have ,been creditable to a college
or a iuniversity professor. : j
Divorcee" Then Considered
As Disgraced Citizen i
White women were compara
tively scarce in the northwest in
1851, hence many young : men
went feast to secure wives.! Di
FIVE STATES IN ITS
TfcITORi", MARCH ! 3, M'Ji; ut.N.
)' ClAciti,-Ai
vorces, were uncommon as it was
a disgrace to be reported in the
newspaper as a grass-widow or a
grass-widower; and the! title of
"Miss" for a divorcee, was un
known in the early 50"s. What
are called "trial marriages" now,
would have been termed "shot
gun marriages' then.
Early History Traced
From Vast Areas I
This provisional government of
Oregon was organized at Cham
poeg, May 2, 1843, and on July 5
a comprehensive organic.sact was
adopted. Oregon was divided into
four judicial districts, later called
counties. They were Twality (lat
er Washington), 5famhiUj Clacka
mas and Champooick (later Marion
county). These districts j were as
vast as states. A legislative com
mittee of nine and an executive
committee of three were chosen' to
act independently of all nations and
to proceed as Oregon was "No
Man's Land," and to do nothing
officially that would prejudice the
rights or interests of any nation. 1
In the language of a memorial of
the provisional government, dated
June 28, 1844: MBy treaty stipula
tions the territory has become a
kind of neutral ground, in the oc-
cupancy of which the citizens of
the United States; and the subjects
of Great Britain have equal rights
and ought to have equal protection-
At the end of two years,
Governor Abernethy and a legis
lature were chosen by the people,
and Oregon continued under the
provisional government until the
coming of Governor Lane.
Upon the arrival of Governor
Lane, the political attitude of the
Oregon country was changed thor
oughly. The government at Wash
ington had given the country added
recognition. Governor Lane found
Oregon divided into eight counties
consisting -of Twality, Yamhill,
Clackamas, Champooick (later
Marion), Clatsop, Polk, Benton'
and Linn. He set the government
in motion in this unorganized em
pire. Indian Tribes Pacified
By General Lane
His next and possibly most ex
acting task was controlling hostile
Indian tribes. He had long lived
on frontier territory as a pioneer
and understood Indians; hence he
(Cont. on page 2, col. 1)
EVOLUTION
Ju LAN U, GOVERNOR,
... j . M