Willamette farmer., December 24, 1886, Image 1

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VOL. XVIII.
SALEM, OREGON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1886.
NO. 46.
OREGON PIONEER HISTORY.
SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS. -MEN AND
TIMES IN THE FORTIES
RY 8. A CLARKE.
Copyright applied (or. All rights referred
&, NUMDER XLVH. '
Joseph Watt's Experience Cording tho Plains
Somo Early Episodes
My fathor's family of oigbt daughters
and one other son wcro back in Mis
souri, nnd not tho most promising part
of it cithor. My mother was very much
dissatisfied with that country nnd
nnxious to loavo it. Thoy intended to
coino to this country nnd hnvo dono so.
I know this to hnvo been n hard country
for women. Thoy found it almost im
possible to got clothes. I hnvo seen old
wagon covors cut up nnd colorod with
mnplo bark to niidco their drosses. I
thought thoy looked quito ncnt. Onlico
was almost ontiroly out of tho quostion.
This sot mo to thinking how such a
family of girls could bo clothed in this
country. I thought of sheep. Mr.
fihnw hnd got through with Bixtcon
head out of twenty tho year I enmo
over, nnd thoy wero doing vory woll.
Tho agricultural society connected with
tho Hudson Bay Company had n gicat
many sheep of tho Moxicun breed but
would soil nono nt nny prico In 1819
ono of tho emigrants got ns f.ir as
Itoguo rivor with ono hundred nnd fifty
head nnd lost them nil thcro. Tho
Shnw shoop woro nil tho lino sheep in
tho country. So I nrrnngod with Geo.
Prico nnd John Brooks for us to go back
nnd bring out n drovo of shcop nnd ns
much ninchinory as wo could haul ovor
tho plains. Thoy each had somo money.
In nil wo could rniso about 51000, nnd
it wns ngreed wo should start tho next
spring. When spring carao thoy each
took n wifo nnd gavo up going. I bad
$1300 nnd wns offered n commission if I
would soil somo proporty in St. Louis
nnd tho privilego of using tho proceeds
if I wished to do so. (Tho proporty
brought $700.) So I concluded to go
nlono into tho cutcrpriso. Mj main ob
ject wns to bring ont fnthors fnmily.
So I joined a party that was making up
and started about tho 1st of May, 1817,
by tho southern route.
EARLY EFFORTS TO URINO 6IIEEPTO OREGON.
On Sweetwater wo mot ono drovo of
shcop, somo 350 or 300 head, that Mr.
Matthow Patton was bringing out Ho
got through with about half his flock.
This was tho socond nttompt to drivo
sheep across tho plains, as in tho spring
of 18-18 1 started back to Oregon with
100 head of sheep and a sot of cards ;
what aro called clothing cards, and
castings for a carding machine. I got
through nil right by tho first of Sep
tember, with 300 shcop, nil in good
health. It has beon said that I brought
tho first lot of sheep into Oregon, and
I was tho first ono who went back aftor
thorn. Tho first man to drivo over
shoop was Mr. Shaw. Ho expected to
mnko muttou off his band on tho way
over, but when ho found thoy could
travol woll ho kept on with them. Mr.
Patton said ho had his flock on hand
and could not sell thorn, so ho concluded
ho would drivo thorn, but didn't know
what his chances woro as to making tho
journey.
COLD KNOCKS THE PRICE OF SHEEP.
In 1848 tho gold mines wero dis
covered and everybody nblo to raiso a
horso went to tho placers of California.
In a few months thoy camo back with
plenty of money to buy anything nnd
every thing thoy wanted. Nobody wanted
my sheep, for they gave too much
trouble. Goods of all sort" camo in
and Oregonians had plenty of gold'in
their purses to bny with, and paid any
price traders bad the conscience to oak.
So for some years sheep wero almost
without value, for wool becamo worth
less aa soon aa there was no further oc
casion to manufacture homemade
clothing. After awhile a demand arose
for mutton, and as there was so few in
nil this region, shcop to butcher brought
$5 to $10 n head. That mmlo a demand
for stook sheep nnd thoy hi ought thnt
prico right nlong. "Wool becamo worth
less. Ono could sell it for mnttrcssos
occasionally. Only for tho mutton do-
inand I boliovo that in a short timo
Oregon would ngain hnvo boon dostituto
of shcop.
Thoy nro now in tho country by
hundreds of thousands, of nil grados
and broods, nnd wool forms ono of our
great commercial staples. Thcro is no
bottor countiy than Oregon for raising
shocp, and no bottor for staples of wool,
according to breed. In nn enrly day,
when tho grass was good and tho
country frosh, my flocks used to yiold
from fivo to ton pounds of good flecco
wool, almost as fino in fiber as tho wool
of tho presont day. My sheep were
Morinos and I purchased bncks of
thoroughbred Morino stock procured
from Mr. Smith in Missouri. My mut
ton shcop frequently weighed ovor 100
pounds, whon droiscd, nt two years
old.
My carding machine was not put up
and set running until sovoral yoars after
wo arrivod with it, but it did not provo
very profitable from tho fact that few
pcoplo wanted woolon goods. To go
back to tho old spinning wheel, and tho
loom, so much used in tho west, wns not
to bo oxpootcd after so much gold hnd
circulated among tho pcoplo.
STARTINO ACROSS TUB PLAINS EASTWARD.
Tho party that wont back tho south
ern rou to consisted of thirteen persons ;
tho spring was lato, which causod us
somo troublo in crossing streams, swales
and mountains. Wo passod through
tho TJmpqua canyon whero tho emigra
tion of 1818 saw such hard times as
graphically described by J.Quinn Thorn
ton in his book on Orogon. Wo found
many carcasses nnd wagons, pieces of
wagons, crockery, nnd overy thing that
it was possiblo for emigrants to hnvo on
a trip of thnt kind, which strowed tho
highway nnd byway nnd especially nt
camping places. Indians had carried
ofT all they wantod of this plunder,
Btill thoro was n great deal loft along
tho road to show what thoy had endured
and suffered oil that short road of a
littlo over twclvo miles. AtGravo crcok
wo found tho resting placo of a young
lady who had diod. Tho crock roccived
its namo from tho fact that Miss Croly
was buried on its banks. Tho body had
been dug up by tho Indians for tho pur
poso of securing tho clothing sho was
buried in. Ilor hair wns lying around
in various placos. It was vory long and
beautiful brown hair. It mado us all
foci sad, but such was tho fato of many
emigrants of thoso dayB, and for many
days after that, yes, many years passed
without safjty to travelers on tho
plains.
A NIGHT ATTACK BY INDIANS.
Wo did the host wo could to fix tho
gravo, and went on. Nothing of interost
took placo until wo got into tho vicinity
whero Jacksonville now stands. When
wo woro in camp, about midnight, In
dians commenced shooting arrows in
among us. They woundod ono horse,
and pinned several blankets to tho
ground with arrow barbs, while thoso
slept that wero betweon thorn. Ono
arrow passed through my hair, just
missiqg my scalp. Tho first volley of
arrows did no harm. Tho guard gave
tho alarm, and we nil jumped from our
beds and commenced firing in tho direc
tion tho arrrows camo from. This
quieted thorn, and wo thought they
were driven off, bnt thoy slipped back
again, singly, in hopes of wounding a
horso to he could not travel, which was
a common practice with them, for they
aro very partial to horso moat. But
tbey did not succeed; though one
horse was badly hurt, we got tho arrow
out all right, he was ablo to travel, and
finally got well
AN ESCAPADE, FOUR AGAINST A HUNDRED.
The next morning four of u con
cluded "to havo n littlo sport with tho
Indians. Thcro wcro four of us : Frank
Millor, Bill Sportsman, Frank Burch
nnd myself. (Burch now lives in Polk
county.) Our plnn wns to nil pack up
and start. When tho company should
oross a deep ravine about half n milo
in our rear, wo four woro to drop out
nnd watch tho camp just left. Wo know
thoy would como in to sco if thoy had
caught any gamo. Wo had not to wait
long. Socing tho balance of tho com
pany rising tho hill on tho othor bUIo,
tho Italians concludod wo woro nil gono.
Wo waited n fow minutes to sco how
many thoro woro of them. I counted
about ninoty ; Burch said thoro was at
least a hundred. Two woro on horses.
Thcro was no way to got at them but to
push out in full view and mako for thorn,
which wo did, as hard as our horses and
mulos could go, yolling at ovory jump
liko so many dovils. Tho dista,nco wo
had to run in their plain view was hnlf
a milo, Thoy stood looking at us, ap
parently as "cool as cucumbers."
INDIANS STAMPEDED A HORSE CAPTURED.
Throo of us woro mounted on mules.
I was on a good California horso. My
horso took tho lend, but I could hear tho
yells of tho boys coming ou. Mr. In
dian still stood his ground nnd I
thought it wns high timo ho should
mnko tracki for tho brush, which was
closo by. I bognn to think thnt if Mr.
Siwnsh did not soon vnmooso tho ranch,
I should turn my nng tho othor way.
Wo nil had good guns, besides which I
had n largo sizo Allon's rovolvcr. Tho
boys commenced firing; that started
tho Indians; thoy began walking to
wards tho brush. Thnt encouraged mo ;
bang went my gun. Out camo my ro-
volvor; all four of us woro still chnrg
ing and yelling. By this timo tho In
dians got into tho brush. Bang, bang,
bang, wont my revolver ; at that tho
woro panio-striokon, nnd away they
went, poll-moll, out of tho brush nnd
ovor tho crook, making for a heavier
thickot a fow hundred yards off. Ono
of thorn who was on norschack, could
not got his horso ovor tho crcok, ns it
was necessary to mako quito n jump,
So ho loft his horso andscamporcd after
his brother Rogues as fast as ho could
go on foot. Wo got tho horso, and felt
rathor fino ovor tho grand raco wo had
had and tho splondid frieht wo gavo tho
llogua rivor thieves. Millor saved us
tho troublo of dividing tho horso into
four parts by claiming him as ontiroly
his own. Ho said it was a horso thoy
had stolon a year boforo whon ho wont
through there. Wo bcliovod as muoh
of that as ho expected us to, but lot him
havo tho horso all tho samo as roward
for his rcmnrkablo power of recognition.
Anyhow, tho rascals wasted lots of ar
rows, almost enough to cook breakfast
by, and thoy lost a good part of a
night's rest trying to capturo somo
horseflesh of us, but wo turned tho
tables on them clovorly and had a good
morning's sport besides. Ilcally I
thought I doscrvod tho largost share of
tho spoils of war, hecauso my nag lod
them all in tho charge, and my popper
box revolver banging away conBecu
tivoly was what sot them running.
THE REVOLVER WON THE RATTLE.
Wo felt "very fino over our cscapado
and mado much of our capturo, but
realizo now that, had it beon a fow
years later, after tho Indians becamo oc
customod to whito men and their fire
arms, our scalps would havo boon hang
ing at their lodge polos that day to pay
for our temerity, for it would havo been
easy for them to put an arrow through
a man on horseback, and our shooting
from tho saddlo on tho jump need not
havo alarmed thorn much, as tho
chances woro that no ono would bo hurt
by our shots. My revolver was what
did tho business for them ;, when thoy
saw so much shooting soine on from
tho end of my arm, without stopnintj to
toau, it was too mucii ior iur. juuian
and ho broko for tho woods. Soon after
wo caught up with tho company wo
surrounded an old Indian and hia boy,
and took them nrisonore. Somo of our
men wanted to kill the old one, espe
cially the ono whoso horse had beon
shot the nicbt before. Several made
strong objections, but this man had got
quite furious and he ordered all the rest
to stand asiae ana leave mo space ciear.
To bo continued.
4$0rgjj0ni!e!Wf.
Tobacco and Sugar Beet Seed Free,
Washington, D.O., Dec. 10,1880.
Editor Willamette Farmer
I am entitled to distribute 200 papers
of tobacco seed and 20 quarts of sugar
beet seed.
As I don't know who desiro such
seeds I havo dircctod them to bo Bent to
tho Willametti: Farmer under tho
frank of tho Agricultural Bureau
thinking, perhaps, you will bo pleased
to notice tho fact of their rccoipt in
your valuablo papor, and to distribute
thorn to such persons ns may mnko ro-
quest for tho samo. Tho pnoknges can
bo sont by you through tho mnils froo.
Very truly yours, J. N. Dolpu.
Note. Tho nhovo lottor fully oxplnins
itsolf. Tho seed is horo and nil thoso of
our roadore who dosiro a pnckigo of
oithcr or both of theso soeds can obtain
them by addressing a postal card to us
ntonco. Profcronco will, howovnr, bo
givon to thoso who aro subscribers to
this paper. Edltor.
Chinese Pheasants Again.
Aumsvilli:, Or., Doc. 2, 18S0.
Killtor Wllametto Farmer :
Tho Weekly Orcgonian of tho 25th of
October last, contains tho following :
Moro Illegal Hunting Itoportod. A
snortsmnn. snonkinc of tho ronortcd
shooting of Mongolinu phonsants nbout
Albany, says that thoso birds havo cov
ered tho Willnmotto ami aro quito plen
tiful along tho West sido road bolow
Corvnllis. It is reported thnt parties in
that section nro Bliooting thorn oponly
in violation of tho law for their protec
tion. Tho law provides a fino of $G0
for killing thoso phcasnnts, half of
which koch to tho party securing tho
conviction of tho offender. Tho arrest
nnd punishmont of n fow of tho parties
who kill theso birds would hnvo n good
effect.
Tho Orcgonian claims to bo n livo
journal, publishod in tho interests of tho
pooplo of Orogon, and rocolves muoh of
its support from tho farming commu
nity. Yot hero is nu articlo breathing
a spirit of direct antagonism with tho
interests of overy ono in Orogon who
cultivates tho soil. Tho birds in ques
tion nro not only of no earthly uso to
tho pooplo of Oregon, but aro fast bo-
coming nn unmitigated nuisance to tho
farmor.
They woro brought horo simply ns a
" gamo bird," nnd at tho instance of n
fow city " siwrtsmon." Tho Legislature
has undortnkon to compol tho farmers
to raiso thorn, undor heavy ponaltics of
fino nnd imprisonment. Whnt for? That
city mon may shoot them ; that is all
thcro is to it. If thoro is moro, porhnps
tho Orcgonian will enlighten us.
Perhaps, also, this "leading journal"
will toll us by what rnlo of, right or jus
tico tho birds woro brought horo nnd
turned looso upon tno farmers, nnd thoy
bo threatened with " arrest nnd punish
mont" for killing birds thoy havo raised
on tlioir land. Could tho "sportsmen "
with tin samo propriety introduco tho
red fox as a " gamo nnimnl," and com
pol tho furmors to raiso him for them to
ohaso? Why not?
But thoro is another littlo point which
should not ba ovorlooked, which is, that
one-half tho fino "goes to tho party
socuring tho conviction of tho offondor."
Of courso thoso "sporting" gentry who
procured tho passage of this law, know
that it would not bo oboyod ; know that
a law so unjuit, and an insult to overy
farmer, would bo moro honored in tho
broach th in the nbsorvnnce. Did thoy
calculate that thoroby thoy could now
and thon mako a littlo pecuniary raiso
occasionally? Quoin sabeT
"Of tho offonder." Who docs ho of
fend? Tho "sportsman?" I presume so.
What business is it of the city "sports
man" what a farmer shoots on his own
land? Ho raises theso birds, yot bo may
not shoot them undor a penalty of $50
to 1100; yet if a city "sportsman"
shoots tho farmer, chickors or ducks,
(n very uncommon occurrence,) ho is
not llnblo to ono-fourth tho ponnlty.
Noithor does -"tho party securing tho
conviction of tho offondor," get nny of
it.
With nil its notutcness, I think tho
Orcgonian has mndo n littlo mistnko
horo, which it will no doubt correct, as
it was doubtless led into error through
looking nt only ono sido of tho question.
I am plcnsod, howovor, to bo ablo ti
agrco with tho Orcgonian thnt "tho ar
rest and punishment of a fow of tho
parties who killthcno birds would havo a
good offeot," for It would bo vory llkoly
to raiso a storm of indignation which
would rendor 11 "sporting" informor un
safe in thnt neighborhood, nnd ovontu
nlly causo a roponl of this vory unjust
nnd obnoxious law.
Why cannot tho Legislature mnko a
law to protect our usoful birds, without
which wo cannot exist, lot nlono
prosper; instond of endeavoring, nt tho
instance of n fow shootlsts, to protect nu
injurious foroigu addition to our fauna
which will bo moro dnmuh-J in Oregon
than tho English sparrow in tho East;
and that in ten years from now wiU
havo a prico sot on his head? What
ovor is damaging to tho farming interest
is dotrimontal to tho wholo Stato. Sot
in this case, unless It can bo shown thnt
"sporting" is paramount to raising
broad nnd fruits.
I raiso fruits and borrios. My placo
is bordered by tlnibor whoro thoso
pheasants livo. I can allow no domostio
fowls in my berry grounds on account
of tho destruction of my crop; yot tho
Legislature proposes to compol mo to
let theso far moro destructive pheasants
run thcro. and threatens mo with a fino
of from s?r0 to 5100 if I "injuro, tako,
kill or have in possession," ono of thorn.
Half to tho snoak who will inform on
mo. And this law has fivo years to run
yot. P. S. Mattkson.
English Fox Hounds Wanted.
Jahvkh. Or., Doc. 18, 1880.
lMltor Wilhmotto Farmer:
Will you ploaso tell mo through your
papor if thcro is any of tho English
Fox Hounds in Oregon, if so, whoro, and
their prico, and oblige. W. F. S.
The Butter Cow.
In tho discission of tho,"gonoral
purposo cow," tho doslrnbility of which
animal no ono donios, thoro Is a vory
goueral assumption that no nnimal
ban oxcel in two functions. This is nn
assumption whioh has no foundation in
reason or nature. Thcro is no question
that ono characteristic may bo bred up
to a high degree of porfcotionbycaroful
selection and feeding; why may not
moro than ono if thoy nro not opposed
to each othor? If ono will tnko tho
troublo to oxamino among a herd of
Jorsoys, wo think it is hardly llkoly that
ho will find that tho most wodgo-shaped
and moHt inferior animals, considered
from tho beet standpoint, nro always tho
host buttor-producern. On tho contrary,
wo beliovo that in good buttor-producing
famllios it will ho found thnt thoso of
them that carry most flesh and nro tho
largest in size, will probably bo tho best
buttor producers. In any ovont it sooms
to bo altogether consistont with naturo
that thoso animals which havo tho
power to Hcereto tho most buttor from a
givon quantity of food should vory read
ily take ou fat whon not in milk. It
seems to us that tho scrawny shnpo nnd
small size of tho Jorsoy cow is an acol
dont of the short supply of feed in thoir
island homo, and by no means a neces
sary concomitant of great buttor capac
ity. It is certain that Jerseys, aftor a
few generations on tho abundant Jimo
stono postures of this country, increase
vory greatly in sizo and modify thoir
shapo. Wo havo not heard it claimed
that thoy lose thoir butter-making pro
clivities in so doing. It is just as well,
no doubt, to treat tho opinion that a
good butter cow may not bo a good
meat-making animal as an assumption
till the effort to breed such an animal
has failed.
JL
iiAtjgi&i&L a & .yiafo-