Pendtetem, Orefon, Thursday, STtembr 21, 1916
Nir
A STORY OF EARLY DAY STAGING
... .. .
Pave Horn, Pioneer Pendleton Resident, Had Varied Career. (Read before Umatilla County Pioneer Society.)
Eat Oregonian Rouixi-Up Souvenir Edition
the year I860, with a freight
teas loaded for Wulker Uros. Dry
Uooda Co. of Bait Lake, David Horn,
on at Umatilla county's most re
spected pioneers, left Atchison, Kan
sas, hi first trip In the great wild
aid sparsely settled west. Beventy
sevea days were consumed in cover
ing the entire-distance of twelve hun
dred miles, an excellent record for
that time.
During the six years following,
staging took Mr, Horn Into a still
more rugged country Carson City,
Nevada, and Sacramento, California;
the Piute war was on In Nevada, and
the Overland stage experienced any
thing but smooth sailing while han
dling the mail. Five hundred sixty
miles of desert was a part of the
Overland route between Carson Cits
and Halt Lake, und this particular
run, as well as one from Dry Creek
to Sulphur Springs, found the Veter
an driver handling the reins. Many
men, ufterwards of state and na
tional prominence makers of history
so to apeak were then taking their
chances with hundreds of others In
the gold fields of Nevada and Cali
fornia, and frequently were passen
gers of Mr. Horn, among them being
Mark Twain, then secretary to James
Nye, governor of Nevada. The ex
perience gained during those day3
by Murk Twain later constituted his
interesting volume, "Houghing It."
From this section of the country
Mr. Horn Journeyed to Montana,
where from 1806 to 1874 he drove
ths Overland stage on various runs,
one of them being from Deer Dodge
to Helena. Mines were Dooming in
that locality also, und a common
shipment of gold dust overland, sev
en days of the week, was from 2100
to 2200 pounds. It was tuken to the
San Francisco mint, there converted
into coin and placed In circulation.
So large were many of these ship
ments that the middle seat
stage coach would be removed and
a large trunk placed therein which
would accommodate from one to two
gold dust boxes one box being ai,
two men could handle. One of the
coins much used In 'Montunu durin&
this period was a two-and-a-hall
piece f gold, about the size of a
nlckle; also there was then in circu
lation a three dollar gold piece, as
well as a fifty dollar piece, the latter
aa unusually ' pretty coin octagon
In shape. Officers of the army and
government officials were often sent
west on various commissions and fre
quently were hauled from one post
or town to another by Mr. Horn
General tlarfleld, shortly after the
tUme of the civil war, was one of
such passengers, going from Helena
to Deer Lodge. Among others,
Horn recallB to memory
Colfax, one time vice president, an"
a reporter for Horace Greeley's Tri
bune, named Hlchurdson, who was
commissioned to look for a suitable
route for the railroad both in Mon
tana and Nevada.
The autumn of 1874 concluded
Montana staging days for Mr. Horn,
and On the 15th day of September
that year he came to Pendleton, via
where now stands the Peoples Ware-, was the man to officially turn over-liou-e
and Alexanders Store. j the first mall pouch to the railroad j
To return to staging the run on completion it took over the
from I'matilla to Cayuse was given i contract tfor hauling mall and ex-
Mr. Horn; boats from Portland un
loaded freight at Umatilla to be dis
tributed many hundreds of miles In
land, und shipments of ore, wool
hides, etc., were carried by teams to
Umatilla, there loaded on boats and
Walla Walla; the town was fairly j started down the Columbia for their
young, very prosperous and Is report-1 respective destinations, k was in the
ed as far surpassing Carson City, Vlr-1 year 1877 that David Horn, expert
glnla City, or any of the other wlldienced and efficient stage coach drlv
west towns, as being wide open and er, turned over the reins to other
f I ... ... Trry-f-
V. .A
A
very rough. Pendleton was a di
tributlng point for cattlemen cattle
raising being one of the chief Indus-
tries ut that time mining prospec-1
tors going into the Baker country,
as well as sheep growers. Kunge'
was free and except for buying salt, ,
and hiring men to herd the bands ot
of the sheep and bunches of cattle, little ex-.
peri e was attached to either business. I
For many years wool brought a
splendid price und Mr. Horn recalls;
that one of the first brick buildings
ever erected In Pendleton was built
with money obtained from selling
wool at 4 5c. This was an extraor
dinary price, to be sure, but one sea
son from 28c to 45c was the price
paid; an average price was from 15c
to 18c. Among some of the town's)
merchants and business men then
holding forth on Main street were:j
Frank Cray, harness shop man; Un
cle Ueorge Webb, hardware store;
Marshall and Son, blacksmiths; thei
Hendricks Restaurant,, Jerry De-
pain's butcher shop; Uncle Dave
Wright and John llowman conduct-1
in the livery stable, and last hut i
Mr. inot least the court house and Jail.
Schuyler which occupied the entire blocks
hands and decided to enter the hotel
business, conducting the hotel at
Umatilla us his first venture. It was
In 1 877 that .Mr. Horn also married.
In 1882 Umatilla was abandoned
for Pendleton, then a thriving place,
the Vlllard Hotel being the next es
tablishment of which Mr, Horn wa
proprietor, until 1SH7. Although ac
tive staging was given up In 1878.
Mr. Horn was for many year local
agent for the overland Route, and
press, it la a fact worthy of note
that a robbery or hoid-up was never
Dave Horn's while staging.
In staging days Meacham Station,
named for Harvey Meacham, was a
tod gate conducted by Mr. Meacham
himself for many years. An amusing
story is related of two irishmen trav
eling afoot, and upon reaching Mea
cham discovered 25c per person was
the amount required at the toll gate.
One of the sons of Erin inquired it
any extra charge would be made if
a man had a load on his back, and
upon learning the price would be the
same turned to his partner and said,
"(ilt on my back, Mike, and I'll car
ry you through." So amused was
Mr. Meacham by the trick that he
refused to charge even the twenty
five cent.
In speaking of early days in Pen
dleton, and business niethods em
ployed, Mr. Horn narrates that mer
chants were called . upon to stake
prospectors with enough grub to last
them several weeks, without so much
as un "I. O. V," and if the miner
struck it rich the money was forth
coming, otherwise it was charged ott
the books. At "some stage of the
gnine," to use a common expression,
everyone borrowed or loaned; a prac
tical stranger might ask you to loan
him money, and if you had It, it was
customary always to extend the cour
tesy whether you ever saw the bor
rower again or not. It was one ol
the chances one took out west.
From 1891 to 1898 cattle raising
engaged Mr. Horn's time and from
IS Is until now farming has been his
chief occupation, today finding him
very active and awake to the affairs
of the day, with ever a good boon
for not only the Umatilla county and
Pendleton in the times when he first
knew them, but as he finds them to
day. ,
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arethepick
of 100X)00
tiremafeers
tasmm
The Feed Store
of Pendleton
Carrying a full Stock of
HAY,
GRAIN,
STOCK and
POULTRY SUPPLIES
Rolled Barley, Shell
Bone, Grit, Laying
Tonics and Remedies
if!!
C. F. COLESWORTHY
1 i ane i-j
?4 J
wmfwi
1
built this Army
Tire Specialists?
It is the achievement
of sixteen years of selection
and sifting. Men are en
rolled only on their showing
of exceptional qualifications
and training.
Success is the great magnet Men
of unuvial abilities are drawn to the
standard that calls for the best that is
in them.
There is no success like the success
of Quality. In the case of the Fire
stone it has rallied the pick of the
100,000 men the backbone of the
tire building industry.
Only such an organization could cre
ate the Firestone Inbuilt Extras
Most Miles per Dollar Quality, Serv
ice and Riding Luxury, And these
men know how to practice and com
bine the Firestone's Extraordinary val
ues at the price of the ordinary.
Yours is the gain.
fnfnr fillnfl Jiffly Co.
V. N. Matlock, Pres.
Vm. Dunn, Manager.
P303 E t'ourt St-
Phone 133
Makers of the First TruckTires
Leaden Tbea attd Leaden Now In Quality and Volume
LEGEND OF THE
CHIPMUNK
!.-- ------ - -: ."
Long years ago, runs one of the
i old legends of the Umatilla Indians.,
I there dwelt at the mouth of the Vina
; tllla river an Indian woman who had
but one child, a boy of the age of
seven. The boy was bright and full
i of fun and the- spirit of adventure.
but he was much inclined to disobey
b'j mother In matters which seemed
to him of no special Importance. The
foolish boy thought he knew bette:
at once took to his heels. The witch
gave chase. In a moment her hot
breath was on the boy's neck and he
felt that all was Inst. Still he strove
with ail his might to get beyond her
clutches and at last managed to get
beyond her reach by climbing a pine' Then the lad threw a cone far outjthe boy. She was told that he had
tree. j Into the brush, the witch gave chaselnot come home. Then the witch
nce in the treetop he felt secure and while she was gone, he slid down ; searched the tepee and. eventually
and glanced down at the witch. She the tree and within a few minutes was finding the boy, seized him. Aa the
was standing at the foot of the tree.jsafe in his mothei-s tepee. He boy tried to squirm out of her grasp,
gna-shing her teeth and vainly trying; thought he was safe but circumstan-1 she caught him with all her clawa by
to ascend. Then the boy thought he ces proved otherwise. Scarcely had the forehead and left the marks of her
would have tome fun, so he plucked he arrived in the tepee than the talons on his face and body. Then
a huge pine cone and threw it at the: witch reached it also, wild with an- she changed him from a boy to an
old hag. striking; her on the head. ger. His mother, in alarm, hid him animal which she called the chip
Again and again he hit her, laughing j in a corner and covered his head munk. And that is why that cheer
with glee at his success, but the witch j with a buffalo horn spoon. i ful little animal frequents the pin
still remained at the foot of the tree. The witch came in and demanded trees and wears stripes.
Don't think of send
ing elsewhere for your
stock and poultry sup
plies when wou can
save time and freight
by buying in Pendle
ton, the central dis
tributing point east of
the Cascades.
129 E. Alta Street, Opposite City Hall
Tricimono 134. ivmllr-ton, Winm
than his mother whut he should and
should not do.
One day the mother heard there
was a sorceress in the woods back of
the tepee, a witch doctor who could
do anything she wished with people
In her power. Therefore, she told her
son to remain within the tepee until
the witch had gone away.
The boy, who was railed Cherr-l-l-e-e,
said. "All right mother," and then
slipped out the back door, thinking
he would go to the woods, see the
witch und return In safety. There Is
where he made a mistake. He had
scarcely reached the weods before
he saw a dreadful figure with dis
heveled hair, long shiirp claws and
malign aspect peering through the
brush as If In search of someone.
The boy was badly frightened and
I I
Known for Its Strength
r : 1
THE
First Eaffosia
PENDLETON, OREGON
I Bank
0E30I
IOE30
Oldest and Largest National Bank
in the State Outside of Portland
ocaoi
XOE30
Resources over $3,000,000.00
Security
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