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About The Daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1883)
(') Piftf In Vol. xvni. Astoria. Oregon, Friday Morning, February 16, L883. No. 118. JOHN W. GRIM. Incidents of Pioneer Dave The stories of the nioneerc all of especial interest and weave : into romantic history almost with- j oat exception. How strange, sa vs ' the Willamette JBarmer, to com pare those days the fortieswhen all the northwest was a wilderness, with our day. When the forces of human energy are expended in xll the might and potency of mod ern endeavor! We realize the fact that the romance of Oregon history is contained in the early past. When the crack of the ox whip marked the path of progress, not in our day when the hoarse scream of the locomotive tells the story of man's triumph over na ture. Judge Grim was one of the pio neers who crossed the plains in '47. He made his home in the lower part of Marion county, near Butteville, where ho purchased a squatter's right for $300. All Or egon was open for choice, but there was a grist mill near there, at Champoeij:, and he thought there was some advantage in be ing near it. He was one of the few who reached Oregon with money, but little of it was left whenhe built a rouMi house and began to open his farm. He plowed sod land in the winter and spring and made rails to fence it in, and the next fall, October, 1848 he put in 65 acres of wheat. Ho worked hard for a start, but his sinews were toughened at 35 and he labored with a will to make a home for wife and children. Grim and other Americans, who came to Oregon in M-7, found French Prairie almost entirely oc cupied b Canadian French, and half-breeds, their descendents, who, when fur bearing animals bo came scarce left the Hudson Bay Co.'s employ to commence farming for themselves. The new comers often worked for these French and earned bread or other produce, and sometimes got Hudson Bay ofders for trade, which were legal tender for all debts in those times and on which they could procure such groceries and other supplies as they required. No money was required or expected. Wheat was current at a dollar a bushel and orders for wheat passed from hand to hand. Farmers then stored it on the river where some pioneer warehouseman or else the Oregon City mills had a ware house. The circulating medium was made up of H. B. Co.'s or ders, wheat orders and the like, and by working for the French settlers Grim and others secured bread and feed until they could grow crops themselves. Grim saj's the French used ha zel withes to bind grain in large bundles and never saw straw bands used until the Americans showed them how. The eleven Ameri cans who located there in '47 made the balance of power that turned French Prairie against British rule and Hudson Bay Co. interests. Before that the French had taken toe Hudson Bay side of politics. The French in a short time be came satisfied that this was the true policy and rendered hearty allegiance to the American flag. The early settlers remember with pleasure that their French neigh bors were always kind and strictly honorable in their dealings. The exchange of work for supplies was of constant occurrence, but settlements of accounts scarce ever caused any hard feeling. -The Whitman massacre occurred soon after Grira's arrival in tho Willamette. As the emigrants of Grim's party came down the Col umbia towards The Dalles, after crowing th Blue Mountains, they met and camped near Dr. Whit- j 1 man, who vras returning to his mis- sion station. Wnilatpu, with some Plows wagons and other farming j implements mienueu u -imp bivi Vlf e tlc Indians- Grin,,s PRrt? in vited the doctor to come over and make a speech concerning Oregon, by their evening camp fire. Ho did so, interesting them very much with an admirable address, which contained much sound information and good advice. He spoke also of his own position amoni? the Cayuses and Umatillas, who were dissatisfied and discontented, so that he felt it was not safe to re main longer, and he expected to soon leave there. His premoni tion of danger was well founed and the murder of himself and family in a few weeks fulfilled his apprehensions as then expressed. Upon receipt of the news of the massacre there was a call for vol unteers, and the citizens of French Prairie mot at Gregoires, where forty-seven men enlisted for the war. Tom McKay was a heroic character in those early days. Grim had heard of him and knew that he came with the Astor ex- pedition, thirty-five years before, McKay was a natural leader, though then an old man, and was present at Gregoires to inspire the settlers with his own resolutiou. Grim remembers how McKay rode up and down the prairie, orating and gesticulating to the crowd, which responded freely to his appeals and soon bad quito a company on the war path. It is probable that Grim, having just arrived and without a home shelter for his young family, did not volunteer. One day in October, 1S47, just after Grim had finished sowing his wheat, Jesse Boon, afterwards of Boon's Ferry, came to see him and ask the loan of a horse to ride to the Rickrcal. He said, "Grim, if you will lend mo a pony I will pay you by telling 3-011 a very im portant piece of news." It re quired no promise of pay for a neighbor to got the loan of a horse from John Grim. So Boon had no delay in getting to the Rickreal. The news he left toas important and soon after set the world wild with astonishment. It was that Sutter's workmen had discovered gold on the Sacramento. Ex-Gov. Boggs, of Missouri, was then in California and he had sent up word to friends in Oregon advising- them to come down in haste and reap their share of the har vest.of gold. This news went through Oregon as it went elsewhere, on the wings of the wind, and though it was then October, Grim and others soon outfitted and commenced the long journey of GOO miles through a wilderness where savage tribes were master. A few weeks took them to the then mining region, and their party of Oregonians went prospecting on their own account on the upper waters of the Ameri can river. The' camped one night without apprehension of danger and waked suddenly in the midst ef a yelling horde of sav ages, who made night hideous fearfully so. Grim rose in his blankets, took in the situation and made a sudden rush. The black circle of savages parted to let him through, and as he ran the mid- I night gauntlet they let arrows fly at him as he passed. He got away from camp and hid among rocks and bushes, supposing that his comrades were all murdered in their sleep, and conscious that he was wounded in several places. Arrows had pierced one arm and a leg; a wound in his foot was dis covered some days after that proved 1 yry troublesome. The worst wag an arow that entered the side and i penetrated some distance and pro jected from the wound. There in the wild mountains, alono and wounded, probably unto death, was a cheerless situation. Snd denly a gun was fired, and he saw and heard Indians scampering in all directions. He crawled back to camp and found three of his companions unharmed and m possession. When the camped they left their guns under a tree close by, without any suspicion of danger- -all but one young fellow J who laid his rifle at the side of his blankets. As soon as he realized the situation and saw tho danger of becomimr a tarcret lor arrows he fired this gun off, and in I twinkling every Indian vamoosed the rauch. They were unacquint ed with fire arms, and a gun was a terror to the untutored "tar heads," for they were the miserable Cali fornia Diggers, scarce human, who covered their heads with tar from scrub pines to keep tho ver min from infesting them. Hoping to get some plunder they sur rounded the sleeping camp and fired a perfect swarm of arrows into tho blankets. The ground all about the camp was literally covered with arrows. They ex pected to shoot all the sleepers as they rose. Only two rose, Grim who was pretty full of arrows, and & young Frenchman named Tevis, who was killed. The other three staid under the thick Hudson Bay blankets and escaped "Scot free." The blankets bristled with arrows like tho "fretful porcupine." The boys gathered arrows from the ground and plucked them from tho blankets and cooked breakfast with them, and there were lots of arrows left over. The tar heads threw away a great quantity of ammunition in the unsuccessful at tempt The next morning they buried poor Tevis, who was a great favor ite with them and whose death they seriously mourned. Grim was in a predicament. They tied up and mended his wounds as well as posiblc, but the barb of the fliut arrow head refused to come out of the wound in his side, where it was bedded deep. They tried to pull it out, but it would not come. Finally Grim sharpened his jacknife and carved it out him self. It was a rough surgical operation, but successful. He was of rough material and had a healthy body that wouldn't dio for any slight cause. They had ono pack horse with them, so hoisting their wounded companion on his back, they started slowly down the river to find some place where he could be cared for. They passed quito near to a camp of Indians they supposed to be their assailants, but were not molested. After several day's slow pro gress they camo to a miner's camp on the American river, and thero they left Grim and went back to their prospecting. It proved to be the camp of au old gentleman name Cyrus, whose home was near Napa, where ho had possessions under a Mexican a Mexican oraut. uvrus w - ana two sons ana two sons-in-iaw 1 had found good diggings. mi 100K vjrnm in witnout a question and cared for him in the most Christian manner, and never :.sked S j for compensation. These were the I halcyon days of California mining life, before the whole world of greed and selfishness had reached there. As Grim lay helpless in bed he saw the family each day clean up the gold saved, and ho says it actually seemed as if they had a quart of rusty gold each time. This was hardly true, but they bad rich diggings, and they panned out welL They worked a rooker Qnly, and bad no better process to go by, After some days they heard rumors of Indians attacking dif-j ferent oatnps, and concluded it was not safe to remain, so they packed up and started for home. It was only a fiw days slow journey with horses from Napa to the American river. The old gentleman told ihe boss he. "though t.they had gold enough to do them, but if they thought they hadn't it was only neces.-ary to saddle the horses and come hfter more an v t;,ne Tj kCW w,Jere to find it, and it was not far." In the simplicity of his nature, he thought California was loo far 1 away to be aunoyed by outsiders, and its placers would be always watir for them to come back to them. The Cyrus family took quite a fancy to Grim, and urged him to come to Napa and become their neighbor. They offered him as much land as he'could hold in Oregon a section a free gilt, and would sell him more, if he wanted at a reasonable price. When they reached Sutter'b race they found people living there who could make Grim comfortable; so they left him at that place. Hero he was again treated with kindness and cared for as well as possible, until he got able to re turn and aid his own company. But for weeks he staid there and was made freely wel come. No change was made, though at that time the necessaries of life were. scarce and high priced. Here Grim met John Herren, then almost an old man, who died at his homejearjtSaletn. many years ago. As Grim was suffering much pain from the wound in his side, his friend Herren studied how it could bo alleviated. He at length found a lady who hud a small piece of opium, which she freely tend- j ered. By knowing a little of this, Grim was greatly relieved, and thankfully remembered the kind ness that procured it for him. When able to travel he rejoined his company, doing such light work as cooking for awhile, until he regained full strength. During the winter the Oregonians, some of them got very tired of the mines. the living was hard and the weather was severe. Heavy rain storms and deep snows alternated in the mountains. It is astonishing how the value of geld depreciutes to a man who is homesick and tired of living on ben us and jerked bef. Grim, too, had rather a rough ex perience, so he and his neighbor, UbcIc Bill Whitney made up their minds to go home. They started afoot, made their wa down to Sacramento, having a serious en counter with a murderous gang before they got out of the moun tains, but escaping by good man agement and a bold front. While some in fact, most of the miners were kind and hospitable, there were some murderous villains too mean 10 work for gold were it ever so abundant. They went down the Sacramento in a Russian launch and endured a two I days' storm in Suisuu ba whore - ... ri. 1..... .1. 1 me crew g;i- "ji lur iua., uu, iiiwy i " we thered tho sale and reached - ! San Francisco, where thev found no wharf toand at, so had to wade ashore. Takincr ship they reached Oregon and home in the early spring. Grim brought bak 1,500 in gold, the result of a few weeks' work. He left home in October, j reached the mines in November,! got wounded and lost several ' weeks' time, and quit work in j January. The best season for mintng was just at hand, but he was homesick and tired of such rough life. The glitter of gold lost its attraction in comparison with tho charms of home. I -There's no place like home V ". hen they reached Oregon he found his wheat field looking lux- urianr, nmi it made a gooa crop the same summer, tic had l,o(JU bushels of wheat, syid that fall he took his savings from gold mining, and bought wheat from his neigh bors at 75 cents 11 bushel, so they could outfit for the mines. The. next year he raided another crop, and along in the summer of 1S52, he had 2.500 bushels of wheat on hand that he sold to John McCrack en at $2 50 per bushel. Market reports were not published daily then a- the are now, and he thought, he was making a big thing of it, and so he was, but wheat was actually worth $4 50 per bushel so he might have had $5,000 more. These incidents serve to "show the character of pioneer times, and describe the stirring scenes the early comers went through to win success. They did win it, and the recital of their experience equals in interest the brightest tales of fiction. Judge Grim (he earned the title by official service in the earlv days) say3 that when he had final ly located he made a trip around the valley for a day or two, and, I when he got back to tho family, told his wife that ho was fully sat isfied with the country, for it was really better than he expected. Nature never made any place more beautiful. The Willamette valley appeared at its best in the primeval days, when the hand of man had neither marred it nor em bellished it. Far and near, hera- mcd'inllby ,mauntaia5Srange3w the. variety of landscape including stream and forest, rolling hills and spreading prairies. It is not pos sible for nature to be more luxuri ant in variety of foliage, or more attractive in changing vistas than the Willamette valley appeared, previous to 1850. In a single month in the spring of 1882, immigration equalled in number all the arrivals that oc curred, previous to the discovery of gold. The 5,000 who came that April were swallowed up in the mass of population. The 5,000 of that wonderful decade of the '40's had a heroic purpose. They will always be remembered as the pi oneers, who made Oregon and saved this beautiful and valuable region to the United States. &hsft utely Pure. J This powder i ecnemintiu: never varies. A marvel of and wiiol. bunipncvH "tlnri economical tluu the ord n.iry kinds, and cannot De sold In comp tklon with the mul titude of low test, short weiphr, alum or phosphate powder. Sold only in can. ItOVAI. JSakixcPowdkrCo.. 100 "Wftll-st., N.Y. Fine aiid Coarso Liverpool SALT. TinlM ate. Block Tin, Caustic Soda, For sale ex "Warehouse at rortland or Astoria by BALFOUR, GUTHRIE &. CO. dtl Portland, Or. W f ROYAL Eta'S? J B e vs & g Sal 1 SHT A flPfi s&ri era Kr3 iRa 9 nilrrlSEl Hill Um REMEDY FOB RHEMATM 3 Neuralgia, Sciatica, Lumbago, Backache, Soreness of the Chest, Gout, Quinsy, Sore Throat, Swell ings and Sprains, Burns and Scads, General Bodily v Pains, Tooth, Ear and Headache, Frosted Feet and Ears, and all other Pains and Aches. Ko Preparation on enrtb equal St. Jacobs Oil ft a safe, sure, simple and cheap External Eeracdjr. A trial entails but the- paratiTelj trifling outlay of 50 Cent, and ewy soo auffer Inj with raia can haTo cheap and potitira proof of iu claims. Directions in Eleren languages. bold by alldbtjggist3 anddealeeb htmediothe. ' A. VOGEIiER & CO., Baltimore, 2ZJ., XT. S. A. The youngest monarch in Eu rope is Alfonso, who presides over the destinies of Spain at the age of twenty-five. King William of Germany is sixty-one years his senior. Henry Edgerton, a Long Island manfreceitly ate thirty.-seven hurd-boilederS and two mince pies, washed down with two quarts of ale, on a wager of 10. He is still living a remarkable instance of the survival of the unfittest. SYMPTOMS OF WORMS. The conutennnco Is pnlo and leaden colored, with ooaislonnl flushes of a cir cumscribed snot on one or both cheeks; the eyes bocomo dull; tho pupils dilate; an azure vinicircle runs along tho lower ce-!m; the nose ts irritated, swells, ana sometime bleeds; a swellinc of the upper Hn: ocraional headache, with hummlne or throbbing of the cars; an unuMial se- cret.ou or vaitva; sumy or xurreu tongue; breath very foul, particularly in the morn- injj; appetite variable, sometimes vora cious uitii u gnawing scnvition of tho stomach ; at othcrsentlrely gone; fleeting pains in the stomach; occasional nausea nud vomiting; Iolent pnlns throughout the abdomen ; bowels Irregular, at times co-Uve; stools siimv, not unrrequcntiy tinged with b'.ood ; belly swollen and hard ; urine turbid : respiration occasionally dilfl- cult and accompanied by hiccouch : coueh sometimes dry and cenvulsive: uneasy and disturbed sleep, with grinding of the teeth ; temper variable, out generally irntuuie. Whenever the above symptoms are found to exist, I) II. C. McLAXFS TEEMIFUGE will certainly effect a cura. In buying Vermifuge bo sure you ftt the genuine IMl. C. McXAXE'S VKltMI- ruoi, manufactured by 1 Icnnnjr i'n-., J I Wood Street, Pittsburgh, Pa. The mtrket N full of counterfeits!. You will be rlniit if it has the signature of Tlem Inir ISrcis. and C. MoLane. Jf your storekeeper does not hae tho genuine, pleisc report to us. Send in a three cent stamp for 1 hand some advertising earns. FLE3IIXG UR0S., Pittsburgh. Pa. H " CELEBRATED mS 8T03KACEC & olTTERs Invalids, broken down in health and spirits by chronic dypopia. or "uffering from tho terrible exhautin that follows the attacks of ocuto diea?c, the tcUitnony of thousands who have been raiso I ps by a miracle from a similar rtate of prostration by Ho tetter's Stomach Hitter?, is a sure guarantee that by tno same means you, too, may be sirengtn ened and restored. tor aale by all Drnrci'U and Dealers generally. Notice. GTATE AND COU-T Y TAXES FOR THE O year 1882. are now du ami can be paid at my ozaee ai tne court House, a.vrtt A. M, TWCWiBLY, Sheriff. ernm BUSINESS CARDS. CJ O. tlOLDKS, NOTABY PUBLIC, ACCTIOXEUR, COMMISSION ANU SUBANCE AGENT. Q. EI.O F. PAKKEB. SURVEYOR OF Clatsop Comity. and Cltjr r Astrl OiUce --Chena-uns street, Y.M.C. A. kail lioora No. 8. ir B.D1LLAJID, Attorney at law. OFFICE AT ST. HELENS, OBEGON, "Will attend terms of Court at Aatoru, Kalamaand Portland, O D. TVISTItf. Attorney and Counsahrat Law, ssrOGlce In Py thlaa Bulldinj. Esorosll, IS. ASTORIA, - - - OITEGOJt. r AY TUTTJL.E. HL. D. PHYSICIAN AND SUEGEOW, Okfice ttooms 1,2, and 3. Pyfhiaa BulM- lag. KEsiDENCE-Over Elberson's Bakery, ef - l03ite lUrtti & Myers' Saloon. ci r. hicks. PENTIST, ASTOKIA, - - - ORKJOH Rooms in Allen's building u stain, oerner it im&s ana bqcraocqne street. j Q. A. BOWLBY. ATTORNEYAT LA. Chenamus Street. - ASTOKIA. OREGOl Piano Lessons With Use of Piano. MRS. J. W. RUDDOCK Terms moderate. Orders nay be left t Adlers book store. G. A. STINSON & CO?, BLACKSMITHING, At Cap. Rogers eld staad. center of CM and Court Streets. Ship and Cannery work. HorseshselBf. Wagons made and repaired. Good work .ruaranteecfc M. WKUTHKIMKK. I. -VTEUTHKISCEX M. WERTHEIMER & BR0. MANUFACTURERS OP FIKE Havana and Domestic Cigars No. 518 .Front St. Saa Fraselse I. "W. CASE, IMPORTER AND WHOLESALE AND R1C TAIL DEALER 117 GEEBAL MSCHMDISI Corner Chenamtu aa4 Cm atrtets. ASTORIA ..-- OREGON .ARNDT&FERCBEN, ASTORIA. - OREGON. The Pioneer Machine Shop BLACKSMITH SHOP Boiler Shop All kinds of ENGINE, CANNERY, -A3TD- STEAMBOAT WORK Promptly attended te. A specialty made of repairiac CANNERY DIES, FOOT OF LAFAYETTE STREET. AST031A IRON WORKS. BKXIOS SXBKBT, NUK FABXXS HOUSB, ASTORIA. - OREGON. GENERAL MACHINISTS AND BCILER MAKERS. yiliMlRHGINBS 3oi!er Work, Steamboat Work, and Cannery Work a specialty. Of all Descriptions made t Order at Hbert Xetlce. A. D. "WA83, President. J. G. Hcstlkk, Secretary. L "W. Cask, TrtaKsiw J0X3 Fox, Superlatf aAeat