USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. I, 1834-1848 > Part 39
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389
NO SLAVERY.
British subjects arrested within the territory were to be delivered to the nearest British tribunal, up to a period twelve months after the United States should have served a notice on Great Britain of abrogation of the treaty. It was provided that the future grants of land contemplated by the act should be subject to the settlement of the title with Great Britain, and the extinguishment of the Indian title; also, that nothing in the act should be construed as closing or obstructing any of the navigable waters within the limits of the territory organized by the bill, or any part of the country claimed by either government on the Northwest Coast, against the vessels, citizens, or subjects of Great Britain.50 As an indication of the growing importance of another question which was to enter as a factor into the destiny of Oregon, Win- throp of Massachusetts proposed as an amendment a proviso "that there shall be neither slavery nor invol- untary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." But already the provis- ional government of the Oregon colony entertained the principle of a free state. And the people of Oregon were, for obvious reasons, better off with their simple organization than they would have been had either of these acts passed.
It is not necessary to the purposes of this history to pursue the action of congress through the 29th session. It was a period of great excitement and in- creased freedom of expression. President Polk in his message declared that "beyond all question, the pro- tection of our laws, and our jurisdiction, civil and criminal, ought to be immediately extended over our citizens in Oregon." The legislative committee of Ore- gon for 1845 memorialized congress upon the subject of their temporary organization, reciting the griev-
50 Under this law McLoughlin's claim at Oregon City would have been respected
390
OREGON BEFORE CONGRESS.
ances under which they labored, in terms very differ- ent from those heretofore employed in the memorials from Oregon.
A bill from the house committee on territories, of which Douglas of Illinois was chairman, "to protect the rights of American settlers in the territory of Oregon," was passed on the 18th of April, 1846, but after frequent postponements failed in the senate. At length, on the 6th of August, congress received official notification of the settlement of the Oregon boundary at the 49th parallel, together with a strong recommendation by the president that liberal land grants should be made to the Oregon settlers without delay. It might have been believed that the defining- of a boundary was the only thing lacking to forward the establishment of a territory on the Columbia River, instead of which, however, it was made the excuse to avoid it by those senators who were dis- satisfied with the relinquishment of the territory between latitudes 49° and 54° 40'.51 Hence little that should have been done for Oregon at this session was done; and here I leave congress, and return to the affairs of the country.
51 Hannigan of Indiana said: 'If measures were to be passed relating to Oregon, as a matter of course they must expect a debate upon that conven- tion [treaty of 1846], which he would take this occasion to say was neither more nor less than a convention for the joint occupation of Oregon south of the 49th degree of latitude-a convention which had ceded to the Hudson's Bay Company in perpetuity the navigation of the Columbia River. It was a convention for the joint occupation of Oregon south of 49°, while before we held as far north as 54° 40'. He repeated that those who were opposed to the convention desired to be heard in reference to it, in an appeal to their constituents and to the country.' Allen of Ohio trusted the law of Oregon Territory would be ' so framed as to prevent any man who held allegiance to the British crown from holding an acre of land in fee-simple in that territory. He wanted no British subject to possess any rights within our territory there. He wanted to legislate the Hudson's Bay Company out of the territory, and that as speedily as possible.' Cong. Globe, 1845-6, 1198-9.
5
CHAPTER XV.
THE IMMIGRATION OF 1843.
EFFECT OF CONGRESSIONAL DISCUSSION AND MISSIONARY AGITATION-FLOCK- ING TO THE RENDEZVOUS-ORGANIZATION-DISAFFECTION AND DIVIS- ION-NAMES OF THE EMIGRANTS-THE LIGHT COLUMN AND THE COW COLUMN-ALONG THE PLATTE-AT FORT HALL-WHITMAN'S DOINGS -- ON TO THE COLUMBIA AND DOWN THE RIVER-POLICY OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY-IT IS BETTER TO SELL OR GIVE THAN TEMPT THE NEW- COMERS TO TAKE BY FORCE-THE APPLEGATES-OTHER BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
THE discussions in congress, and the popularity of Linn's bill with the missionary efforts herein narrated, resulted in a pronounced emigration movement. It began in 1842, when a hundred persons followed Elijah White westward. The conclusion of the Ash- burton treaty in August, although it disappointed the people by not settling the Oregon boundary, was an indication that further amicable arrangements might be made in the near future, besides removing the obstruction in congress to the passage of Linn's bill.
There was at this time a large body of men in the western border states who were dissatisfied with their condition as a producing community without a market. The era of railroads had not yet dawned. New Orleans was the only outlet for the country border- ing on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and this market was glutted.1 The United States had no
1 Waldo says that Jesse Applegate, his neighbor in St Clair County, Missouri, sold a steamboat load of bacon and lard for $100; that bacon was used for fuel on the Mississippi boats, and that when he came to Oregon he lid not attempt to sell his land, but simply abandoned it. Critiques, MS., 9- 10. Burnett's account of why he left Missouri confirms this statement. He was hopelessly in debt. Recollections of a Pioneer, 98.
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392
THE IMMIGRATION OF 1843.
commerce which could relieve this plethora of pro- duction ; and to make matters worse, these lands were about to come into market, and their occupants could not pay for them. This state of affairs among a body of men whose fathers had emigrated step by step from the Atlantic seaboard to the Missouri frontier; who had fought the savages and the British, and feared neither man nor devil; who were democrats or whigs upon principle, loved politics, and were intensely patri- otic; who would march across a continent to assert American rights, and rather sought than avoided a contest-to men so strong, restless, aggresive, the condition of affairs on the Mississippi and Missouri borders from 1841 to 1845 was intolerable. And to these, statesmen addressed themselves through Linn's bill, by talking of lands which should be ample and free in Oregon.
The land in itself might be little temptation after their experience in mid-continent, but the idea of sea- board was attractive, including as it did the dream of commercial relations with the islands of the Pacific and with China. To found a new state on these shores, in direct communication with the most popu- lous nations of the globe, was the ambition awakened in them by the frequent reports received from travel- lers and missionaries of the natural resources and favorable situation of the Oregon Territory.2
2 In evidence of this is a letter from P. L. Edwards at Richmond, Mis- souri, to J. M. Bacon of Liberty, dated September 1842. Edwards begins by apologizing for not having sooner replied to Bacon's inquiries concerning Oregon, and deprecates taking upon himself the responsibility of giving ad- vice in a matter of so much importance as that of the emigration of a colony across the plains to the shore of the Pacific. He then proceeds: 'You ask for information in regard to the ronte and outfit of emigrants. In reply, I can recommend no other than that usually taken by traders and trappers, with occasional deviations which it would be useless to endeavor to point out on paper. I mean the route up the south Platte, a short distance above the junction of the north and south forks; thence up the north fork until you have travelled some 6 or 8 days within the first range of mountains, called the Black Hills; thence to the Colorado of the West; and thence to Fort Hall on Lewis River by the way of Bear River.' In answer to the ques- tion if the journey could be made in wagons, he said that wagons could be taken two thirds of the way, but not farther; and that he should always prefer horses; and gave some advice about provisions, and the size of the
393
GATHERING. OF THE COMPANIES.
Early in the spring of 1843, or as soon as the grass began to grow, promptly, without preconcert, but as if by appointment, emigrants from every part of Mis- souri and the neighboring states were on the roads to the usual rendezvous in the vicinity of Indepen- dence. Their wagons were drawn by two or three or five yokes of oxen; on the covers were the words "For Oregon," and their immense herds of cattle filled the highways. Many of them had been neigh- bors at home, and often families of brothers, with their wives and little ones, constituted a colony. At all events they had now one common interest in the necessity for mutual aid and protection in the long journey before them. By the middle of May it was thought time to take action as a body, and on the 20th a meeting was held at Fitzhugh's mill, twelve miles west of Independence, to complete an organization. Here met for the first time men from Arkansas, Ken- tucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. There was a large company from what was known as the Platte Purchase in the latter state, under the leader- ship of Peter H. Burnett of Weston. Another company was from St Clair County, and was led by Jesse Applegate, his brothers Lindsey and Charles, and Daniel Waldo. A California party, under Joseph B. Chiles, was from the south-east portion of the state. Other parties,3 under T. D. Kaiser, Jesse
company, which ought not to exceed 150 persons. In reply to the question of what would be needed when the emigrants arrived in Oregon, he said ' everything that you will need here in the same pursuits,' but these things could not be taken across the mountains; and he recommended freighting a vessel, as the ship would be of use after arrival, enabling them to open com- merce at once with the Islands. He gave a lengthy and particular descrip- tion of the country, and expressed the opinion that it was not a better one than Missouri, but was more thought of by eastern than by western men. Edwards' Sketch of Oregon, MS. As the name of Dr Bacon does not occur among the emigrants to Oregon of 1843, it would seem that the encourage- ment given by Mr Edwards was not considered sufficient.
3 No complete record of those who composed the immigration of 1843 is in existence. J. W. Nesmith, a young man from Maine, who was elected orderly sergeant, with the duties of adjutant, made a roll of the male mem- bers of the company capable of bearing arms, including all above 16 years of age. This roll, after 32 years had elapsed, was read before the Ore- gon Pioneer Association at its third annual reunion in 1875, by its author, .
394
THE IMMIGRATION OF 1843.
Looney, and Daniel Matheney, swelled the army to nearly a thousand persons, although the 'fighting who requested the survivors present to answer to their names 'as present for duty,' when 13 only responded.
The Oregon Pioneer Association has been of much benefit to the author of this history. For a number of years a desire had existed for such an associa- tion in the Willamette Valley, and some preliminary movement had been made toward collecting reminiscences of the early history of the country. The first meeting was held on the call of a few persons, at Butteville in Marion County, on the 18th of October, 1873, when a constitution was adopted, and the following board of executive officers elected: F. X. Matthieu, presi- dent; J. W. Grim, vice-president; W. H. Rees, secretary; and Eli C. Cooley, treasurer. The second meeting was held at Aurora, not far from Butteville- both towns being on the old French Prairie, where the events recorded in the previous chapter had taken place-on the 16th of June, 1874, when 45 names were enrolled. The association has now upon its roll hundreds of names, and its Transactions, published annually, furnish much interesting matter. In using these pioneer reminiscences, however, it is necessary, where the matter is of any historic importance, to verify it by collateral evidence of an earlier date, for experience proves that no memory is infallible, and that most incidents intrusted to memory, of which no record has been preserved by the individual, are unreliable in detail, even when the general facts are correct.
The names on the sergeant's roll constituting the immigration of 1843 wer ..: Jesse Applegate, Charles Applegate, Lindsey Applegate, James Athey, Wi .- liam Athey, John Atkinson, William Arthur, Robert Arthur, David Arthur, Amon Butler, George Brooke, Peter H. Burnett, David Byrd, Thomas A. Brown, Alexander Blevins, John P. Brooks, Martin Brown, Orris Brown, George Black, J. P. Black, Samuel Black, Layton Bane, Andrew J. Baker, John G. Baker, William Beagle, Levi F. Boyd, William Baker, Nicholas Biddle, George P. Beale, James Braidy, George Beadle, Thomas Boyer, Board- man, Louis Bargerin, William Baldridge, Fendal C. Cason, James Cason, William Chapman, John Cox, Jacob Champ, L. C. Cooper, James Cone, Moses Childers, Miles Carey, Thomas Cochran, L. Clymour, John Copen- haver, J. H. Caton, Alfred Chappel, Daniel Cronin, Samuel Cozine, Bene- dict Costable, Joseph B. Chiles, Ransom Clark, John G. Campbell, Chap- man, James Chase, Solomon Dodd, William C. Dement, W. P. Dough- erty, William Day, James Duncan, Jacob Dorin, Thomas Davis, Daniel Delaney, Daniel Delaney, Jr, William Delaney, William Doke, J. H. Davis, Burrell Davis, George Dailey, John Doherty, V. W. Dawson, Charles H. Eaton, Nathan Eaton, James Etchell, Solomon Emerick, John W. Eaker, E. G. Edson, Miles Eyres, John W. East, Niniwon Everman, Nineveh Ford, Ephraim Ford, Nimrod Ford, John Ford, Alexander Francis, Abner Frazier, William Frazier, William Fowler, Wm J. Fowler, Henry Fowler, Stephen Fairly, Charles E. Fendall, John Gantt, Chiley B. Gray, Enoch Garrison, J. M. Garrison, W. J. Garrison, William Gardner, Goodell, Samuel Gard- ner, S. M. Gilmore, Richard Goodman, Major William Gilpin, Gray, B. Haggard, H. H. Hide, William Holmes, Riley A. Holmes, Richard Hobson, John Hobson, William Hobson, J. J. Hembre, James Hembre, W. C. Hem- bre, Andrew Hembre, A. J. Hembre, Samuel B. Hall, James Houck, W. P. Hughes, Abijah Hendrick, James Hays, Thomas J. Hensley, B. Holley, Henry H. Hunt, S. M. Holderness, I. C. Hutchins, A. Husted, Joseph Hess, Jacob Haun, Jacob Howell, William Howell, Wesley Howell, G. W. Howell, Thomas E. Howell, Henry Hill, William Hill, Almoran Hill, Absalom F. Hedges, Henry Hewett, William Hargrave, A. Hoyt, John Holman, Daniel S. Holman, B. Harrigas, Calvin James, John B. Jackson, John Jones, Over- ton Johnson, Thomas Kaiser, J. B. Kaiser, Pleasant Kaiser, Kelley, Kelsey, Solomon King, W. H. King, A. L. Lovejoy, Edward Lennox, E. Lennox, Aaron Layson, Jesse Looney, John E. Long, H. A. G. Lee, F. Lugur, Lewis Linenbarger, John Linenbarger, Isaac Laswell, J. Loughborough, Milton
395
THE LEADERSHIP.
men' over sixteen years of age were less than three hundred.'
The reader is by this time familiar with the cross- ing of the plains. This body adopted the usual rules, May 20th, and on reaching the Kansas River organ- ized by electing Peter H. Burnett captain, and J. W. Nesmith orderly sergeant. Nine councilmen were chosen to assist in settling questions, and Captain John Gantt, a former army officer, now a 'mountain man,' engaged to conduct the company to Fort Hall.
The 1st of June was at hand, and late for a start
Little, Luther, John Lauderdale, McGee, Wmn J. Martin, James Martin, Julius Martin, McClelland, F. McClelland, John B. Mills, Isaac Mills, William A. Mills, Owen Mills, G. W. McGarey, Gilbert Mondon, Daniel Matheney, Adam Matheney, J. N. Matheney, Josiah Matheney, Henry Matheney, A. J. Mastire, John McHaley, Jacob Myres, John Manning, James Manning, M. M. McCarver, George McCorcle, William Mays, Elijalı Millican, William McDaniel, D. McKissic, Madison Malone, John B. Mc- Clane, William Manzee, John McIntire, Jackson Moore, W. J. Matney, J. W. Nesmith, W. T. Newby, Noah Newman, Thomas G. Naylor, Neil Osborn, Hugh D. O'Brien, Humphrey O'Brien, Thomas A. Owen, Thomas Owen, E. W. Otie, M. B. Otie, Bennett O'Neil, A. Olinger, Jesse Parker, William G. Parker, J. B. Pennington, R. H. Poe, Samuel Paynter, J. R. Patter- son, Charles E. Pickett, Frederick Prigg, Clayborne Payne, Martin Payne, P. B. Reading, S. P. Rodgers, G. W. Rodgers, William Russell, James Roberts, G. W. Rice, John Richardson, Daniel Richardson, Philip Ruby, John Ricord, Jacob Reid, John Roe, Solomon Roberts, Emseley Roberts, Joseph Rossin, Thomas Rives, Thomas H. Smith, Thomas Smith, Isaac W. Smith, Anderson Smith, Ahi Smith, Robert Smith, Eli Smith, Samuel Smallman, William Sheldon, P. G. Stewart, Nathaniel K. Sitton, C. Stim- merman, C. Sharp, W. C. Summers, Henry Sewell, Henry Stout, George Sterling, Stout, Stevenson, James Storey, Swift, John M. Shively, Samuel Shirley, Alexander Stoughton, Chauncey Spenser, Hiram Straight, D. Sum- mers, George Summers, Cornelius Stringer, C. W. Stringer, Lindsey Tharp. John Thompson, D. Trainor, Jeremiah Teller, Stephen Tarbox, John Um- nicker, Samuel Vance, William Vaughn, George Vernon, James Wilmont, William H. Wilson, J. W. Wair, Archibald Winkle, Edward Williams, H. Wheeler, John Wagoner, Benjamin Williams, David Williams, William Wilson, John Williams, James Williams, Squire Williams, Isaac Williams, T. B. Ward, James White, John Watson, James Waters, William Winter, Daniel Waldo, David Waldo, William Waldo, Alexander Zachery, John Zachery.
+ 'Between 500 and 700 souls in all, and 113 wagons.' Ford's Road-makers, MS., 3. 'One thousand persons, with 120 wagons, and 5,000 cattle.' Apple- gate's Views, MS., 4. 'About 800,' Burnett thought; Greenhow places the number at 1,000. Hist. Or. and Cal., 391. M. C. F., in Niles' Reg., lxv. 70, says there were 900. McLoughlin, who was very accurate in all matters which he was obliged to report, put the immigration of 1843 at '875 men, women, and children.' Private Papers, MS., 2d ser. 51. McClane, however, says there were 999 of whom he once had a list: so that there is a discrepancy, even after dleducting the California company which turned off at Fort Hall and the other losses. McClane's First Wayon Train, MS., 11.
396
THE IMMIGRATION OF 1843.
for Oregon with ox-wagons, but the spring had been backward. Now, however the weather was fine, and the road good. All went well except regulation affairs, which became so complicated and trying that Burnett resigned the command after eight days of service, William Martin being elected in his place. The resig- nation of a captain on account of insubordination or inattention to rules probably effected a partial reform, for Martin seems to have remained in office. It was, however, found so difficult to direct or control so large a body of people united by no further interest than a common destination, that a division into two columns was effected, on the Big Blue River; one wing con- sisting of that division which was unencumbered with herds, being called the 'light column,' and the other, of which Jesse Applegate took command, being de- nominated the 'cow column.75 These two divisions travelled within supporting distance only, in order not to interfere with each other's comfort or convenience, as far as Independence Rock.
Dragging themselves along in the hot summer sun- shine, few incidents enlivened the way, until toward the last of June the buffalo country was reached, where it was expected to obtain abundance of game; but a hunting expedition from New Orleans having preceded them, the buffaloes were driven from the line of travel.6 During the first five days of July the south branch of the Platte was crossed, in ferry-boats made of wagon-boxes over which the green hides of buffaloes had been stretched and dried. At Fort Laramie, where the light column arrived on the 14th, a few days were taken to repair wagons, and purchase, at extortionate prices, some additional supplies. Ten days later the
5 See ' A Day with the Cow Column,' in Overland Monthly, i. 127.
6 Waldo's Critiques, MS., 18; Kaiser's Nar., MS., 3. The hunting party was headed by Captain Stuart, often mentioned. He was accompanied by the editor of the N. O. Picayune, M. C. Field. The Jesuits, De Vos and Hoecken, on their way to the Flathead country, were also with the hunters as far as the Rocky Mountains. Niles' Reg., lxv. 71, 214. Burnett erroneously states that one of these priests was De Smet; but De Smet was then on his way to Europe. Recollections, 102.
397
NOTABLE MEN.
north branch was forded. Four days more of travel brought them to the Sweetwater, and on the 3d of August the snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains came in sight.
Up to this time everything had gone well; the company retaining its original number, save five, who turned back at the first crossing of the Platte.7 But on the 4th of August, Clayborne Payne died of fever, and was buried beside the road, the funeral services being conducted by a Methodist preacher named Garrison. At the Big Sandy, a tributary of Green River, died Mr Stevenson, August 9th. Con- sidering the number of persons on the march, and the privations incident to camp life, the health of the emigrants was remarkably good, sickness and the death rate being scarcely greater than in a community of the same size in towns. There were births as well as deaths. Many an emigrant to Oregon first saw the light beneath a canvas tent on the roadside.8
No difficulty occurred with the natives; the num- bers present, and recollections of chastisement a few years previous, by Captain Bennett Riley, with his artillery, deterring them from predatory or hostile acts.9 After passing Independence Rock caution was considered necessary, and the two principal divisions were broken into smaller companies for greater con- venience.10 Likewise this was a pleasant arrangement, as leading men now found themselves at the head of the smaller divisions, and associated with those of con- genial habits. Friendships were formed and cemented which lasted through life, surviving all the struggles and changes of the founding of a new empire.11
Nicholas Biddle, Alexander Francis, F. Lugur, John Loughborough, and Jackson Moore. Or. Pioneer Assoc., Trans., 1875, 53.
8 Applegate, in Overland Monthly, i. 131.
9 Burnett's Recollections, 114. This was the first instance of their using cannon against the Indians.
10 Niles' Reg., 1xv. 168.
11 Burnett, who left Oregon in 1848, has told me of the meeting between himself and Jesse Applegate, in San Francisco, after more than 20 years of separation, when they 'embraced each other with tears.'
398
THE IMMIGRATION OF 1843.
Among those who kept the lead was Thomas D. Kaiser, who12 was among the first to arrive at Green River, and the first also to leave it for Fort Hall. Another impatient to reach his destination was J. B. McClane. 13
A party was formed of these and others, with Dr Whitman, who had joined the emigration on the Platte River, also anxious to reach his home, and to get news of his family and affairs at the fort, where he was likely to meet Cayuses and Nez Percés. At Green River they learned that the Jesuits, De Vos and Hoecken, had, by means of their Flathead pilot, discovered a pass through the mountains to Soda Springs, by way of Fort Bridger, on the Black branch of Green River, a cut-off which saved considerable distance, information of which Whitman communi- cated to the companies by a letter left at Green River. That the road in the rear was, for a natural one, ex- cellent, is evidenced by the fact that the ox-teams made an average of thirteen miles a day for the whole distance from the Sweetwater to Fort Hall, where the rear arrived the last of August, the advance hav- ing waited for them to come up. At this place died Daniel Richardson; and here also was found Lovejoy, who had come across from Bent Fort during the sum-
12 From Kaiser's Narrative, a valuable manuscript, penned by himself, I obtain the main biographical facts of himself and his family, with their immigration to Oregon. Mr Kaiser seems to have been a representative western man; vigorous, courageous, frank, and independent. He was born in Bunker County, North Carolina, where he married Miss Mary Girley, by whom he had 10 children, 5 sons and 5 daughters. In 1828 he removed to Giles County, Tennessee, and in 1833 to Van Buren County, Arkansas, where he remained until 1842, when he started with his family for Oregon; but arriving too late to join White's emigration, he renewed the attempt with success the following year. He died in June 1871, aged 78 years. The narrative contains also some account of the Oregon rangers and other colonial matters. Another manuscript, by his son, P. C. Kaiser, entitled The Eniigrant Road, deals more with recollections of the journey to Oregon, and supplies several facts omitted by the father.
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