USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. I, 1834-1848 > Part 56
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While the miserable men, women, and children were making their way through this defile, their condition was pitiable in the extreme, a number having aban- doned their wagons, and some, like Thornton and his wife, being compelled to wade the stream, not only through the three-mile gorge, but over and over again at its numerous crossings. A great loss of cattle and destruction of property followed, unattended, however, by any loss of life which could be traced directly to these causes.30 The famine which so far had attacked the rear of every immigration since the wagon-roads were opened assailed these unfortunate travellers in the Umpqua Valley, and although everything possible was done for their relief by the men who explored the new route,31 and other citizens, who on learning of their situation hastened to send them horses, cattle, and flour, nothing availed to supply the utter destitu- tion of some families who had thrown away or aban- doned their property in the Umpqua cañon and
28 They were on the western flank of the mountains, a day's drive from the open country, on the 11th of October, the distance thence to the south end of the Umpqua cañon being about 60 miles, yet they did not arrive at this pass until the 4th of November, the rains having begun on the 21st, when they should have been in the Umpqua Valley.
29 Thornton's Or. and Cal., i. 222.
30 Thornton mentions a man suddenly falling dead near the entrance to the cañon; also that a Mr Brisbane and a child had died at this place; but does not attribute their deaths to their hardships, though he might have said something of the kind without being doubted. A Miss Leland Croley, who had long been ill, also died, and was buried on Grave Creek-whence the name. Jacksonville Sentinel, May 25, 1867; Dowell's Nar., MS., 9.
31 On page 235, vol. i., Or. and Cal., Thornton admits that Applegate sent out horses, one of which he had to use, but asserts that the agent who brought them demanded a fine suit of clothes in payment. He admits, too, that the first flour and beef which reached him in the Umpqua Valley, on Nov. 14th, were sent by Applegate; but that he was purposely starved by him, in order that a
564
THE IMMIGRATION OF 1846.
Calapooya Mountains, or to avert their sufferings from the cold rains and colder snows of November and December.
market might be found for such articles. From the journal of Thomas Holt, who with a French Canadian and five half-breeds went to the assistance of the belated immigrants, it appears that on learning from Thornton and others who arrived in the settlements the condition of those still in the Umpqua Valley, he left the French settlement on the 3d of December with a band of horses and all the provisions he could gather, Father Bolduc of the mission of St Paul freely contributing a portion to be given to the needy. On the 5th he met Mr Goff coming in with a company who had brought their wagons through, and particularly in charge of a Mrs Newton, whose husband had been murdered by the Umpqua Indians while sleeping at the door of his tent. Minto's Early Days, MS., 39. On the 8th he overtook Moses Harris and three others with horses and provisions, going to the relief of the immigrants. On this day they met three families on horseback and one wagon, coming in, whom they supplied with flour. On the 9th they met eight wagons and families, and supplied them with provisions. On the 10th they came to a camp of several families whose teams were exhausted, and on the same day another relief party came up with horses. Next day the French- men and three half-breeds turned back, being afraid if they crossed the Calapooya Mountains they would not be able to return that winter, while Holt and the other two continued. Near the head of the Willamette Valley they found five families unable to go farther, who were assisted to resume their journey by three men from the other relief parties. At the foot of the mountains were three families without food, whose oxen could travel no farther. 'It is hard for me to pass them,' says the Journal, ' but when I know there are helpless families among hostile Indians, I am bound to go and assist them.' They received some flour and were left to the mercy of others who might follow with horses. On the summit of the Calapooyas a single family was met on horses, and many dead cattle by the way. At the foot of the mountains on the south side were two families with their wagons, but doubt- ing if their oxen would be able to cross. They were furnished with flour. On the 14th, having come to the north folk of Elk River, five families were found who had neither flour, meat, nor salt, and who were depending upon game, which was scarce. One of the half-breeds killed a deer for them, and they received some flour. [These families were those of Ezekial Kennedy, Croizen, R. B. Hall, Lovelin, and another.] On the 15th, crossing the forks of Elk River by swimming their horses, and ferrying the packs on rafts of logs, they came to the camp of the families of James Campbell, Rice Dunbar, and Rev. J. A. Cornwall. Mr Campbell, having been to the settlements and returned in company with Harris and his party, brought horses to carry his family and some of his goods back with him. Harris and a Mr Jenkins remained with these persons to assist them; but there were not enough horses to take Cornwall's family out, and he was left in charge of a considerable prop- erty belonging to Campbell. On the 17th Holt met the last company of five families on the south folk of the Umpqua. 'They rejoiced very much when they saw us,' says the Journal. There had been no flour among them for eight weeks. While busy making pack-saddles, four of the precious horses were stolen by Indians. The families relieved at this last point were those of Crump, Butterfield, James Townsend, David Townsend, J. Baker, and Mrs Butterfield, widow. Those who rescued them were Holt, Owens, Duskins, and Patten-the last three being a part of the company which overtook Holt on the 10th-and the two half-breeds, Baptiste Gardapie and Q. Delore. The 20th all started once more for the Willamette, the natives refusing to grant the use of a canoe to cross the families over the north fork of the Ump- qua which was too high to be forded, except they were paid with a gun be-
565
THORNTON VERSUS APPLEGATE.
About a dozen families were detained until Janu- ary in the Umpqua Valley, a part of whom were unable to get out before February, when their cattle having recruited on the excellent grass of that region, they were able to resume travel with their wagons and stock. These last found refuge at Fort Umpqua on Elk River through the few cold weeks of mid- winter, except three or four men who guarded the property left in camp on that stream by those who escaped to the settlements.
The discussion of the events connected with the open- ing of the northern and southern roads into the Wil- lamette Valley bade fair to overshadow the political questions which had led, among other causes, to the establishment of the southern route. Two parties were formed over the discussions of the latter: one which favored the Barlow road, because it brought travellers directly to Oregon City, and promoted the
longing to Delore. The 22d it snowed all day; the 24th the empty wagons which were brought to the south branch of Elk River were there left, the water being above the banks. Two oxen were drowned in swimming across. Christmas day the snow was a foot deep, and no progress was made. Next day they travelled one and a half miles to the north fork of Elk River, where the families of Kennedy, Hall, and others were encamped. These two fam- ilies had been without food for four days, except a little tallow boiled in water, and Holt proposed to Baker, who had purchased some oxen driven from the settlements, to let the starving people have these, telling him the people of the Willamette would make good his loss. They were accordingly slaugh- tered and divided between Kennedy, Hall, Croizen, and Cornwall, who had joined this camp; Lovelin having been taken to the Willamette by Barrows of Owens' party. This, the 26th of December, was the first clear day since the 3d of the month. So many horses having died or been stolen, the lean oxen in Holt's company had to be packed. The first of January the snow was three feet deep in places on the Calapooya Mountains and the weather very cold. The 5th, Holt arrived at the house of Eugene Skinner, the most south- ern settlement in the Willamette Valley, presumably where the town of Eugene now stands. So frosty was it on the 8th, that the women and children who became wet in crossing streams were almost frozen. The streams, being high from the recent rains, were too deep to ford, and were crossed by swim- ming the horses and oxen. On the 12th the house of Williams on the Lucki- amute River in Polk County was reached, where the company was compelled to remain four days on account of cold and storms. Not until the 21st of Jan- uary, 1847, did these storm-beaten pilgrims reach the friendly shelter of the settlers' homes in the central portion of the Willamette Valley. Holt and the others who went to their rescue were absent fifty days, and endured great hardships in their service, besides expending some $400 at their own risk, over and above the assistance rendered by other companies. Holt's Journal in Or. Spectator, March 4, 1847.
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THE IMMIGRATION OF 1846.
improvement of the lands in the lower end of the valley. To this party belonged the Methodist in- terests; and Thornton, who was a Methodist, and who soon made the acquaintance of Abernethy and other leading persons among the missionaries, gained the friendship of that society greatly by his abuse of the explorers of the southern road, who, besides hav- ing been guilty of this crime, were also of that domi- nating western element that opposed itself to the Methodist influence in colonial affairs.
Thornton was also a lawyer, and a Methodist law- yer was an acceptable addition to the Methodist influ- ence, supposing that he should be controlled by it; and to gain him over to that position, on the resigna- tion of the office of supreme judge by Mr Burnett, Abernethy appointed Thornton in his place, February 9th, or a little more than six weeks after his arrival in the territory. 32
Article after article on the merits and demerits of the southern route, as contrasted with the Barlow road,33 came to the Spectator from various sources, the true effect of which was to call attention to the Rogue River and Umpqua valleys, their desirability for set- tlement, and the need of a road to them leading directly from forts Hall and Bridger; and also to the fact that a road now really existed by which wagons could go all the way to California, by passing through the Umpqua canon, and over the Applegate pass of the Cascade Range to the California road in the Humboldt Valley, this happy discovery following im- mediately upon the news of the conquest and Ameri- canization of that country.
In May 1847 Levi Scott led a company of twenty men destined for the States over the southern route,
32 If this collusion were not sufficiently obvious, we have Thornton's own word for it, who says, in his Hist. Or., MS., 11: 'When I came to the coun- try one of the early missionaries said to me, "You must under no circum- stances become counsel for Dr McLoughlin. Give him no professional advice or assistance; if you do you will be denounced as a Hudson's Bay man, and you will lose caste among our citizens."'
33 Or. Spectator, Oct. 29, 1846.
567
LATER EXPEDITIONS.
and also guided a portion of the immigration of the following autumn into the Willamette Valley by this road, arriving in good season and in good condition, while the main immigration, by the Dalles route, partly on account of its number, suffered severely. This established the reputation of the Klamath Lake road; and the legislature of this year passed an act for its improvement, making Levi Scott commissioner, and allowing him to collect a small toll as compensa- tion for his services. The troubles with the Cayuses, which broke out in the winter of 1847, and which but for the Oregon volunteers would have closed the Snake route, demonstrated the wisdom of its explorers in providing the mountain-walled valleys of western Oregon with another means of ingress or egress than the Columbia River;34 their road to-day being incor- porated for nearly its whole length with some of the most important highways of the country.
In June 1847 a company headed by Cornelius Gilliam set out with the intention of exploring the Rogue River and Klamath valleys, which from this time forward continued to be mentioned favorably on account of their climate, soil, and other advantages.35
34 Applegate says: 'It is a well-known fact that when it was necessary to meet the Oregon rifle regiment in 1849, then on its march to Oregon, beef-cat- tle could not be driven to Fort Hall by the Snake River route with any beef on their bones; yet the regiment slaughtered at Fort Hall fat bullocks from the Willamette, kept fat by the abundant pasturage of the southern route.' Views of History, MS., 49. See Ross' Rept., in Or. Jour. Council, 1857-8, App. 19; Overland Monthly, v. 581.
35 I find in Mckay's Recollections, MS., 2, a reference to the ubiquity of the Americans. He says: 'Shortly after my arrival (1844) I was ordered into Oregon to join Mr Paul Frazer, who had established a station for the Hudson's Bay Company near the mouth of the Umpqua River. Mr Frazer was alarmed at the influx of American immigrants into his immediate neighborhood from different parts of the United States. Several trains arrived overland during the autumn. On account of this many of the Indians had shifted their loca- tion, hunting was neglected, and our business very poor.' Herewith I give the names of those belonging to the immigration of 1846, so far as I have been able to gather them:
Levi Anderson, J. C. Allen, John B. Albright, Elijah Bristow, Elijah Bunton, David Butterfield, John Baker, Hugh L. Brown, Jesse Boone, W. P. Breeding, George William Burnett, J. H. Bosworth, Alvin C. Brown, Orus Brown, D. D. Bailey, G. W. Bell, M. Brock, Sutton Burns, William Burns, Elisha Byrd, William Byrd, sen., William Byrd, jun., L. A. Byrd, Brisbane, Rev. J. B. Baldrauch, Jairus Bonney, Truman Bonney, A. Boon, William P. Bryant, J. H. Bridges, Heman C. Buckingham, Alphonso Boone, Tolbert
568
THE IMMIGRATION OF 1846,
In 1849 Jesse Applegate removed to the Umpqua Valley, at the foot of a grassy butte called by the natives Yonc-calla, or 'eagle-bird,' which use has
Carter, George H. Carter, J. S. Church, Jones Cutting, Charles Cutting, Thomas M. Chambers, John W. Chambers, J. L. Collins, John Chamberlain, Samuel Y. Coop, M. Chambers, B. F. Cooper, A. S. Cone, J. M. Currier, Dr W. M. Carpenter, Stephen C. Cummings, C. W. Cooke, George Law Curry, Henry Croiyers, Croley, Crabtree, Richard S. Caldwell, Smith Collins, Henry Cooper, William Connel, James Campbell, E. B. Comfort, John W. Champ, Rev. J. A. Cornwall, Crump, Croizen, Conduit, W. Champ, Clopzore, James Cluse, T. Canlo, G. S. Cox, John Coats, Davidson, Dodd, Samuel Davis, William Dodson, Rice W. Dunbar, John N. Durham, Dickinson, Duskins, John Edgar, William Elliott, N. A. Eberman, Milton Elliott, J. Elliott, Gardiner Elliott, Espy, Eastburn, Everest, Abner Frazer, Isaac A. Flint, Jesse Fleming, Nathan Fry, E. C. Fitzhugh, Frederick W. Geer, Rev. A. E. Garrison, Waterman Gale, Laurence Gale, David M. Guthrie, Geddes, Reason B. Hall, John B. Hall, Washington Hall, Rev. Helm, Robert Henderson, Capt. Richard Hoyt, William Hibbert, John Hammond, J. D. S. Hardi- son, H. H. Hunt, James Howard, J. J. Heath, Mark Hattan, Thomas F. Howard, Joseph L. Hunsaker, Andrus Harper, Calvin W. Ish, William Kirkquendall, Ezekiel Kennedy, Thomas Knight, Henry Knowland, F. Ketchum, Andrew Layson, Harrison Linville, Vanderpool Linville, Wilson Lee, Thomas Linklater, Robert Logan, Geo. C. Lawton, Thomas Leggett, Lovelin, J. W. Ladd, D. H. Lownsdale, A. R. T. Locey, Lord, Long, Luce, A. R. Lancefield, F. Martin, W. Mulkey, S. C. Morris, Joel McKee, Josiah Milorn, H. McDonald, G. C. Motley, Henry Marlin, Richard Miller, W. R. Munkers, McKissick, J. McCormick, Josiah Morin, Laban Morin, John McCord, McGunigale, William C. McClay, T. G. Naylor, Chauncy Nye, Newton, Nealy, Franklin Nicoll, John M. Pugh, William Pringle, Virgil K. Pringle, Truman P. Powers, George C. Preston, William Porter, James Parkinson, James Porter, Piper, Eli Perkins, Charles Putnam, James Nathan Putnam, Thomas Powell, A. Phillips, H. B. Polley, Thomas Purvis, J. W. Pugh, A. Pugh, William Parker, L. C. Rainey, A. B. Rabbison, Thomas M. Read, John Robinson, William Riley, Robey, J. T. Rainey, Walter Ross, Lewis Rogers, F. R. Smith, Henry M. Smith, Towner Savage, James Savage, Charles Stewart, Sallee, William Stokes, Allen Sanders, Levi L. Smith, Thomas Stevens, Felix Scott, Morgan R. Savage, D. E. Savage, William Sheldon, D. C. Smith, H. N. Stephens, G. W. Smith, James Smith, J. S. Scoggin, D. Shumake, A. Stewart, Daniel Stewart, William M. Smith, John Striethoff, Reuben Striethoff, John W. Shrum, N. Shrum, Asa Stone, William Sherley, Carlos W. Shane, R. Slocum, St Clair, Rev. Wmn Simpson, Benjamin Simpson, Sappington, Sturgiss, Joseph S. Smith, John Savage, Henry Smith, James Stanley, Shelton, R. R. Thompson, J. Quinn Thornton, A. H. Thompson, David Townsend, W. P. Tyrrell, Towler, Thomas Towns- end, James Townsend, Lazarus Van Bibber, Martin Vaughn, Vanderpool, William Webb, William Wheeler, C. Wheeler, J. T. Wingfield, R. White, Whately, Joseph Waldo, Charles Wren, A. E. Wait, J. M. Wair, John Williamson, J. B. Walling, Henry Worden, E. Wask, A. C. West, Watkins, Rev. Andrew Zumwalt.
Robert Henderson was born in Green County, Tennessee, on February 14, 1809, and at the age of 8 years moved with his father to Fleming Co., Ky. In 1830 he immigrated to Mo., where in 1834 he married Rhoda C. Holman, the daughter of John Holman of the immigration of 1843. Here he lived until 1846, engaged in farming and trading in stock, when, in consequence of losses sustained by going security for friends, he determined to remove to Oregon. Well provided with teams and supplies of food and clothing, the first part of the journey was comparatively a pleasant one. But later in the season, in the journey over what is known as the southern or Applegate route, the family suffered great hardship. Mr Henderson gave away his flour and
569
THE APPLEGATES.
shortened to Yoncalla, on the head waters of Elk Creek, near which a railroad now passes. His brother Charles settled near him; and Lindsey Applegate
bacon to those in the train who were in want, until, when he entered the Umpqua cañon, on Oct. 28th, he was reduced to two pieces of the latter and ten pounds of the former. They were five days struggling through this then almost impassable gorge. Much of the way they toiled over and along the bed of the cold, rocky stream with the rain pouring down on them steadily. The two eldest children were lying sick and helpless in the jolting wagon, with a babe that came on the journey only a few weeks before. Soon after they got through the canon they met some of the Applegate party, with supplies, from whom Mr Henderson and Mr Collins bought a beef weighing about 700 pounds for $60 in cash. This left Mr Henderson with $2 and one ox-team and wagon to begin life with anew. He settled on the South Yam- hill, where in due time he obtained a grant of a section of land under the donation act, which he still owns, and where he and his three sons have made the handsomest farm in Oregon. Mr and Mrs Henderson are still living. surrounded by their descendants to the third generation, and honored and beloved by all who know them, They have eight surviving children, who are all married, and among the most respectable people of the country. Their oldest child, Lucy Henderson, was married to Matthew P. Deady, since United States district judge, on June 24, 1852.
Elijah Bristow migrated from Ky. to Ill. after the war of 1811-12, in which he was a soldier, fighting under Johnson at Talladega, and afterward in Tenn. He came to Cal. in 1845, wintering at Sutter's Fort. In 1846 he removed to Oregon, and took a land claim at Pleasant Hill, in Lane Co., being the first settler in that co. He was a liberal and just man, respected by all. He died Sept. 1872, aged 73. P. C. Advocate, Oct. 3, 1872.
Reason B. Hall, born in Ga. 1794, removed to Ky 1802, to Ind. 1811, and to Oregon in 1846, settling where Buena Vista now stands, of which town he was proprietor. He died Dec. 13, 1869, Salem Statesman, Jan. 29, 1870.
John Williamson settled in West Chehalem, Yamhill County. Mrs Wil- liamson was a daughter of Nathaniel M. and Mary Martin, and was born in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Aug. 29, 1825. She removed with her parents to Indiana, and from there to Missouri, while still a child. She was married April 30, 1846, and started soon after for Oregon. She died May 18, 1872. Id., May 30, 1872.
F. R. Smith, born in Rochester, New York, in 1819, went to Oregon in 1846, and settled near Salem. He was a vigorous man physically and men- tally; and was a member of the state legislature in 1876. Salem Statesman, Oct. 14, 1876.
Smith Collins settled near the Luckiamute River, in Polk County, and died in 1870. Mrs Collins, who was a daughter of Douglas Wyatt, an early settler in Missouri, was born near Mount Sterling, Kentucky, January 12, 1812, and removed to Missouri at the age of 12. She married Dec. 24, 1830, and with her husband went to Oregon in 1846. Excessive grief over his loss hastened her death, which occurred April 29, 1872. She was the mother of 12 children, 10 surviving her, 8 of whom were sons. It is mentioned as an instance of filial affection that all these children agreed in not opening their father's will during the life-time of their mother, lest they should deprive her of the use of a part of the estate. The eldest son was J. L. Collins of Polk County. Portland Advocate, May 16, 1872; Dalles Republican, May 11, 1872. Smith Collins was born in Virginia in December 1804, emigrated to Missouri in 1828, and to Oregon in 1846. Dalles Republican, March 26, 1870. J. L. Collins, eldest son of Smith Collins, was 15 years of age when he came to Oregon. In 1855 he was employed as reporter in the legislature of the state. He belonged to the regiment of Colonel Cornelius in the Yakima war of 1856. In 1859 he was admitted to the practice of law at the Dalles. He was chief clerk of the house of representatives in 1861. Salem Statesman, May 7, 1866.
570
THE IMMIGRATION OF 1846.
somewhat later made himself a home on Ashland Creek, where the town of Ashland now stands, and directly on the line of the road he assisted in open-
John Coats, one of the earliest settlers of Douglas County, and whose home was about 10 miles from Roseburg, died suddenly while walking, in the summer of 1876. S. F. Call, June 19, 1876.
Samuel Davis died at his home in Yamhill County, Feb. 28, 1875. Mon- mouth Christian Messenger, March 6, 1875.
D. H. Good was born in Pennsylvania, June 19, 1818. On arriving in Oregon in 1846, he settled near Oregon City, where he resided till his death, September 18, 1871. Oregon City Enterprise, Sept. 22, 1871.
John Robinson settled in Benton County in 1846. Mrs Robinson was born in South Carolina, Feb. 14, 1792, married in 1815, and died Aug. 27, 1878. Corvallis Gazette, Sept. 6, 1878.
John Baker settled in Benton County. Mrs Baker was born in East Ten- nessee, in 1801; married in 1821, and removed to Missouri in 1843, whence she emigrated with her husband in 1846. Mrs Baker died Nov. 27, 1877, at Corvallis, where her son William R. Baker resided. Id., Dec. 7, 1877.
Rev. J. A. Cornwall was born in Georgia in 1798. He lived in the south- ern and western states till 1846, when he joined the Oregon emigration, taking the southern route, and wintering in the Umpqua Valley. In 1865 he removed to Ventura County, California. He was a Cumberland Presbyterian, and a minister for 53 years. He died January 2, 1879. His son, Rev. J. H. Corn- wall, is a resident of Eugene City, Oregon. Eugene State Journal, Jan. 18, 1879.
J. T. Rainey, in 1851, with his brother, L. C. Rainey, purchased of Wm Mosgrove, for a horse, a squatter's right to the land on which the town of Roseburg was afterward laid out. The only improvement on the land was a pile of newly cut logs for a cabin. The brothers erected a frame house, and sold the land to Aaron Rose, who laid it off in lots and blocks, long residing there. J. T. Rainey removed to the Rogue River country, where he settled on a farm in Sam Valley. Roseburg Western Star, Nov. 14, 1879.
James Campbell was born in Greenville, Kentucky, April 6, 1807. He emigrated with his parents to Missouri at an early age, and to Oregon in 1846, spending the early part of the winter of 1846-7 in the Umpqua Valley with the belated immigrants of that season. He settled near Salein, but in 1859 removed to Puget Sound, where he resided 7 years, when he returned to Salem. He died on the 31st of July, 1873, leaving the memory of a good man. Salem Statesman, Aug. 5, 1873.
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