History of Oregon, Vol. II, 1848-1888, Part 32

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 1832-1918; Victor, Mrs. Frances Auretta Fuller Barrett, 1826-1902
Publication date: 1886-88
Publisher: San Francisco : The History Co.
Number of Pages: 836


USA > Oregon > History of Oregon, Vol. II, 1848-1888 > Part 32


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20R. Williams killed 12 Indians and lost one man, Thomas Philips. Owens, on Grave Creek, under pledge of peace, got the Indians into his camp and shot them all. U. S. H. Ex. Doc., 99, p. 4, 33d cong. Ist sess. Again Williams surprised a party of Indians on Applegate Creek, and after induc- ing them to lay down their arms shot 18 of them, etc.


21 The Indians had news of the approach of the howitzer several days be- fore it reached Rogue River. They said it was a hyas rifle, which took a hatful of powder for a load, and would shoot down a tree. It was an ob- ject of great terror to the Indians, and they begged not to have it fired. Or. Statesman, Sept. 27, 1853.


22 The treaty bound the Indians to reside permanently in a place to be set aside for them ; to give up their fire-arms to the agent put over them, except a few for hunting purposes, 17 guns in all ; to pay out of the sum received for their lands indemnity for property destroyed by them; to forfeit all their annuities should they go to war again against the settlers; to notify the agent of other tribes entering the valley with warlike intent, and assist in expelling them; to apply to the agent for redress whenever they suffered any grievances at the hands of the white people; to give up, in short, their en- tire independence and become the wards of a government of which they knew nothing.


The treaty of sale of their lands, concluded on the 10th, conveyed all the country claimed by them, which was bounded by a line beginning at a point near the mouth of Applegate Creek, running southerly to the summit of the Siskiyou Mountains, and along the summits of the Siskiyou and C'as- cade mountains to the head waters of Rogue River, and down that stream to Jump Off Joe Creek, thence down said creek to a point due north of, and thence to, the place of beginning-a temporary reservation being made of about 100 square miles on the north side of Rogue River, between Table Rock and Evans Creek, embracing but ten or twelve square miles of arable


319


COUNCIL AND TREATY.


the conquered wholly in the power of the conquer- ors, and in return for which they were to receive quasi benefits which they did not want, could not understand, and were better off without. A treaty was also made with the Cow Creek band of Umpquas, usually a quiet people, but affected by contact with the Grave Creek band of the Rogue River nation.23


land, the remainder being rough and mountainous, abounding in game, while the vicinity of Table Rock furnished their favorite edible roots.


The United States agreed to pay for the whole Rogue River Valley thus sold the sum of $60,000, after deducting $15,000 for indemnity for losses of property by settlers; $5,000 of the remaining $45,000 to be expended in ag- ricultural implements, blankets, clothing, and other goods deemed by the sup. most conducive to the welfare of the Indians, on or before the Ist day of September 1854, and for the payment of such permanent improvements as had been made on the land reserved by white claimants, the value of which should be ascertained by three persons appointed by the sup. to appraise them. The remaining $40,000 was to be paid in 16 equal annual instalments of $2,500 each, commencing on or about the Ist of September, 1854, in elothing, blankets, farming utensils, stock, and such other articles as would best meet the needs of the Indians. It was further agreed to erect at the expense of the government a dwelling-house for each of three principal chiefs, the cost of which should not exceed $500 each, which buildings should be put up as soon as practicable after the ratification of the treaty. When the Indians should be removed to another permanent reserve, buildings of equal value should be erected for the chiefs, and $15,000 additional should be paid to the tribe in five annual instalments, commencing at the expiration of the previ- ous instalments.


Other articles were added to the treaty, by which the Indians were bound to protect the agents or other persons sent by the U. S. to reside among them, and to refrain from molesting any white person passing through their reserves. It was agreed that no private revenges or retaliations should be indulged in on either side; that the chiefs should, on complaint being made to the Indian agent, deliver up the offender to be tried and punished, con- formably to the laws of the U. S .; and also that on complaint of the Indians for any violation of law by white men against them, the latter should suffer the penalty of the law.


The sacredness of property was equally secured on either side, the Ind- ians promising to assist in recovering horses that had been or might be stolen by their people, and the United States promising indemnitication for prop- erty taken from them by the white men. And to prevent mischief being made by evil-disposed persons, the Indians were required to deliver up on the requisition of the U. S. authorities or the agents or sup. any white per- son residing among them. The names appended to the treaty were Joel Palmer, superintendent of Indian affairs; Samuel H. Culver, Indian agent; Apserkahar (Jo), Toquahear (Sam), Anachaharah (Jim), John, and Lympe. The witnesses were Joseph Lane, Augustus V. Kautz, J. W. Nesmith, R. B. Metcalf, John (interpreter), J. D. Mason, and T. T. Tierney. Or. States- man, Sept. 27, 1853; Nesmith's Reminiscences, in Trans. Or. Pioneer Asso., 1879, 46; Portland West Shore, May, 1879, 154-5; S. F. Alta, Sept. 24, 1853; Palmer's Wagon Trains, MS., 50; Ind. Aff. Rept, 1856, 265-7; and 1865, 469-71.


23 The land purchased from the Cow Creek band was in extent about 800 square miles, nearly one half of which was excellent farming land, and the remainder mountainous, with a good soil and fine timber. The price agreed


320


ROGUE RIVER WAR.


On the whole, the people of Rogue River behaved very well after the treaty. The settlers and miners in the Illinois Valley about the middle of October be- ing troubled by incursions of the coast tribes, who had fled into the interior to escape the penalty of their depredations on the beach miners about Crescent City, Lieutenant R. C. W. Radford was sent from Fort Lane with a small detachment to chastise them. Finding them more numerous than was expected, Radford was compelled to send for reinforcements, which arriving under Lieutenant Caster on the 22d, a three days' chase over a mountainous country brought them up with the marauders, when the troops had a skirmish with them, killing ten or more, and captur- ing a considerable amount of property which had been stolen, but losing two men killed and four wounded.


After this the miners hereabout took care of them- selves, and made a treaty with that part of the Rogue River tribe, which was observed until January 1854, when a party of miners from Sailor Diggings, in their pursuit of an unknown band of robbers attacked the treaty Indians, some being killed on both sides; but the Indian agent being sent for, an explanation en- sued, and peace was temporarily restored.


The Indian disturbances of 1853 in this part of Or- egon, according to the report of the secretary of war,24 cost the lives of more than a hundred white persons and several hundred Indians. The expense was esti- mated at $7,000 a day, or a total of $258,000, though the war lasted for little more than a month, and there had been in the field only from 200 to 500 men.


In addition to the actual direct expense of the war


upon was $12,000, two small houses, costing about $200, fencing and plowing a field of five acres, and furnishing the seed to sow it; the purchase money to be paid in annual instalments of goods. This sum was insignificant com- pared to the value of the land, but bargains of this kind were graded by the number of persons in the band, the Cow Creeks being but few. Besides, Indian agen s who intend to have their treaties ratified must get the best bargains that can be extorted from ignorance and need.


" U. S. H. Ex. Doc., i., pt ii. 43, 33d cong. Ist sess.


321


COST OF FIGHTING.


was the loss by settlers, computed by a commission consisting of L. F. Grover, A. C. Gibbs, and G. H. Ambrose 25 to be little less than $46,000. Of this amount $17,800, including payment for the improve- ments on the reserved lands, was deducted from the sum paid to the Indians for their lands, which left only $29,000 to be paid by congress, which claims, together with those of the volunteers, were finally settled on that basis.26


25 Portland Oregonian, Dec. 30, 1854; U. S. H. Ex. Doc., 65, 43d cong. 2d sess.


The names of the claimants on account of property destroyed, on which the Indian department paid a pro rata of 34.77 per cent out of the $15,000 retained from the treaty appropriation for that purpose, were as follows, showing who were doing business, had settled, or were mining in the Rogue River Valley at this period: Daniel and Ephraim Raymond, Clinton Barney, David Evans, Martin Angell, Michael Brennan, Albert B. Jennison, William J. Newton, Wm Thompson, Henry Rowland, John W. Patrick, John R. Hardin, Pleasant W. Stone, Jeremiah Yarnel, Wm S. King, Cram, Rogers & Co., Edith M. Neckel, John Benjamin, David N. Birdseye, Lewis Rotherend, Mary Ann Hodgkins, George H. C. Taylor, John Markley, Sigmond Eulinger, James C. Tolman, Henry Ham, William M. Elliott, Silas and Edward Day, James Triplett, Nathan B. Lane, John Agy, James Bruce, James B. Fryer, Wm G. F. Vank, Hall & Burpee, John Penneger, John E. Ross, John S. Miller, D. Irwin, Burrell B. Griffin, Traveena McComb, Wm N. Ballard, Freeman Smith, Nicholas Kohenstein, Daniel F. Fisher, Thomas D. Jewett, Sylvester Pease, David Hayhart, McGreer, Drury & Runnels, James Mooney, John Gheen, Theodosia Cameron, James Abrahams, Francis Nasarett, Gal- ley & Oliver, T. B. Sanderson, Frederick Rosenstock, Dunn & Alluding, Asa G Fordyce, Obadiah D. Harris, James L. London, Samuel Grubb, Win Kahler, Samuel Williams, Hiram Niday, John Anderson, Elias Huntington, Shertack Abrahams, Thomas Frazell, Weller & Rose, Robert B. Metcalf, Charles Williams, John Swinden, James R. Davis, Isaac Woolen, Wm M. Hughs. Of the settlers on the reservation lands who brought claims were these: David Evans, Matthew G. Kennedy, John G. Cook, William Hutch- inson, Charles Grey, Robert B. Metcalf, Jacob Gall, George H. C. Taylor, John M. Silcott, James Lesly. Report of Supt Palmer, in U. S. H. Ex. Doc., 52, p. 3-5, 38th cong. 21 sess.


HIST. OR., VOL. II. 21


CHAPTER XIII.


LEGISLATION, MINING, AND SETTLEMENT.


1853-1854.


JOHN W. DAVIS AS GOVERNOR-LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS-APPROPRIATIONS BY CONGRESS-OREGON ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS-AFFAIRS ON THE UMP- QITA-LIGHT-HOUSE BUILDING-BEACH MINING-INDIAN DISTURBANCES- PALMER'S SUPERINTENDENCE-SETTLEMENT OF COOS BAY-EXPLORA- TIONS AND MOUNTAIN-CLIMBING-POLITICS OF THE PERIOD-THE QUES- TION OF STATE ORGANIZATION-THE PEOPLE NOT READY-HARD TIMES- DECADENCE OF THE GOLD EPOCH-RISE OF FARMING INTEREST-SOME FIRST THINGS - AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES - WOOLEN MILLS-TELE- GRAPHS-RIVER AND OCEAN SHIPPING INTEREST AND DISASTERS-WARD MASSACRE-MILITARY SITUATION.


LATE in October 1853 intelligence was received in Oregon of the appointment of John W. Davis of In- diana as governor of the territory.1 He arrived very opportunely at Salem, on the 2d of December, just as the legislative assembly was about to convene. He brought with him the forty thousand dollars appro- priated by congress for the erection of a capitol and penitentiary, which the legislature had been anxiously awaiting to apply to these purposes. Whether or not he was aware of the jealousy with which the law- making body of Oregon had excluded Governor Gaines from participating in legislative affairs, he prudently


1 Davis was a native of Pennsylvania, where he studied medicine. He sub- sequently settled in Indiana, served in the legislature of that state, being speaker of the lower house, and was three times elected to congress, serving from 1835 to 1837, from 1839 to 1841, and from 1843 to 1847. He was once speaker of the house of representatives, and twice president of the national democratic convention. During Polk's administration he was commissioner to China. He died in 1859. Or. Statesman, Oct. 25, 1833; Id., Oct. 11, 1859; Or. Argus, Oct. 15, 1859.


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323


LEGISLATURE 1853-4.


refrained from overstepping the limits assigned him by the organic law. When informed by a joint reso- lution of the assembly that they had completed their organization,2 he simply replied that it would afford him pleasure to communicate from time to time from the archives any information they might require. This was a satisfactory beginning, and indicated a pol- icy from which the fourth gubernatorial appointee found no occasion to depart during his administra- tion.


The money being on hand, the next thing was to spend it as quickly as possible,3 which the commis- sioners had already begun to do, but which the legis- lature was compelled to check+ by appointing a new penitentiary board, and altering the plans for the cap- itol building. A bill introduced at this session to re-


2 The members of the council elected for 1853-4 were L. P. Powers, of Clatsop; Ralph Wilcox, of Washington; J. K. Kelly, of Clackamas; Benj. Simpson, of Marion; John Richardson, of Yamhill; J. M. Fulkerson, of Polk. Those holding over were L. W. Phelps, A. L. Humphry, and Levi Scott. The house of representatives consisted of J. W. Motfit, Z. C. Bishop, Robert Thompson, F. C. Cason, L. F. Carter, B. B. Jackson, L. F. Grover, J. C. Pecbles, E. F. Colby, Orlando Humason, Andrew Shuck, A. B. Westerfield, R. P. Boise, W. S. Gilliam, I. N. Smith, Luther Elkins, J. A. Bennett, Benj. A. Chapman, H. G. Hadley, Wm J. Martin, George H. Ambrose, John F. Miller, A. A. Durham, L. S. Thompson, S. Goff, Chauncey Nye. There was but one whig in the council, and fonr iu the house. Or. Statesman, June 28, 1853. Ralph Wilcox was elected president of the council; Samuel B. Gar- rett, of Benton, chief clerk; and A. B. P. Wood, of Polk, assistant clerk; John K. Delashmutt, sergeant-at-arms. The house was organized by electing Z. C. Bishop, speaker; John McCracken, chief clerk; C. P. Crandell, enroll- ing clerk; G. D. R. Boyd, assistant clerk; G. D. Russell, sergeant-at-arms, and Joseph Hunsaker, doorkeeper. Or. Jour. Council. 1853 4, p. 4, 5.


3 Half of the $20,000 appropriated for a state house, according to the com- missioners' report, was already expended on the foundations, the architect's plan being to make an elegant building of stone, costing, at his estimate, $75,000. The land on which the foundation was laid was block 84 in the town of Salem, and was donated hy W. H. Willson and wife, from the land which they succeeded in alienating from the methodist university lands, this being one way of enhancing the value of the remainder. The legislature ordered the superstructure to be made of wood.


"The penitentiary commissioners had selected two blocks of land in Port- land, and had made some slight progress, expending $5,600 of the $20,000 appropriated. William M. King, president of the board, charged $10 per day as commissioner, and $5 more as acting commissioner. He speculated in lots, paying Lownsdale $150 each for four lots, on coudition that two lots should be given to him, for which he received $300. 'In this way,' says the Oregonian of Feb. 4, 1854, 'King has pocketed $925, Lownsdale $600, and Frush $2,800, of the penitentiary fund. Add to this between $1,100 and $1,200 for his invaluable services for letting all the prisoners run away, and we have a fair exhibit of financiering under democratic misrule in Oregon.'


324


LEGISLATION, MINING, AND SETTLEMENT.


locate the seat of government may have had some influence in determining the action of the assembly with regard to the character of the edifice already in process of construction. It was the entering wedge for another location war, more bitter and furious than the first, and which did not culminate until 1855-6. The university had not made so much ad- vancement as the state house and penitentiary, the appropriations for the former being in land, which had to be converted into money.5


Remembering the experiences of the past three years, the legislative assembly enacted a militia law constituting Oregon a military district, and requiring the appointment by the governor of a brigadier-gen- eral, who should hold office for three years, unless sooner removed; and the choice at the annual election in each council district of one colonel, one lieutenant- colonel, and one major, who should meet at a conven- ient place, within three months, and lay off their regi- mental district into company districts, to contain as nearly as possible one hundred white male adults be- tween the ages of eighteen and forty-five years capa- ble of bearing arms, and who should appoint captains and lieutenants to each company district, the captains to appoint sergeants and corporals. Commissions were to issue from the governor to all officers except sergeants and corporals, the term of office to be two years, unless prevented by unsoundness of mind or body, each officer to rank according to the date of his commission, the usual rules of military organiza- tion and government being incorporated into the act.6 In compliance with this law, Governor Davis appointed,


5 The legislature of 1852-3 had authorized the commissioners to construct the university building 'at the town of Marysville, in the county of Benton, on such land as shall be donated for that purpose by Joseph P. Friedly,' unless some better or more eligible situation should be offered. Or. Statesman, Feb. 5, 1853. The commissioners to select the two townships had only just completed their work.


6 Or. Jour. Council, 1853-4, 113, 118, 128; Laws of Or., in Or. Statesman, Feb. 21, 1854; Or. Jour. Council, 1854-5, app. 12, 15, 17.


325


RAILROAD CHARTERS.


in April 1854, J. W. Nesmith, brigadier-general; E. M. Barnum, adjutant-general; M. M. McCarver, com- missary-general; and S. C. Drew, quartermaster-gen- eral.7 An act was also passed providing for taking the will of the people at the June election, concerning a constitutional convention, and the delegate was in- structed to secure from congress an act enabling them to form a state government.8 But the people very sensibly concluded that they did not want to be a state at present, a majority of 869 being against the measure; nor did congress think well of it, the slavery question as usual exercising its influence, and although Lane said that Oregon had 60,000 population, which was an exaggeration.


The doings of the alcaldes of Jackson county as justices of the peace were legalized; for up to the time of the appearance of a United States judge in that county the administration of justice had been irregular, and often extraordinary, making the per- sons engaged in it liable to prosecution for illegal proceedings, and the judgments of the miners' courts void.9 The business of the session, taken all in all, was unimportant.10 Worthy of remark was the char-


7 At the June election, Washington county chose J. L. Meek col, R. M. Porter lieut-col, John Pool maj .; Yamhill, J. W. Moffit col, W. Starr lieut-col, J. A. Campbell maj .; Marion, George K. Sheil col, John McCracken lieut-col, J. C. Geer maj .; Clackamas, W. A. Cason col, Thos Waterbury lieut-col, W. B. Magers maj .; Linn, L. S. Helm col, N. G. McDonald lieut-col, Isaac N. Smith maj .; Douglas, W. J. Martin col, J. S. Lane lieut- col, D. Barnes maj .; Coos, Stephen Davis col, C. Gunning lieut-col, Hugh O'Neil maj. Or. Statesman, June 13, 20, 27, 1854. Polk and Tillamook coun- ties elected J. K. Delashmutt col, B. F. McLeuch lieut-col, B. F. Burch maj .; Benton and Lane, J. Kendall col, Jacob Allen lieut-col, William Gird maj .; Jackson, John E. Ross col, Win J. Newton licut-col. James H. Russell maj. Or. Statesman, July 1, 1854. Or. Jour. Council, 1857-8, App. 57.


Laws of Or., in Or. Statesman, Feb. 7, 1854; Cony. Globe, vol. 28, pt ii. 1117-8, 33d cong. Ist sess.


9 Or. Jour. Council, 1853-4, 50; Or. Statesman, Jan. 17, 1854. The former alcal.les were John A. Hardin, U. S. Hayden, Chauncey Nye, Clark Rogers, and W. W. Fowler. Laws of Oregon, in Or. Statesman, Jan. 17, 1854. And this, notwithstanding Fowler had sentenced one Brown to be hanged for murder. Prin's Judicial Anecdotes, MS., 10. The first term of the U. S. district court held by Judge Deady began Sept. 5, 1853.


10 C'oos, Columbia, and Wasco counties were established. The name of Marysville was changed to Corvallis. Rogue River had its name changed to Gold River, and Grave Creek to Leland Creek; but such is the force of custom, these changes were not regarded, and the next legislature changed


326


LEGISLATION, MINING, AND SETTLEMENT.


tering of four railroad companies, only one of which took any steps toward carrying out the declared inten- tions of the company. In the case of the Willamette Valley Railroad Company, the commissioners held one meeting at Thorp's mills, in Polk county, and appointed days for receiving subscriptions in each of the counties. But the time was not yet ripe for railroads, and this temporary enthusiasm seems to have been aroused by the Pacific railroad survey, then in progress in the north-west territory of the United States.11


The success of the Oregon delegates in securing appropriations led the assembly to ask for money from the general government for "every conceivable pur- pose," as their mentor, the Statesman, reminded them, and for which it reproved them. Yet the greater part of these applications found favor with congress, either through their own merits or the address of the dele-


the name of Gold River back to Rogue River. The methodists incorporated Santiam Academy at Lebanon, in Linn county, Portland Academy and Fe- male Seminary at Portland, and Corvallis Academy at Corvallis. The pres- byterians incorporated Union Academy at Union Point. The congregation- alists incorporated Tualatin Academy and Pacific University at Forest Grove; and the citizens of Polk county the Rickreal Academy, on the land claim of one Lovelady-Rickreal being the corruption of La Créole, in com- mon use with the early settlers. Albany had its name changed to Tekanah, but it was changed back again next session. Thirty wagon roads were peti- tioned for, and many granted, and the Umpqua Navigation and Mauu- facturing Company was incorporated at this session, the object of which was to improve the navigation of the river at the head of tide-water, and utilize the water-power at the falls for mills and manufactories. The com- pany consisted of Robert J. Ladd, J. W. Drew, R. E. Stratton, Benjamin Brattan, and F. W. Merritt; but nothing came of it, the navigation of the river being impracticable. None of the plans for making Scottsburg a manufacturing town at this time, or down to the present, succeeded. An appropriation for the improvement of the river above that place was indced secured from congress and applied to that purpose a few years later, so far that a small steamer built for a low stage of water made one trip to Win- chester. The Umpqua above the falls at Scottsburg is a succession of rapids over rocky ledges which form the bottom of the stream. The water in sum- mer is shallow, and in winter often a rushing torrent. In the winter of 1861-2 it carried away the mills and most of the valuable improvements at the lower town, which were not rebuilt.


11 The Willamette Valley railroad was to have been built on the west side of the valley. The commissioners were Fred. Waymire, John Thorp, and Martin L. Barber. Or. Statesman, April 25, 1854. The first railroad pro- jected in Oregon was from St Helen, on the Columbia, to Lafayette, the idea being put forth by H. M. Knighton, original owner of the former place, and Crosby and Smith, owners of Milton town site. See Or. Spectator, April 17, 1851.


327


APPROPRIATIONS.


gate in advocating them. The principal appropria- tions now obtained were the sum before mentioned for paying the expenses of the Rogue River war; $10,000 to continue the military road from Myrtle Creek to Scottsburg; and $10,000 in addition to a former appropriation of $15,000 to construct a light- house at the mouth of the Umpqua, with a propor- tionate part of a general appropriation of $59,000 to be used in the construction of light-houses on the coasts of California and Oregon.12


12 Cong. Globe, 1853-4, 2249. This work, which had been commenced on the Oregon coast in 1853, was delayed by the loss of the bark Oriole of Baltimore, Captain Lentz, wrecked on the bar of the Columbia the 19th of Sept., just as she had arrived inside, with material and men to erect the light-house at Cape Disappointment. The wind failing, on the ebb of the tide the Oriole drifted among the breakers, and on account of the stone and other heavy cargo in her hold, was quickly broken up. The crew and twenty workman, with the contractor, F. X. Kelley, and the bar- pilot, Capt. Flavel, escaped into the boats, and after twelve hours' work to keep them from being carried out to sea, were picked up by the pilot-boat and taken to Astoria. Thus ended the first attempt to build the much needed light-house at the mouth of the Columbia. In 1854 Lieut George H. Derby was appointed superintendent of light-houses in Cal. and Or. Additional ap- propriations were asked for in 1854. In 1856 the light-house at Cape Disap- pointment was completed. Its first keeper was John Boyd, a native of Maine, who came to Or. in 1853, and was injured in the explosion of the Ga- zelle. He married Miss Olivia A. Johnson, also of Maine, in 1859. They had four children. Boyd died Sept. 10, 1865, at the Cape. Portland Orego- zinn, Sept. 18, 1865. The accounting officer of the treasury was authorized to adjust the expenses of the commissioners appointed by the ter. assembly to prepare a code of laws, and of collecting and printing the laws and archives of the prov. govt. U. S. House Jour., 725, 33d cong. Ist sess; Cong. Globe, 1853-4, app. 2322. The laws and archives of the provisional government, compiled by L. F. Grover, were printed at Salem by Asahel Bush. The code was sent to New York to be printed. The salaries of the ter. judges and the sec. were increased $500 each, and the services of Geo. L. Curry, while acting governor, were computed the same as if he had been gov- ernor. The legislative and other contingent expenses of the ter. amounted to 832,000, besides those of the surv .- gen. office, Ind. dep., mnil. dep., and mail service. The expenses of the govt, not included in those paid by the U. S., amounted for the fiscal year ending Dec. 1853 to only $3,359.54; and the public debt to no more than $855.37. Or. Statesman, Dec. 20, 1853; Or. Journal Council, 1853-4, p. 143-5; Portland Oregonian, Jan. 27, 1854. Two new districts for the collection of customs were established at the 2d sess. of the 33d cong., viz., Cape Perpetua, and Port Orford, with collectors drawing salaries of $2,000 each, who might employ each a clerk at $1,500; and a deputy at each port of delivery at $1,000 a year; besides gauger, weigh- er, and measurer, at $6 a day, and an inspector at 84. Cong. Globe, vol. 31, app. 384, 33d cong. 2d sess. The port of entry for the district of Cape Per- petua was fixed at Gardiner, on the Umpqua River. More vessels entered the Columbia than all the other ports together. From Sept. 1, 1853, to July 13, 1854, inclusive, there were 179 arrivals at the port of Astoria, all from S. F. except one from Coos Bay, two from New York, and one from London. The London vessel brought goods for the Hudson's Bay Company, the only




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