USA > Oregon > Douglas County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 24
USA > Oregon > Jackson County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 24
USA > Oregon > Josephine County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 24
USA > Oregon > Coos County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 24
USA > Oregon > Curry County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 24
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" I re-entered the senate chamber with the deepest feelings of solicitude, and yet hopeful because of the assurances which had been given to me by the gentlemen I have named. [Douglas, Benton and Hale.] I soon saw, however, that Calhoun and But- ler, of South Carolina ; Davis and Foote, of Mississippi; and Hunter and Mason of Virginia, as leaders of the opposition, had girded up their loins and had buckled on their armor for the battle. The friends of the bill, led by Mr. Benton, having taken their position, waited calmly for the onset of their adversaries, who spent Saturday until the usual hour of adjournment in skirmishing in force, as if feeling the strength
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of their opponents. When the motion was made at the usual time in the afternoon for adjournment, the friends of the bill came pouring out of the retiring rooms, and on coming inside the bar they voted 'No' with very marked emphasis. * This state of affairs continued until after night. [Here ensued a series of filibustering tactics, during which a personal altercation between Judge Butler and Senator Benton came near resulting in blows.] General Foote, the collegue of Jeff. Davis, then rose, and in a drawling tone assumed for the occasion, said his powers of endurance, he believed, would enable him to continue his address to the senate until Monday, 12 o'clock M., and although he could not promise to say much on the subject of the Oregon bill, he could not doubt that he would be able to interest and greatly edify distinguished sena- tors. The friends of the bill, seeing what was before them, posted a page in the door- way opening into one of the retiring rooms, and then, after detailing a few of their number to keep watch and ward on the floor of the senate, withdrew into the room of which I have spoken, to chat and tell anecdotes and to drink wine, or perhaps some- thing even much stronger, and thus to wear away the slowly and heavily passing hours of that memorable Saturday night. Soon great clouds of smoke filled the room, and from it issued the sound of the chink of glasses, and of loud conversation, almost drown- ing the eloquence of the Mississippi senator, as he repeated the bible story of the cosmogany of the world, the creation of man, the taking from his side of the rib from which Eve was made, her talking with the 'snake,' as he called the evil one, the fall of man, etc. etc. The galleries were soon deserted. Many of the aged senators prostrated themselves upon the sofas in one of the retiring rooms, and slumbered soundly, while 'thoughts that breathed and words that burned' fell in glowing eloquence from the lips of the Mississippi senator, as he continued thus to instruct aud edify the few watching friends of the bill, who, notwithstanding the weight of seventy years pressed heavily upon some of them, were as wide awake as the youngest ; and they sat firm and erect in their seats, watching with lynx eyes every movement of the adversaries of the bill.
" At intervals of about an hour, the speaker would yield the floor to a motion for adjournment, coming from the opposition. Then the sentinel page at the door would give notice to the waking senators in the retiring room, and these would immediately arouse the slumbering senators, and all would then rush pell mell through the doorway, and when the inside of the bar was reached, would vote 'No' with a thundering emphasis. Occasionally southern senators, toward Sunday morning, relieved Gen. Foote by short, dull speeches, to which the friends of the bill vouchsafed no answers ; so that Mr. Cal- houn and his pro-slavery subordinates had things for the most part all their own way until Sabbath morning, August 13, 1848, at about eight o'clock, when the leading opponents of the bill collected together in a knot, and after conversing together a short time in an undertone, the Mississippi senator who had been so very edifying and enter- taining during the night, said that no further opposition would be made to taking a vote on the bill. The ayes and nayes were then called and the bill passed."
Not alone to Mr. Thornton is due the honor of representing Oregon at Washington during that long struggle for justice. Another delegate, one with even better creden- tials than the first, was there to aid in the work. This was Joseph L. Meek, the moun- taineer and trapper whose name is indelibly inscribed upon the early annals of the Pacific coast. When the massacre of the martyred Whitman and his associates at Waiilatpu
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plunged the settlers into a state of mingled grief and alarm, it was thought necessary to dispatch a messenger at once to Washington to impart the intelligence, impress the authorities with the precarious situation of the colony, and appeal for protection. Winter had set in with all its vigors in the mountains. The terrible journey made at that season six years before by Dr. Whitman, on his patriotic mission, the same person whose martyrdom now rendered a second journey necessary, was fresh in the minds of all, and appalled the stoutest heart. Mr. Thornton had taken the longer but safer route by sea, but time was too precious, too much was at stake, to admit of the delay sneh a journey would impose, even if the vessel were at hand to afford the means. Nothing but a trip across the thousands of miles of snow-bound mountains, plains and deserts, would be of any avail. In the emergency all turned to Joseph L. Meek as the one man in their midst whose intrepid courage, great powers of physical endurance, long experience in mountain life and familiarity with the routes of travel and Indian tribes to be encountered, rendered him capable of undertaking the task with a good prospect of success. Unhesitatingly he accepted the mission, resigned his seat in the legislature, received his credentials as a delegate from that body, and set out on the fourth of January for Washington, accompanied by John Owens and George Ebberts, who decided to go with him and avail themselves of his services as guide and director. At The Dalles they were forced to delay several weeks until the arrival of the Oregon volunteers rendered it safe for them to proceed, since the whole upper country was overrun by hostile Indians.
They accompanied the troops to Waiilatpu, where Meek had the mournful satis- faction of assisting in the burial of the victims of Cayuse treachery, among whom was his own daughter, and then were escorted by a company of troops to the base of the Blue mountains, where they finally entered upon their long and solitary journey. By avoiding the Indians as much as possible, and whenever encountered by them repre- senting themselves as Hudson's Bay Company men, they reached Fort Boise in safety. Here two of four new volunteers for the journey became discouraged and decided to remain. The other five travelers pushed on to Fort Hall, saving themselves from the clutch of the Bannacks only by Meek's experience in dealing with the savages. It is needless to recount the many hardships they endured, the sleepless nights and dinner- less days, the accidents, dangers, fatigues, narrow escapes from hostile Indians and the thousand discomforts and misadventures to which they were subjected. It is sufficient to say that through all these they passed in safety, never forgetting for an instant the imperative necessity for haste, and never flinching from the trials that lay in their pathway. The hearty invitation to spend a few weeks here or there in the few places where they encountered friends and comfortable quarters, was resolutely declined, and with only such delay as was absolutely required, they plunged again into the snowy mountain passes with their faces resolutely set towards the rising sun. They reached St. Joseph in but little more than two months after leaving the Willamette valley, having made the quickest trip across the continent that had been accomplished at any season of the year.
Meek was now reduced to most embarrassing straits. Dressed in buckskin and blanket clothes and wolf skin cap, ragged and dirty in the extreme, beard and hair long and unkempt, without money or friends, how to get to Washington or how
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OREGON.
to conduct himself when there, were perplexing questions. His solution of the diffi- culty was a characteristic one. By making a clown of himself at one place, by assum- ing an air of importance and dignity at another, he succeeded in reaching the city of his destination only a week or two later than Mr. Thornton, though his news from Oregon was four months fresher than that brought by his predecessor. The united labors of these two men brought about the result which has been detailed, the passage of the act of August 14, 1848, creating the territory of Oregon.
President Polk, the staunch friend of Oregon, the man who had been elevated to the chief office in the nation amid the universal shout of " Fifty-four-forty-or-fight !" was eager to have the work consummated before the expiration of his term on the fourth of the ensuing March. To this end he appointed Meek marshal of the new territory, and delegated him to convey a governor's commission to General Joseph Lane, then residing in Indiana and unaware of the honor to be conferred, or the sacrifice to be re- quired, in which ever light it may be viewed. With that promptness of decision and action which was General Lane's distinguishing characteristic, he accepted the com- mission on the spot, and in three days had disposed of his property, wound up his bus- iness affairs and begun his journey to the far off wilds of Oregon. They were escorted by a detachment of troops, and after a journey of six months, by the way of New Mexico and Arizona, seven only of the party reached San Francisco, two having died on the route and the others having deserted to try their fortunes in the new gold fields of the Sierra. These seven were General Lane, Marshal Meek, Lieutenant Hawkins, Surgeon Hayden and three enlisted men. Taking passage in the schooner Jeannette, they reached the Columbia river after a tedious voyage of eighteen days, ascended that stream to Oregon City, a distance of 120 miles, in small boats, reaching that place, then the seat of government, on the second of March, 1849. The following day Gov- ernor Lane issued his proclamation and assumed the duties of his office, being but one day before the expiration of President Polk's official term.
The first territorial officers of Oregon were : governor, Joseph Lane ; secretary, Kintzing Pritchett ; treasurer, James Taylor; auditor, B. Gervais ; chief justice, Wil- liam P. Bryant ; associate justices, O. C. Pratt and P. A. Burnett ; United States marshal, Joseph L. Meek ; superintendent of common schools, James McBride; libra- rian, W. T. Matlock ; territorial printer, Wilson Blain ; commissioner of Cayuse war claims, A. A. Skinner. All of these officials, save the governor, secretary, marshal and judges, were appointed by the legislature when it convened in the fall.
General Lane appointed census marshals as provided for in the organic act, who reported the population of the territory as shown in the following table:
WALLING . LITH - PORTLAND-DR.
FARM RESIDENCE OF GEO. M. LOVE AND JOHN A. HANLEY, AND FORMERLY OF MRS. M.A. CHAMBERS, 1+ MILFS N F OF . JACKSONVILLE .. JACKSON C.n.
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OREGON.
CENSUS OF 1849.
COUNTIES.
Males under 21
years of age.
Males 21 years
Females of all
Males un-
der 21
Males 21
and over.
Females of
Total number of
Total number of
foreigners.
Total.
Clackamas
401
390
585
12
5
1376
17
1393
Tualatin
346
293
46g
1
23
8
1107
35
1142
Champoeg.
465
458
647
5
94
13
1570
112
1682
Clatsop.
49
100
75
3
224
3
227
Yamhill
394
402
557
3
8
4
1353
15
1368
Polk
337
327
509
1
1173
1
1174
Lewis
39
33
37
1
31
1
109
36
145
Linn
295
269
359
923
923
Bentor
271
229
370
870
870
Vancouver.
4
22
20
2
39
12
80
79
159
Total
2601
2523
3627
15
211
46
8795
298
9083
--
Foreigners.
all ages.
citizens.
and over.
ages.
years.
Subsequent to the departure of Thornton and Meek upon their mission to Wash- ington, but prior to the return of the latter with Governor Lane, a new era set in on the Pacific coast. On the nineteenth of January, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold on the south fork of the American river, in California. Marshall had come to Oregon in the immigration of 1844, and had the next year passed sonth into Cali- fornia, where he entered the employment of Captain John A. Sutter, who had crossed the plains to Oregon in 1838 and to California by way of the Sandwich islands in 1839. In the fall of 1847, Marshall went up into the Sierras east of Sutter's settlement of New Helvetia (Sacramento), and began building a saw mill for his employer, which was nearly completed at the time he accidentally discovered gold in the tail race. All California was excited by the discovery, and nearly every able-bodied man abandoned everything and hastened to the mines. The intelligence did not reach Oregon until the following August, and the effect upon such a class of adventurous spirits as com- posed the pioneers can well be imagined. There was at once a great rush for Cali- fornia, and it looked as though Oregon would be deserted and relegated back to the dominion of the Hudson's Bay Company and Indians. This, however, was but tem- porary. Family and business ties held many back and hastened the return of others, many bringing with them heavy sacks of the yellow treasure. What had at first promised to be an overwhelming calamity soon proved a bountiful blessing. Thous- ands of men poured into California from every quarter of the world, and a brisk demand at once sprung up for the grain, flour, vegetables and food products of all kinds which Oregon could produce in abundance, but for which no market had pre- viously existed. California gold began to pour into Oregon in a steady stream, com- merce began to assume large proportions, a custom house was established at Astoria, and this region made great strides on the road to wealth and prosperity. This sudden increase in business gave rise to a direct infringement of the constitutional prohibition of the coinage of money by state governments or individuals, and this forms one of the most interesting episodes of Oregon history.
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OREGON.
During the winter of 1848-9 people began straggling back from the California mines, bringing with them sacks of gold dust. As a circulating medium gold in such a shape was inconvenient and certain to decrease in quantity as it passed from hand to hand, and an ounce was only called the equivalent of eleven dollars in trade, though intrinsically worth at least sixteen. Commerce and business generally suffered much inconvenience from the lack of coin, and to remedy the evil the legislature passed an act providing for the " assaying, melting, and coining of gold." The advent of Gov- ernor Lane and the decease of the provisional government, operated to render the act void before it could be carried into effect. Still the necessity for money increased, and the want was supplied by private enterprise. A company was organized by responsible and wealthy men, which issued five and ten dollar "Beaver" coins, bearing on one side the figure of a beaver, over which appeared the initial letters of the names of the members of the company-Kilbourn, Magruder, Taylor, Abernethy, Wilson, Rector, Campbell, Smith-and underneath "O. T. 1849." On the reverse side was : "Oregon Exchange Company, 130 Grains Native Gold, 5 D.," or "10 pwts, 20 grains, 10 D." The dies by which the coins were stamped were made by Hamilton Campbell, and the press and rolling machinery by William Rector. The workmanship was quite credit- able. The intrinsic worth of these coins being greater than their representative value, they quickly passed from circulation when the government coins appeared in quantity, and are now only to be found in the keeping of pioneers, in the cabinets of curiosity preservers or the collections of numismatologists.
During the next four years the progress of the territory was marked. In 1851 gold was found to exist in great quantities in Southern Oregon, and that region soon teemed with a restless population of miners. Towns and cities sprung up, and the fer- tile valley lands were located on by settlers and brought under the dominion of the plow. These changes were accompanied by the inevitable trouble with the native owners of the soil, and the scenes of horror which marked them are recounted in other chapters.
By the act of March 3, 1853, congress set off the territory of Washington from that of Oregon, and gave to it a separate political existence. Oregon at that time con- tained 341,000 square miles, equal in area to the six great states of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, by far too large for admission into the Union as a single state. Through it ran the great Columbia river, dividing it into nearly equal parts from the ocean to Fort Walla Walla, where it made a long sweep to the north and east. That portion of the territory lying north and west of this great stream was called Northern Oregon, and within it were a number of small settlements, which included a population, "Quite as great," declared Joseph Lane in congress, " as the whole of Oregon at the period of its organization into a territory." In 1833 the fort at Nisqually, near the head of Puget sound, was located by the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, and soon after the Puget Sound Agricultural Company began to graze cattle and sheep in the vicinity, and to cultivate the lands. These were guarded by the stockade and buildings afterwards occupied by U. S. troops, and known as Fort Steila- coom. In 1838 the Rev. F. N. Blanchet and Rev. M. Demers, of the Society of Jesus of the Roman Catholic faith, established a mission at Fort Vancouver, and soon after one was located on Cowlitz prairie near a post that had been established by the Hnd-
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OREGON.
son's Bay Company. In 1839 the Methodists by Revs. David Leslie and W. H. Wilson, and the Catholics by Father Demers, each established missions at Nisqually.
It was the desire of Great Britain, during the decade previous to the treaty of 1846, to have the Columbia river declared the boundary line between its possessions and those of the United States. To this end efforts of the Hudson's Bay Company were directed, and they looked with disfavor upon the making of any settlements north of that stream by Americans. Nevertheless, in 1844, Col. M. T. Simmons made an unsuccessful attempt to reach Puget sound, having crossed the plains the year before. In 1845, with a few companions, he renewed his efforts and located at the head of the sound, where the Des Chutes river empties into Budd's inlet. Their little settlement was called New Market, now the town of Tumwater, but a mile from Olympia. To this, no active opposition was made by the company ; and in the few following years many other Americans located along the Cowlitz and other streams, and about the head of the sound. The immigrants brought out by the company from the Red river settlements in 1841, whose arrival created so much anxiety in the minds of the Amer- icans, located chiefly on the Cowlitz, in accordance with the plan of making the Columbia the dividing line.
June 27, 1844, the Oregon Provisional Government designated all the territory north and west of the Columbia, Vancouver county ; but owing to the settlements alluded to, that portion lying west of the Cowlitz was made Lewis county ; and the name of Clarke was given to Vancouver county in 1849.
Captain Lafayette Beach founded Steilacoom in January, 1851. In February of the same year Pacific county was created, because of the thriving settlements of Pacific City and Chinook that had sprung up on the north bank of the Columbia, near its mouth. In April, 1851, Port Townsend was located. Congress ertablished the Puget Sound Collection District February 14, 1851, and a custom house was located during the year at Olympia, then the only town on the sound. On the third of November, 1851, the sloop Georgiana, Captain Rowland, sailed with twenty-two passengers for Queen Charlotte's island, where gold had been discovered. On the nineteenth the vessel was cast ashore on the east side of the island, was plundered by the Indians, and the crew and passengers were held in captivity. Upon receipt of the news, the col- lector of enstoms at Olympia dispatched the Damariscore, Captain Balch, with a force of volunteers and U. S. troops from Fort Steilacoom, which had been garrisoned after the treaty of 1846. The schooner sailed on the eighteenth of December, and returned to Olympia with the rescued men the last day of January, 1852.
In 1852 a superior article of coal was found, something much needed on the coast, and capital was at once invested in developing the mines. Three saw mills were built on the sound ; and during the year quite extensive shipments of coal, lumber and fish were made. Many claims were taken up on the fine agricultural lands, and all the ele- ments for a vigorous growth were collected there. The chief settlements then in North- ern Oregon were : Pacific City ; Vancouver, the Hudson's Bay Company headquarters, consisting of 100 houses occupied by its employees, chiefly Kanakas, enclosed by picket fences, and defended by armed bastions and a blockhouse ; Forts Walla Walla, Okinagan and Colville, further up the Columbia ; Olympia, a new town on the sound; Fort Nisqually on the sound, occupied by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, who
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OREGON.
owned extensive farms and supplied provisions to the Hudson's Bay Company, besides shipping products to the Sandwich islands and the Russian post at Sitka. These with many settlements along the sound and between it and the Columbia, formed a section distinct from Oregon proper, with which they had no community of interest, and from whom, being in the minority in the legislature, they were unable to obtain many of the rights they deemed themselves entitled to. Many of them were 500 miles from the seat of the territorial government.
In September, 1852, the Columbian began publication in Olympia, and advocated the formation of a new territory, expressing the wish of a majority of the people in the Sound country. As to those east of the Cascades, they were so few in number, most of them belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, that they cared little about the matter. A convention of delegates from counties north of the river met at a little settlement on the Cowlitz called Monticello, to consider the question, November 25, 1852, A mem- orial to congress was prepared, stating the condition of this region and asking that body to create the territory of Columbia, out of that portion of Oregon lying north and west of the Columbia river. There was no conflict in this matter, the people of Oregon south of the river raising no objection to the proposed change. In fact, delegate Joseph Lane, living in Southern Oregon and elected by the votes of that section, procured the passage of the bill in congress. He first introduced the subject on the sixth of Decem- ber, 1852, by procuring the passage of a resolution instructing the committee on ter- ritories to consider the question and report a bill. The committee reported House Bill No. 8, to organize the territory of Columbia, which came up on the eighth of February, 1853. Mr. Lane made a short speech and introduced the citizens' memorial signed by G. N. McCanaher, president of the convention, R. J. White, its secretary, and Quincy A. Brooks, Charles S. Hathaway, C. H. Winslow, John R. Jackson, D. S. Maynard, F. A. Clarke, and others. Richard H. Stanton, of Kentucky, moved to substitute the name of " Washington " for "Columbia," saying that we already had a District of Columbia while the name of the father of our country had been given to no territory in it. With this amendment the bill was passed through the house on the tenth with 128 votes for and 29 against it. On the second of March, it was adopted by - the senate and received the President's signature the following day.
The act created a territory more than twice the size asked for in the memorial, being " All that portion of Oregon Territory lying and being south of the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, and north of the middle main channel of the Columbia river, from its month to where the forty-sixth degree of north latitude crosses said river near Fort Walla Walla, thence with said forty-sixth degree of latitude to thesummit of the Rocky mountains." This included all of Washington Territory as it now stands, and a portion of Idaho and Montana. The act was in the usual form creating territories, and pro- vided for a governor, to be ex-officio commander-in-chief of militia and superinten- dent of Indian affairs, a secretary, a supreme court of three judges, an attorney, and a marshal, all to be appointed by the President for a term of four years. It also called for a delegate to congress, whose first term was to last only during the congress to which he was elected. A territorial legislature was created, with two branches-a council with nine members and a term of three years, the first ones to serve one, two and three years as decided by lot among them ; and a house of eighteen members, with
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