USA > Oregon > Pioneer days of Oregon history, Vol. I > Part 19
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he went he carried Oregon with him. He made the air of Washington redolent of wild mountain tales and stories of bear and Indian combats, so familiarly told that listening youth and enthralled woman worshipped him as a hero. Meek was good looking and conversed with ease and fluency, if not grammatically. His smooth tones interested if they could not convince. He was a remarkable man in sundry respects, and it seemed far from incongruous that the moun- tains of Oregon should send as their representative so orig- inal and unique a character. Meek entered Washington a hero of the Western wilds, and evidently did not stay long enough to exhaust his imagination or dull the brilliance and freshness of his fancy sketches.
As I have already shown, Meek was well paid for his ser- vices and failed to reimburse Ebbert according to his sol- emn assurance. If he had not been especially favored it would have been excusable, but when he received nearly or quite $8000 from various sources and squandered his means foolishly, if not wickedly, there was no possible excuse for the defalcation. Meek was marshal of the United States for Oregon Territory after his return, and the emoluments of his official life should have put him independent of the world, but he was ever improvident and reckless.
A SUMMING UP OF JO MEEK
His character was formed of frontier material and his personal traits were more remarkable for careless good na- ture than for earnest work or zealous patriotism. He was a "character" in various senses of the term. His life was fully illustrative of the lucky escapades and reckless indif-
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ferences that made the Indians believe he had a charmed life and opened for his coming in civilized life and society the portals of the rich and great as well as the doors of all other classes.
Those were times that called into exercise various qual- ities from many men. The missions did their part toward laying a groundwork of civilized life, and their schools were greatly beneficial. We may criticise the men who came here to dedicate their lives to Christianizing the savage, and who turned, when the tide of gold seekers came thronging to the West, to claim their share of the profits of the golden epoch, but we cannot deny that the missionary effort, how- ever selfish in a few instances it became, laid the foundation in good part for the progress we have achieved. The reck- less mountain man came as the opposite extreme. Every free man from the mountains was a zealous patriot ; they furnished the primary element, daring and reckless yet brave and true, that preceded the regular emigrations and stood openly by the flag as missionaries did not dare to do. Meek may have been irresponsible in a measure, but his heart was right in many respects. Besides him there were Newell, and Mckay, and Ebbert, and Wilkins, and Gale, and Gay, and Baldra, and Larrison, and Flitt, with many others, trappers all, who became good citizens and formed the bulwark of defence that made wives and children feel safe and sleep well when the Indian war-whoop waked our eastern hills and plains.
CHAPTER XXIX
HALL J. KELLEY
THIS is a tribute from one who, in the course of a long life of literary work and half a century of residence in Oregon, has written, in a desultory way, much of its early history ; inspired to do so by association with fur traders, mountain- eers, missionaries and pioneers who came at an earlier date than did he. The flavor of that earliest time was yet on the air when he came, and wide association with those who made earliest history-when the morning dew of the early day was yet on the untamed wilds-lent a charm to that epoch that no other can ever know.
In making a résumé of the various characters who left a personal impress on that time, he was strongly impressed with the story of Hall J. Kelley, who was inspired at an early day to have faith in this farthest West and to work earnestly for its settlement.
Hall J. Kelley was a man of education, a graduate of Harvard, a maker of progressive school books, a competent surveyor and interested in the higher branches of mathemat- ics. He had been successful as an educator and possessed some means. As early as 1815, when he was twenty-four years old, he became enthused with the Oregon question, when the only information to be had was the Lewis and Clark ex- pedition of 1806, and the disasters of the Pacific Fur Com-
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pany in establishing Astoria in 1812-14. He may have met at Boston men returned from adventurous voyages, trading on the Northwest Coast, and so have gained ideas as to the commercial value of this region and possibilities of the fu- ture. He could have had very little general information of the west coast, certainly little specific knowledge as to the vast region that was then practically unknown-save to the Hudson's Bay Company and its representatives. With a wonderful mixture of faith and infatuation he made the settlement and development of this region, and preservation of the Oregon title in the United States, the absorbing ob- ject of his entire life.
Let us concede in advance that the man had radical faults of character, that he was conceited as to the value of his labors and to some extent unreasonable in his pretensions, but, when this is all said, he must have been a man of force and definite purpose to expend twenty years of the prime of life in the attempt to preserve the American title to the territory of Oregon at that early day, and to entertain schemes for the settlement and development of that vast region.
From the early date mentioned, he wrote and published facts-as well as his conclusions from them-showing the practical value and ultimate importance of the west coast of America. Especial work must have been done to cause Floyd, of Virginia, to introduce the Oregon question in the House of Representatives in 1820; some one must have studied the question in all its bearings and discussed it pub- licly, to make it popular at that time. This Hall J. Kelley did. Bancroft, the historian of the Pacific, speaks slight- ingly of the Yankee schoolmaster ; while he concedes that
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Kelley brought unselfish zeal and earnest Christian charity to his work, yet in beginning a lengthy notice he introduces him thus: "The Boston schoolmaster is a character the his- torian is not particularly proud of. He is neither a great hero nor a great rascal. He is great at nothing and is re- markable rather for his want of strength and in staggering for fifty years for an idea too big for him." Not stopping to criticise this, as an example of written history, I invoke sympathy for a man whose life was wrecked because he placed his faith and built hopes on this region when it was new to the world.
Kelley believed the fur trade would be of immense value ; that fisheries on the whole coast could be made profitable ; that the Asiatic trade could be controlled from here; that it devolved on the churches of the East to Christianize the Indians of the vast West.
Whatever were the sources of Kelley's facts they were wonderfully correct. His critics concede that he was a terse and vigorous writer who did much to make Oregon known; that his ideas were broad and for the nation's best interests. He believed profit would repay enterprise and made the re- ligious feature prominent. He was both an enthusiast and zealot, and-to his misfortune-was not a clear-sighted business man.
In 1827 he incorporated a society and issued a circular "To all persons who wish to migrate to Oregon Territory," wherein he gave a general description of the country and necessary conditions for becoming an emigrant. This emi- gration was to take place in 1832 ; the scheme was compre- hensive: to secure people of excellent character to fill all conditions of society, to be energized and vitalized by the
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mild and vital principles of the American republic and sacred ordinances of the Christian religion.
It was a great scheme, but he claimed that success was defeated by the interested fur companies, who desired only the life of the wilderness and existing savage conditions. Kelley planned a virgin State that was to achieve perfection. When this enterprise failed-after several hundred pro- posed emigrants had been enlisted-he determined to make a journey to the promised land to judge for himself and lay foundation for further effort.
He had sent his publications far and wide, especially to government leaders and persons of prominence. He had memorialized Congress for support to aid the undertaking, but the terms of joint occupancy by Great Britain and the United States were such that he only received assurance that any settlement he should make would be protected. In '29 he asked for a grant of twenty-five miles square, in the Columbia valley, to be colonized; but as we had no definite title no such grant could be made.
Believing that the Hudson's Bay Company had opposed his plans, he violently assailed them through the press and urged Congress to assert American rights. From 1830 he spent every winter in Washington, urging action and trying to influence legislation. In the spring of 1833 he deter- mined to see Oregon for himself. Fearing that if he went overland his notoriety might cause trouble from those he had so bitterly reproached, he secured a passport through Mexico, so shipped his stuff to New Orleans, where he went with a small party, who all forsook him there; thence to Vera Cruz, thinking to take his goods through Mexico, thence to Oregon. His goods were seized for customs dues
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and confiscated, causing great loss. He spent several months in Mexico, trying to interest teachers in his im- proved methods. He must have gone from Mexico, by some Western seaport, to California by ship, as he was there early in 1834, trying to secure contracts from Governor Fuguera. He made some surveys for individuals and maps of that region, all of which shows that the Yankee schoolmaster kept matters moving and was no laggard in work or enter- prise.
In the summer of 1834 Kelley met in California with Ewing Young, who became a leading character in early Oregon time. Young had been a cabinet maker in Ten- nessee, then a trader to Santa Fé, and finally went to Cali- fornia. Enthused by Kelley's account of Oregon, he and others, making ten in all, started North. Young had sev- enty-seven horses and mules to drive, commencement for a stock ranch in Oregon. The others had twenty-one more, making ninety-eight in all. As they were leaving they were joined by nine disreputable ones who did not go through, but turned off at the northern border with fifty-six animals they had picked up without taking a receipted bill for pur- chase. Governor Fuguera, learning that stolen stock had been driven north in this company, sent word by vessel trad- ing to the Columbia, to Governor McLoughlin that Young and Kelley were the thieves. Kelley was ill with mountain fever as they entered Southern Oregon, but was taken care of by a party of Hudson's Bay Company's trappers, fortu- nately met, under La Framboise, for 300 miles of travel, carrying him on men's shoulders at times, who landed him and his at Vancouver. That was his reception by the monopoly he had so bitterly and so long denounced.
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Governor McLoughlin could not receive a proclaimed horse thief into the gentlemen's mess, but kindly provided Kelley with a house to live in, provisions to eat and persons to serve him ; he had little cause for complaint, but his pride was humbled when gentlemen refused to associate with him.
It was due to Kelley's work and writings that Nathaniel J. Wyeth became impressed with Oregon and came to the Columbia in 1834, on a trading voyage that proved a fail- ure. While the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company treated him like a brother and entertained him bountifully, the moment he attempted to trade with the natives, they undersold him at ruinous loss, so that in despair he sold out to them and left Oregon-"a sadder and a wiser man." But at the time referred to Wyeth was being pleasantly en- tertained at Vancouver, and Kelley thought he should en- deavor, by vouching for his standing, to relieve his dilemma. But Wyeth ignored him-Kelley thought-because he was "down on his luck."
His word and his writings had also inspired Jason Lee, the Methodist Mission leader. He was occasionally at Van- · couver, but Lee was at that time greatly dependent on Mc- Loughlin and-"alas for the rarity of Christian charity"- could not afford to indorse one who was under a cloud. These things embittered Kelley's soul and made life hateful ; but he managed to do some surveying on the Columbia and to acquire much valuable information concerning Puget Sound that was published after his return.
We have seen Kelley as gentleman and scholar, who in- fluenced a wide circle and instructed the National Congress. His ambition had been to reach Oregon, which he at last did, penniless, sick, worn, ragged, and, worst of all, branded
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as a thief and proscribed. This was indeed a sorry plight. He had denounced McLoughlin's company and himself as tyrants and infamous. But John McLoughlin remains in Oregon history the most noble, manly and humane of Chris- tian gentlemen. He could not receive Kelley at his own table, but he housed and fed him and furnished servants to wait on him. In the ensuing spring, when a vessel was going to the Sandwich Islands, McLoughlin gave him free passage and handed him his check on London for £7, or $35, to ease the situation. The act was like Dr. John McLough- lin, the "Czar of the West," the despot who ruled from the Pacific Ocean to the summit of the Rockies. Kelley wrote: "This was very kind! and I feel thankful for it."
Life could hardly offer any man greater disappointment than had befallen Hall J. Kelley. It was pitiful to have ventured so much to lose it all. For all he lost and went through of danger, sickness, and the crowning obloquy that met him at Vancouver's gate, it seems as if we can forgive much, especially if, to one who suffers much, much should be forgiven.
Kelley reached home by a whaler in 1836. He had some property remaining which he invested and lost in a cotton mill. It is claimed that these losses unsettled his mind, as he could think of nothing but his misfortunes. His bête noire was still the great Oregon monopoly, for he believed that its emissaries followed all his life. Abandoning his family, he lived on a small piece of land, from which no en- treaty could draw him. He died at eighty-three years of age, in 1874. His life had great and noble aspirations, not for personal profit so much as to advance the world and benefit humanity.
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We envy none who can look on the story of Hall J. Kelley with contempt. No doubt Wyeth did receive from him the impulse that sent him to Oregon ; Jason and Daniel Lee were inspired by him to undertake the Oregon mission ; he cer- tainly induced Ewing Young and others to come from Cali- fornia in 1834. These were germs that made the tree, for the Lees laid foundation for churches, schools, homes and settlement in the Willamette valley. Young was the means of bringing the first settlers to locate in that valley ; also in 1836 organized the Cattle Company that brought cattle to graze on the rare pasturage of Western Oregon. Continu- ally, as I study the features of that early time, I trace the primal influences to Hall J. Kelley as having given them birth. Oregon can afford to kindly remember him for the good he tried to do and really accomplished as results have shown. He alone was stirring the cauldron of Fate, and did and said what had momentous results. It is more kindly to place a stone upon his cairn than to throw any slur on one who suffered and lost so much.
Hall J. Kelley had wonderful prescience and judgment in discerning facts and drawing conclusions. He lived to see his hopes realized by others, and in his old age watched from afar the growth of the State and development of the region that he had studied so long and had learned so well. He continued writing of Oregon for over thirty years after re- turning in 1836. Judge Thornton had letters from him between 1869 and 1871; as late as 1868 he published a "History of the Settlement of Oregon," with an account of the forty years he claimed to have suffered persecution, for his failures and woes caused this monomania. He com- menced work in 1815, and gave himself up to it in 1824;
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continued to write for over half a century, furnished facts to Webster ; to Oregon's fast friend, Senator Linn, of Mis- souri ; championed the Oregon cause in 1842 with more facts than could be derived from all other sources, all de- rived from his own writings. The fight for Oregon was for long made on facts he furnished. This visionary, whose life was a disappointment, because he attempted too much, laid foundation for all that was finally accomplished. It was surprising that he accomplished so much and was so reliable. He named the Cascades the "Presidents' Range," giving names of early Presidents to the snowy peaks. Of these, two retain the names he gave-Adams, on the north of the Columbia, and Jefferson, one hundred miles south. He accurately described the Lower Columbia and Puget Sound regions. His life was only failure so far as his own interests were concerned.
Kelley's work was far reaching. His life work was as the finger of fate pointing the way, and his labors reached fruition while he was neglected and his services forgotten. It will be some compensation to his memory if the Muse of History can shed lustre for the memory of one whose deserts have counted for so little. A want of balance can wreck the hopes of a life, or seal the fate of the proudest ship that sails the sea.
I have been struck with the fact that Kelley was the spe- cial providence, inspired at the earliest time to appreciate the value of this region, when Congress ignored it and the nation was ignorant of its value. Eliminate from that period this single feature and it is doubtful when American occupancy could have been effective. The very man who discovered gold in California was one who came from Ore-
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gon, drawn there by the facts stated. Before the century shall have passed, through which he so ardently labored and so bitterly suffered, it will not be too late to accord to him the merit he deserves and plant this modest laurel on his forgotten grave.
CHAPTER XXX
NATHANIEL J. WYETH
IN 1830 there was much excitement in the Eastern States- especially on the border-as to the Oregon question. The fate of the Astor enterprise and the publication of various reports, such as of that unfortunate expedition and the journal of the Lewis and Clark expedition-especially the latter-created much interest in the question as to whether Oregon should be left to British rule, as result of the joint occupancy that was agreed on, or could be made territory of the United States by actual settlement. At this time Nathaniel J. Wyeth was twenty-eight years old, had a young family and possessed actual means to be moderately independent. The question pending was : "Is Oregon worth possessing?" a question that involved the northwest of the Pacific from the 42º north latitude to the 49°, that to-day. includes all of Idaho, Oregon and Washington and much of Montana lying west of the Rocky Mountains, between the degrees of latitude named.
Floyd, of Virginia, and Benton, of Missouri, were warm friends of Oregon. In December, 1820, Mr. Floyd intro- duced in the House a resolution for a committee to inquire into the expediency of occupying the Columbia River and territory adjacent. Nothing came of it, save discussion, for and against ; some opposing because they did not seem to think the game was worth the candle. In February, 1823, Mr. Benton brought the matter up in the Senate.
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His aim was to prevent the west coast falling into the hands of the British. Thus the question was kept alive and an im- pression made generally, but on Wyeth particularly, so that on March 11, 1832, he left Boston with a company of twenty-one men, fully equipped for the trip. They went by sea to Baltimore, by land to Pittsburg, and then by steam- boat to Independence, at that time the last settlement on the Missouri River. Late in May they started to cross the plains. July 8th they reached Pierre's Hole, on the Sweet- water, close to the Rocky Mountains, where they were at- tacked by Blackfeet and over twenty of the Blackfeet and thirty-two horses were left dead; three whites were killed and eight wounded, and ten Flathead and Nez Perce In- dians, who lived over the range to the west and were then with them-hereditary foes to the Blackfeet-were also killed. So many of his company had become discouraged and had left him at different times, that he now had only eleven men remaining. With some of the friendly Nez Percés they then crossed the Rocky Mountains to the Flat- head and Nez Perce country, came to Fort Walla Walla, descended the Columbia in canoes to Vancouver, where they were well received by the people of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, who entertained them in the most kindly manner.
Wyeth had exhausted all his means and reached Van- couver poor in flesh, poor in spirit, and impoverished in purse. All he had to depend on was the coming of the Sultana with the goods consigned to him, and as weeks and months passed and no ship came, he remained the guest of McLoughlin and dependent on his generosity. Bancroft says this, but I prefer to believe that Wyeth had means re- maining in New England, and while he lost all he took with
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him for trade was not beggared when at Vancouver. Mc- Loughlin found work for his companions, and treated all who were willing to work as he did his British employés. Two who were with Wyeth taught a school at Vancouver after he left.
In Boston Wyeth had obtained consignments of goods from merchants engaged in trade with the Northwest Coast, the Islands and China, and they were to send these on the ship Sultana for him to sell on the Columbia. The Sultana sailed early in 1832, but never reached Oregon. He waited there for news of her coming, but no vessel came and no word was received. After awhile he became discouraged as to this ship appearing. On his return to the East, he learned that the vessel was lost on a reef near the Sandwich Islands. Had this ship met his expectations the experiment for trade would have been made earlier, but as it did not ar- rive he determined to return East and make another venture.
By the 15th of November, 1832, Wyeth had no men left and was thrown on his own resources. He made a tour of observation up the Willamette valley and saw a country the most beautiful imaginable ; he offered to accompany one of the expeditions leaving Vancouver, but Governor McLough- lin declined. So long as hospitality was involved, he was made welcome, but when it came to business matters, he was not encouraged in the least. February 3, 1833, he hired two men to go with him and started to retrace his steps across the continent. May 1 he was among Nez Percés and Flatheads, related tribes, who lived on the farthest waters of the Columbia and were very kindly. As he said in his journal: "Every morning some important Indian addresses either heaven or his countrymen, exhorting them to good
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conduct to each other and to the strangers among them. On Sunday there is more prayer, no trading or games, and they seldom fish, kill game or raise camps. Theft is almost unknown and punished by flogging. The least thing, even to a bead or pin, is brought you if found." He compares them favorably to average whites, and adds: "They have a mild, playful, laughing disposition and their qualities are strongly portrayed in their countenances." Though poor, they do not beg; they were very brave and fought the Blackfeet, the very worst desperadoes among the mountain. tribes. "The women are closely covered and chaste and the young women are good looking." He was then among the very best and noblest of the Indian race in all the far West, and it is pleasant to record the virtues that Wyeth, as well as Lewis, Clark and Bonneville, credit to them.
May 5th some prophet was in camp getting up a new scheme of religion. Like others who are sensational on re- ligious schemes, he worked with women, children and fools, and reminded of the new lights who illuminate New Eng- land. June 10th an Indian was mortally wounded by a buffalo. Very composedly he made his will by word of mouth, and those around him responded at close of each sen- tence. He was not the least intimidated at the approach of death. Wyeth had various experiences with Blackfeet, griz- zly bears and buffalo, and reaching the Big Horn River August 12th, went hunting to get buffalo hides to make a boat, which was done by mountain men in his company. August 15th, six of them started down in that slight craft from near the very point where Custer made his last fatal fight in 1876. They went in this down the Big Horn, the Yellowstone, and the Missouri, past many dangers, often
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