USA > Oregon > The Oregon native son, 1900-1901 > Part 12
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During those early pioneer days the first native white son born in the present limits of Lane county, was James Mad- ison Hendricks, who was born at Pleas- ant Hill in June, '49, and died in Eugene a few years ago, leaving a family of two daughters. The first native daughter, and who was also first native white child born in the county, was Mary Spores, at present Mrs. Mary Bogart, who was born during the year 1848. The first death was probably that of a traveler from Calfornia in 1849, who, becoming ill on his journey, stopped at Elijah Bristow's.
And there, beneath the roof of that first cabin. the stranger in a distant land, bereft of the presence of home and loved ones, found willing hearts and ready hands to administer to his last earthly wants. He died within a few days after reaching that first cabin and was laid to rest in the Pleasant Hill graveyard, his being the first grave in the oldest ceme- tery in the county.
Educational matters were not neglect- ed during pioneer days. The first school house was built in the fall of 1849 on Pleasant Hill, not far from where the first cabin was located. It, of course. was made of logs and a huge, fireplace occupied or adorned the greater portion of one end. It was built by Elijah Bris- tow, assisted by his sons and two sons-
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in-law, Robert Callison and James Hen- dricks. Grandsons also lent a helping hand, among those being Hon. T. G. Hendricks, of Eugene. School opened the next spring, the first taught in the county, with W. W. Bristow as teacher.
Some three or four miles southeast of Pleasant Hill is Clover Dale, the little village district where in after years, on a pioneer bench, I sat many weary hours, my time fully occupied and my mind about evenly divided between lessons and mischief. But Clover Dale is now like Goldsmith's Deserted Village, or. rather, it has been taken by the Dutch. In the early '50's there was located at Clover Dale what was termed the first high school in the county, known as Cascade Academy. Martin Blanding was principal educator and physical di- rector, but the only apparatus in the gymnasium at that time was the switch of hazel. He was a man of liberal edu- cation .-
"The village all declared how much he knew, 'Twas certain he could write and cipher too; But past is all his fame, the very spot
Where many a time he triumphed is forgot."
But the good work he accomplished yet lives, and many of our active men of today in the county received their high school training at his hands.
Among those Hon. E. P. Coleman, of Coburg, and our respected fellow-towns- man, Hon. T. G. Hendricks. Neither were ministerial affairs overlooked in those days, but the Word of God was not proclaimed in gilded temples to richly robed people in cushioned pews, and where traces of man's pomp or pride are to be seen," but in the open air, beneath the stately Oregon trees, where the humble pioneer wor- shiper, in all the simplicity of childlike faith. could hold communion with his Maker.
The groves were God's first temples, Ere man learn'd
To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave,
And spread the roof above them- Ere he framed
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back
The sound of anthems-in the darkling wood, Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down
And offer'd to the Mightiest, solemn thanks and supplication.
So were the first meetings in Lane county to worship God conducted under the trees. The first of these were held at that primeval starting point of Lane county civilization, Pleasant Hill, by Rev. John Rigdon. And for more than a score of years the annual protracted meeting and big basket dinner, in the fir grove at Pleasant Hill were the much talked of and prepared for events by the good people generally throughout the county. "Uncle" Philip Mulkey was first traveling missionary in the county. T. J. Conner was first minister to hold services on Spencer Creek, which he did under the trees. Noah Starr was one of the early preachers of the county. Joab Powell was an early day Baptist minister and many are the rich, rare and racy yarns of this reverend gentleman related by the pioneers.
The first house built within the cor- porate limits of Eugene was built by Charnel Mulligan, husband of Martha Mulligan, for whom our cabin is named, and was built near where J. S. Luckey's handsome residence now stands. After several years it was moved to the Elias Stewart place, where a portion of it is still standing. It was about this time that the county was organized and named, and I shall go back a year or so in my narrative by way of explana- tion.
In 1848 President Polk, the true and tried friend of Oregon, the man who had been elevated to the chief office in the nation amid the universal shout of "Fif- ty-Four Forty, or Fight!" was eager to have the territory of Oregon created be- fore the expiration of his term on the 4th 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 Gen. Joseph Lane, then residing in Indiana, and un- aware of the honor to be conferred, or the sacrifice to be required, in whichever liglit it may be viewed. With that promptness of decision and action which was Gen. Lane's distinguishing charac- teristic, he accepted the commission on the spot, and in three days had disposed of his property, wound up his business
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affairs and begun his journey to the far- off fields of Oregon, reaching Oregon City on March 2, 1849. The following day Gov. Lane issued his proclamation and assumed the duties of his office, be- ing but one day before the expiration of President Polk's official term. In the following year-in accordance with an act of the territorial legislature, passed January 24, 1851, entitled, "An Act to create and organize Lane coun- ty," it was ordered that "All that portion of Oregon lying south of Linn county, and south of so much of Benton county as is east of Umpqua county, be, and the same is hereby created and organized into a separate county by the name of Lane county," so named in honor of General Joseph Lane, the Marion of the Mexican war, and the first governor of the territory of Oregon. .
The first election held after its organ- ization, occurred on the first Monday in June, 1851, at which time but fifty-one votes were cast, proving conclusively that the population of the county was quite limited with but little interest man- ifest in the political question. Perhaps the entire campaign talk indulged in months previous to the election at that time amounted to not so much as one afternoon's button-holing of the subject on the streets of Eugene at the present time.
From 1840, the time when "Uncle Bristow laid the foundation of that first cabin, until sometime in the 50's commu- nication by letter with relatives in the "States" was limited. The early pioneer knew little of what was taking place in the outside world. Letters were general- ly sent across the plains by emigrants, and frequently failed to reach their des- tination. The first postoffice was estab- lished at Oregon City. Soon after there was one at Salem, and from this point the mail was first carried up the Willam- ette valley, horseback, by a Mr. Allison, who heralded his coming when in a mile or so of a cabin where he was to deliver mail, by the sounding of a tin horn or trumpet, which he carried for that pur- pose. As the tones reverberated through the Oregon woods the inmates of the cabin would assemble outside and fever- ishly await the arrival of a letter from a distant home and loved ones, which in many instances was six months or more enroute.
Contrast this with the different facili- ties of transmitting news to all places in the Union today, and lo, a new era has dawned, while not a few hardy, hoary-headed pioneers remain to witness the same.
Then may not we well say, "All hail to the pioneers of Oregon!"
ANN WHITEAKER.
THE STEAMER CHESTER.
A BOAT THAT DRAWS ONLY FIVE AND ONE-HALF INCHES.
The stern-wheel steamer Chester, owned by the Joseph Kellogg Transpor- tation Company, is a wonder in way of light draft boats. She was built in 1897, is 100 by 20 feet and drew at the time of launching, with all her machinery and equipment on board, just five and one- half inches. After two years of use she draws but seven and one-half inches. She was built for the Cowlitz river run, that river being very shallow in the sum- mer season. The Chester will carry sixty tons of freight and plow her way readily
along from place to place as easily as if there were water enough to float a Great Eastern. The illustration shown on an- other page will set doubters' ideas con- cerning her lightness of draft when they look upon the farm wagon drawn up along side and in the middle of the stream unloading feed for transportation elsewhere. The water-mark on the horses' legs show the shallowness of the water and that the steamer is not in the middle of the stream.
HOW JIM FLOATED IN.
With the dropping of the sun into the sea, and the coming up of the big, round-faced, smiling moon on a hot, sul- try August night, Captain Hezekia Tugg, who had sat for an hour or more in meditative silence on his back porch, suddenly smote the floor with his cane and started up. "By the bones o' the Prophet, I've got it .! Things like this will slip the mind, though, easy as the slippin' of a cable; so I'll just meander down to the hotel and put it into words to my little Beam o' Sunshine."
As the captain hobbled down the trail and thence across the intervening stretch of shingly beach and approached the big hostelry aglow with light within, it was to see a slight girlish figure silhouetted against the sky ,as she walked slowly back and forth on the wide sweep of the veranda.
"Goody! Captain Tugg," cried the young lady, as he crow-hopped up the stairs a step at a time, "Good! you have come down to tell me another charming story, have you not?"
"Yes, Miss." replied the captain, as he seated himself in the shadow of the por- tico, "you've hit the nail square on the head. It was sorter lonesome up there in my little shack on the hill," he apol- ogized, "so I thought I would come down this evenin' and spin you the yarn of how Jim floated in."
"And who was Jim?" questioned the young lady, as she placed an ottoman at the captain's feet for him to rest his rheumatic foot upon.
"A green young countryman, whom we will call Jim for short, who landed in New York years ago, without a cent in his pocket; whose worldly belongings was a good mother's blessing and an old- time morocco family Bible, in which Jim pinned his faith.
"Like many another country lad. Jim had never been to sea, but he had read a good deal about it, and, boy like, he
had hopes of some day bein' master o' a ship. But o' that, Miss, I will speak later on. When his mother died and the home went to swell the shekel-sack o' the holder o' the mortgage, which clings closer than an octopus and eats away like a teredo, Jim was bound out by the se- lectman to a skin-flint farmer, whose mind was so narrow and heart so cal- loused with sin and greed, the meanest thing that crawled would pass him by with contempt.
"Early and late, day in and day out, through sunshine and rain, and sleet and snow, little Jim milked and churned, and hoed and plowed, with many a curse and "kick thrown in, till he was sixteen years o' age. O' nights he would limp up stairs to his attic bed-room under the roof and watch the stars through the lit- tle window, where his angel mother no doubt looked down with pitying eyes.
"The day Jim was sixteen he received the drubbing o' his life, for droppin' his hoe and slippin' away to the circus, come to town that day. Yes, Miss, it was a drubbing, sure enough, the skin-flint gave him, beatin' him black and blue with a bridle stall, the cruel bits raising welts and lumps on his tender skin. ten times worse than any cat-o'-nine-tails you ever heard of. Then Jim woke up. Lying there on his measly pallet that night, a new-born resolve crept into his heart-he would run away and become a sailor.
"To think with Jim was to act. When all was still at the farm house he chucked his earthly belongings-the Bible and a threadbare suit o' clothes, into a carpet- bag that opened up like the yawnin' jaws o' an alligator; then he tip-toed softly down the stairs, and thence out into the starlit world, and journeyed down to New York.
"His path was not strewn with roses. Miss, by any means: they come nearer being thorns. People were leary o' him
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-not that he was onnery or vicious lookin' and all that-but the bulged-out carpet-bag told the story, and they were not always joyful in helping a runaway boy along. Sometimes Jim slept in . barns, cuddled up in the hay; at other times he slept in fence corners, with only God's big starlit sky for a coverin'. Some days he went hungry, and some days he went fed, all owin' to whether some kind- hearted farmer gave him a boost in the right direction with eatables and drink, all of which he paid for in work with his strong young arms.
"In this manner he at last reached the city; footsore and worn he clumped it · along, his heavy cow-hide shoes makin' the pavement ring, an object of pity, truly. The city was strange to him, and as he worked his way further and further into its heart he soon became dazed, and as utterly lost as if on the great plains of Sahara.
By and by the little countryman was spied by a band of street arabs, and Jim's troubles began in earnest. Without warnin' he was set upon and his much- prized carpet-bag jerked from his hand. Then up one street and down another, and thence into an alley, surrounded by high tenement walls, ran the bully o' the crowd, little white-faced, terrified Jim in hot pursuit. Once in the alley the bully gave Jim to understand that he might fight to regain his possessions. So Jim, since he had to, puts up his props, and at it he goes. strikin' regular sledge ham- mer blows. his fresh young face covered with brine as tear drop after tear drop rolled down his cheeks.
"The battle, Miss, was short and de- cisive. In less time than it takes to tell it Jim came out o' the fray with a bloody nose and a badly swollen lip, the victor. by right o' might; and I might add, the hero o' the hour. My, how those street arabs cheered him when he laid the bully out! At that Jim's feathers went up like a banty rooster's and his own down- cast spirits began to rise.
"But Jim was treadin' on dangerous ground. Just as he laid hold o' his car- pet-bag his newly-made mob howlin
friends all at once darted away. Then up goes a window across the street and a frowzy-headed woman yells .Run. country, run! The cops is comin'!" Now Jim didn't know the meanin' o' 'cops' any more than a cannibal. Turn- in' 'round he saw a big policeman, with club on high, bearin' down on him like a schooner on a nor'west tack. That scairt him and he fled for his life.
"You ought to have seen him when he got out of the alley, the old carpet- bag a knockin' and a bangin' against the legs o' the passers by. I tell you he showed a swift pair o' heels!
"As Jim ran down the street people turned and gazed at him in amazement. Then cabmen began to yell at him, and another policeman made a grab for him, but Jim avoided his clutch and kept on. As he turned a corner he banged his head into a big-stomached man wearin' a plug hat, with the force o' a batterin' ram. knockin' him galley west. Jim never stopped, though, but kept on run- nin' till he brought up at the water front way down on East River.
By and by, after he had rested a while. he went down to the river and washed his face; then he began to look around for honest employment. But New York merchants, likewise captains o' ships. didn't want a green country clodhopper for errand or cabin boy; so he wandered around like a ship without a rudder, too proud to beg, until darkness fell over the city.
"In his wanderings Jim passed a little shop built on piles out over the river, the owner o' which was a despised son o' Israel. Something in his make-up attracted the Jew's attention, and as Jim limped past the door, the merchant called him back. Why he did this I don't know. Perhaps Jim reminded him o' himself when he first faced the world in far-away Bavaria. Anyway he called Jim back and heard his straight- forward story. And the Jew believing him, for he saw truth written in the clear brown eyes o' the lad before him. 'Rest here with us, my son,' said he, kindly placing his hand on Jim's curly head:
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"we will see what the morning will bring forth.'
"So Jim, nothing loth, went in, and there by the side o' pretty little four- year-old Gustina, the Jewish couple's only child, he ate his full. After supper lie went to bed under the counter o' the shop; and, as the city clock chimed ten, silence fell over the house o' Israel.
"Thus for the first time in his life Jim slept in the city, his head pillowed on the old family Bible, in which were in- scribed on its pages in his mother's shaky hand, the names of all he held dear who lay sleepin' in the everlastin' hills way up in Vermont. As the hours passed Jim dreamed of green fields and runnin' streams and birds singin' in the trees, the guest o' his good Samaritan friend, whose race was banished from the Promised Land.
"As the city clock struck twelve, Jim's dreams passed from green fields and such, to other channels. He dreamed lie was in another world where he fairly gasped to get his breath. It seemed as if great clouds o' smoke was bearin' him down; he could hear cracklin' flames and smell burnin' wood. Then as the clang, clang, of a bell floated over the city, and a hissin', sputterin' fire engine thundered down the street as fast as horseflesh could draw it, he awoke to find his dream a reality. The shop was on fire!
"When Jim got out from under the counter he found a sea o' fire between him and the doorway, reachin' clear through the ceiling, shutting off his es- cape. The door stood open. Through it and the wall o' fire he could see a great crowd gathered on the street in front o' the great snake-like hose, the coughing engine fairly showering them with sparks. A rope was stretched in front o' the engine. Behind it were policemen beatin' back the crowd, as theyi pressed closer and closer into the lull red glare. Inside the fire line were the half-dressed frantic Jew and his wife implorin' the firemen to save their little Gustina, whom they had forgotten in their haste.
"Now Jim was no hero, Miss, but into his head there came a resolve to rescue the little girl or perish in the attempt. So, graspin' his carpet-bag-it would never do to part with the family heir- loom-he worked his way along, foot by foot, the dartin' flames comin' up through the floor, blisterin' and blindin' him, till he reached the family sleepin' room in the rear o' the shop. And there lie found her, Miss, 'midst the dartin' forked tongues o' fire fast asleep, with one little bare arm under her head, a smile on her pretty face.
"From where he stood Jim could see a window that overlooked the river. To reach it and make a leap for life was the thought that came into his brain. To this end he hastily awoke the child, then he wrapped a blanket around her; and, as the ceiling in the front o' the shop dropped in. he started for the openin'. His intentions were good enough, Miss, but he never reached the window. Just as he groped his way to the foot o' the bed, the badly fire-eaten floor gave way; and, with a yell from himself and a scream from the little girl, Jim dropped like a sack o' coal into the sullen waters o' the river, far below.
"Now, as you know, Miss, the Bible has been the life buoy o' many a poor sinkin' soul, and in this case the one in the carpet-bag was destined to be the means o' Jim's and the little girl's earth- ly salvation; for, as he came to the sur- face, the buoyant, air-filled bag naturally swung under his left arm, makin' the best o' buoys. Then as the current struck him, bearin' him from the firelit scene, half strangled Jim and his charge floated away into the darkness o' the piers.
"On, and on, block after block, floated Jim with chattering teeth. Luckily he could swim, so holdin' the little child on his shoulder he began to tread water, all the time a yellin' for a rescuing hand. As the current swept him out from un- der the shadows o' the pier, straight un- der where now swings the huge span o' the Brooklyn bridge, he floated into the track o' a white, dazzlin' light that shone
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Over the water like a great fiery eye. On the heels o' this the chug and roar and beatin' o' paddle wheels fell on his ear, and he knew he was in the track o' a steamer.
"At that he set up another yell, for he could see men movin' about on the steamer's lower deck. That vell saved him, Miss, for strangely enough, it was heard on board above the pound and roar. When he yelled a head was thrust out o' the pilot house window and then hastily withdrawn. Then the clang o' a bell echoed over the bay, there sounded a hoarse cough, cough, a million fiery sparks belched from her stacks, the huge walkin' beam began to walk the other way; and as Jim floated past the Dow, straight under the larboard wheel, so it seemed, the great sound flyer came to a stop.
"Jim did not see the giant negro, who lay with half his body hangin' over the gunwale, but he felt his hand as it clutched his coat collar with an iron grip, and the next minute he and the little girl were landed safe and sound on the great wide deck. When he came to, Miss, Jim was layin' in the Ajax's warm cabin, a score o' sympathetic passengers bendin' over him. 'Why bless me, cap- tain,' a big stomached man wearin' a plug hat, was sayin', 'it's the little coun- try lad I was just now telling about who ran me down today. God bless him!"
"It is not for me to tell, Miss," con-
cluded the captain, his eye resting on his little cabin on the bluff, "how the Jew- ish couple took on when their little girl was returned to them none the less for the plunge. This I will say, though, looks are deceivin' sometimes, and though he looked poor and onnery, as far as this world's goods go, the Jew was immensely wealthy. Now, he didn't adopt the little countryman exactly, but he came pretty near it. When Jim got out o' the hospital good Captain Coffee took him in charge and sailed away for Australia. The cruise lasted five years and when Jim got back he knew all that was worth tellin' about a ship. Then the Jew sent him across the water with a well-filled pocket-book and when Jim again saw the United States he floated into port on a four-master, named the Dilbony, which was his for keeps."
"Why, Captain Tugg!" exclaimed the young lady, peering into his face as he drew farther back in the shadow of the portico, "you have let the cat out of the bag. I know now who Jim was. It was you, bless your dear old heart, for you have told me about the Dilbony before! So that was why you wanted until after dark to tell me the story of your life. for fear I might see the tears in your eyes, eh?"
"Mebby," said the captain, as he rose to go; "mebby. Anyway, that was how Jim floated in."
THOS. H. ROGERS.
Most all of the tribes of Indians in the Pacific Northwest subjected the members of native tribes captured in war to a state of servitude, and there were instances where the trappers, who intermarried with the Indian women, did likewise. The custom was not done away with until long after the advent of the pioneers. and its downfall no doubt saw its beginnings through the actions of Rev. Jason Lee in 1834. Through him, it is believed, the first slaves were emancipated. It seems that in September, of that year, a French
settler by the name of Louis Shangar- ette suddenly died from the bursting of a blood vessel, leaving three half-breed orphans and five Indian slaves without a home. Dr. McLoughlin desired Mr. Lee to take charge of this family. The proposition was accepted with the under- standing that the slaves receive their freedom. This was decreed in-so-far as the word of the doctor could make a law, and in those days he was sole autocrat of this section of the country, and when he gave orders they were implicitly obeyed.
ANECDOTES OF EARLY DAYS.
Anything of interest pertaining to the carly time will always have interest. Not long since, when visiting my old friend, Col. Jas. K. Kelly, at his Washington home, we were talking of the olden time and- he gave me the following incidents: Jo Meek was always full of his adven- tures and had a rare appreciation of the humorous. One story he told on him- self was, that while he was U. S. mar- shal he had some trouble in keeping his cash account. He was apt to get be- lıind. Dr. McLoughlin was on his bond; hearing that he was behind in making returns, the doctor accosted him with: "Wh-wh-what is this I hear. Jo, that you don't pay up as you should?" Jo studied a moment and then answered, "If any one bothers you about me, you can tell them not to-worry, as Jo Meek has giv- vn a good bond." "Tut, tut, tut." said the doctor, "That means that I shall have to pay if you are delinquent, for I'm on your bond." "Of course," said Jo. "that's what you signed the bond for."
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