USA > Oregon > The Oregon native son, Vol. I > Part 40
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itors to the monument. It cost the state two thousand dollars. Neither the maker of it nor those who accepted it on the part of the state, took any pains to inform themselves with regard to what should be on our state seal, and in consequence the fac-simila shown thereon is very incorrect. The act pro- vides for thirty-three stars; on the stone was cut but thirty-one; an extra sheaf and a rake also appears, as well as 1857 as the year of Oregon's admission to statehood, two years ahead of time. A setting sun is prominent, but unprovid- ed for in the act. The errors made would seem inexcusable, but when we take into consideration the fact that our state seal was not executed in ac- cord with the act describing how it should be, and what it should contain, and also that out of the many fac-similas made of it no two are alike and none a correct one of the pretended state seal. the designer of this memorial cannot be very much blamed for the faulty execu- tion of his work.
THE BUILDING OF A STATE.
The first step taken to secure a gov- ernment for Oregon by Americans was made March 16, 1838. Thirty-six of the settlers in the Willamette valley sent a memorial to congress setting forth the resources and conditions of the country, petitioning occupation by the United States. This was presented in the sen- ate on January 28, 1839, and after its reading was laid on the table and neg- lected. In June, 1840, another memorial bearing seventy signatures was present- ed, a part of it being worded: "Your pe- titioners wherefore pray the congress of the United States of America to estab- lish, as soon as may be, a territorial gov- ernment in Oregon territory." Knowing that many months would elapse before the matter could be settled, the pioneers addressed themselves to the task of pro- viding such government as they believed circumstances required for peace and se- su'ty in the meantime. A meeting was called on February 7, 1841. at Cham- pocg, the then metropolis of Oregon, "for the purpose of consulting upon stops necessary to be taken for the foun- dation of laws and the election of officers to execute them." Nothing, however, was done beyond a discussion of the matter, and the meeting adjourned. An event happened on the 15th of Febru- ary fohowing which revived the subject with great vigor. This was the death of Ewing Young, a prominent settler who possessed cossiderable property, but left no visible heirs, and no one to adminis- ter upon his estate. Had he been con . nected with the Hudson Bay Company or associated with the Missions, there would have been no doubt about the dis- position of his property, but he was an independent settler, and no company or association had a right to proceed, nor yet private individual authority to act is the premises.
The event naturally suggested the necessity of laws-of legislature to make them-courts to administer them-gov- ernment to enforce their observance. Mr. Young was buried on the 17th, and those attending again took up the mat-
ter discussed on the previous 7th. The meeting not being well attended, it was adjourned until the next day, the 18th, at which time nearly all of the settlers were on hand. Officers were elected, committees appointed, and an adjourn- ment taken until the first Tuesday in June following. At the time appointed the settlers assembled, but the anxiety for a government manifested in Febru- ary had grown into indifference by that time and through the influence of the Hudson Bay Company, in the main, the action taken in the former meeting in re lation to officers was undone, which c. - fcctually killed the project until 1843. On February 2d of that year a second attempt was made. This meeting ad- journed to March 4th, following, and from such time until May 2d next. At this convention a legislative comm fee of nine members was appointed to d'aft. a code of laws, etc .; also, a supreme judge, clerk and sheriff were elected.
This first legislature convened on the 16th day of May, 1843, and was is ses- sion three days, when it adjourned to submit thelaws formulated, to to the pio- neers who were to assemble at Cham- poeg, on July 5th of that year, to further consider a form of government. The code presented was ratified at this meet- ing, and a Provisional Government es- tablished designated as Oregon Terri- tory. It contained four districts and their description embraces a vast region of "unknown quantity." The districts were Tualitan, Yamhill, Clackamas and Champoeg; the first and last of which lost their identity, as counties with less area became established.
The officers elected at the meeting of May 2, 1843, were to remain in office until May, 1844, and the executive power was to be vested in a committee of three. The legislature was to con- sist of a committee of nine members, all to be elected at the next annual elec- tion. At such time, Joseph Gale, David Hill and Alanson Beers were elected as the executive committee. Upon the as- sembling of the legislature in 1844, the
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executive committee recommended that the organic law be amended by abolish- ing such committee and in lieu thereof establish the office of Governor, and the legislative committee to be thereafter known as the House of Representatives.
This amendment was submitted to a peoples' vote and duly ratified. In June. 1845, George Abernethy was elected governor of Provisional Oregon. This office he held tintil relieved by General Lane, territorial governor.
From this time forth persistent effort was made up to 1848 to have congress recognize it as a territory of the United States, and finally, by act approved Aug- ust 14 of the same year, the long-desired aim was accomplished. Gen. Joseph Lane, of Indiana, was selected as the first governor of the new territory, but he did not reach his post of duty until March 2, 1849: On the 3d of that month he issued a proclamation, an- nouncing his assumption of executive duties and that the territory of Oregon was duly organized.
The first territorial legislature met July 16, 1849, at Oregon City. It was in session for 76 days. A recess was. however, taken during August to enable the members to go home and harvest their crops, final adjournment being off the following 29th of September.
The next step was to bring about statehood, and there was room for some suspicion that the census returns of- fered in evidence of population were somewhat inflated; still. the efforts met with success, as congress was induced,
in 1856, to pass an enabling act. Through this, the question was submit- ted to the voters, and a majority being in favor, a constitutional convention was called, and met August 17, 1857. An election of state officers was held in 1858. and on July 8th of that year John Whit- eaker, the first state governor-elect, took the oath of office. Contrary to the ex- pected, the state was not admitted until 1859 and from 1858 up to such time there was considerable mixing up of government. From 1859 to 1899 the ex- ecutive office was filled by those born elsewhere, all but two, however, being pioneers, and they came to Oregon in the sixties. In the latter year, a native son, T. T. Geer, was duly installed in the position.
The first state legislature was required by section 6 of article 18 to meet on July 5, 1858, and proceed to the organi- zation of state government. At the time appointed it convened, but Ore- gen was not vet a state and did not become a state until February 14, 1859. Two United States senators were elected at this session and other business trans- acted. In December following the terri- torial legislature met for the last time. In 1865 the first legal regular state leg- islative session was held. Including the session of 1858 there have been twen- ty-one regular sessions of the legislature since statehood began and four special sessions. The latter were called by Gov- ernor Whiteaker, in 1859; Governor Gibbs, in 1865: Governor Moody, in 1885, and Governor Lord, in 1898.
FIRST OF OUR WATER CRAFT.
The first sailing vessel bulit in the Pa- cific Northwest was the schooner North- west America. She was launched at her place of building-Nootka Sound-Sep- tember 20, 1788. The first sailing ves- sel built on the Columbia river was the Star of Oregon. She was built at Swan Island and launched in 1841. The first steamer to Ater the Pacific ocean and also ply npof Pacific Northwest waters was the Beaver, She came here in 1836.
Iler initial trip as a steamer hore was made on the Columbia river.
The first American steamer to enter the Columbia river was the Caroline. The first steamer built in the Pacific Northwest was the Columbia. She was built, at Astoria in 1850. The first war vessel built in the Pacific Northwest was the torpedo beat Davis, built at Port- land, 1898.
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A PIONEER PATRIOT.
In the spring of 1836 occurred the first wedding tour to Oregon. Its du- ration was drawn out for a period of some seven mouthis and the route of travel was over the trackless expanse of plain, which, on the east made embank- ment for the Missouri and its western shore was kissed by the waves of the Pa- cific, a journey of three thousand five hundred miles. The conveyance was a wagon; the first of the vanguard to her- ald the coming of empire's star. . There were two couples, and the brides were the first white women of American par- entage to cross the Rocky mountains. Of the grooms, one had previously made the trip and was to be the guide of the venturing few that composed the party: a man whose name will be immortal in the history of Oregon-Oregon, Wash ingtos and Idaho-Dr. Marcus Whit- man. To him-belongs the honor of be- ing the foremost among our pioneers to . make known the value of the Pacific Northwest to the American congress: a voice not lifted in vain. for the flag of all flags is planted in our midst and three of the stars in its field of blue : monuments to the foresight. courage and activity of himself and other pio- neers in behalf of this country's wel- fare. The other groom was a young run hoch from a theological school who had just previously began his bridal tour in a sleigh to the home of the Osage Indians, where he had been sent by the Mission Board as a missionary. It was Rev. H. H. Spalding. Before the com- pletion of his trip, he was hailed by Dr. Whitman, who was following. to enlist his services in another field of labor. with the cry of "Ship ahoy! you are wanted for Oregon.'
That salutation shaped the destiny of the young couple, changing the direc- tion of their journey and the future course of their after lives. To the change vi progrgamme Mr. Spalding did not like to give assen, but defered to the judgment of his life's partner, whose blushing face and bright eyes were all.
but hid beneath the wrap of warming furs, and to the will of Providence. If he thought they would second him in the idea of refusal to make a change in plans, he misunderstood them both. The bride was at once interested, and strong- ly urged that the call of duty was from a far-away and unknown land; to re- trace his eastward drive and set his face toward the setting sun, slowly turned his horses, but when once headed to- wards the goal intended he never re- laxed his new purposes, and his enthu- siasm for their fruition.
Dr. Whitman was to return in a med- ical capacity, and as a missionary and companionship was most desirable, he secured such when Mrs. Spaulding in- duced her husband to join him in his labors. But a nearer one was thought of, and a message was sent to Miss Narcissa Prentiss, of Angelica, N. Y .. a young lady of his acquaintance, ask- ing that she accept of his suit and that she consent to a speedy union-he was coming at once, when he would look for the immediate consummation of his hopes. The wedding took place in Feb . ruary, 1836, the ceremony being per- formed in the village church, in whose choir the bride had been the sweet so- prano singer. Accompanying the happy couples was a young man, Wm. H. Gray. a future factor in the formation of the Provisional government. and a historian to write of pioneer hardships and events.
After many days, South Pass of the Rockies was reached. On this plateau the streamlets from whence the mighty waters of the great rivers flowing to the Atlantic and Pacific find their head; so near, that the traveler stopping to quench his thirst therefrom can claim a transfer of nature's course by reach of arm through change of water from one into the other. It is the natal day of the U'nion, and the travelers halt to observe the Rour as true Americans. There is no booming of cannon to announce the break of day-acknowledge its noontide or salute the coming night; so fife and
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Photo by Moore. PLYMPTON KELLY. A Picneer of 1843.
Photo by Cronise, Salem. MRS. MAHALA MCBRIDE. A Pioneer of 1816.
Photo by Moore. MRS. ELIZABETH C. KELLY. ( Nee Clark.)
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drum lead martial hosts in review be- fore: the orator of the day had not been engaged for the occasion, and the reader of the Declaration of Independence was not. Patriotic words were spoken
as the Bible and "Old Glory" are taken from the wagon, the one opened and placed on the sward at foot and the other raised overhead, and as the folds of the latter come and go with the breeze, praise and thanksgiving reverently go up to the Father of us all. The speaker, before concluding, takes possession of the expanse to the west 'In the name of God and of the United States." Continuing their journey through canons, across streams and over rugged heights, the little band strug- gled onward until from the western slope they passed to the valley of the Colum- bia, a bridal tour completed which can now be made in half the number of days it then took months to make. With their coming the final possession of Oregon was begun. The wagon in which they came has a grander history than trium- phal car. In it came the Bible, true womanhood, patriotism and belief that quietly and energetically pursued his missionary efforts. yet all the while real- izing that nothing but a great and un- expected influx of American immigrants would thwart the deep-laid plans of the great corporation.
Procrastination was dangerous and supine inaction was fatal; some one must go and go at once and arouse the people and the government to the exigencies of the hour. but how could his mission- ary work be set aside for the time, was the question, or was the task to be left to the valley missions to execute. A few days would decide. He was called to Walla Walla professionally, and while there some new arrivals connected with the Hudson Bay Company announced that a large number of additions were near at hand and that the were to be followed by others. The information the United States held title to Oregon.
At the time of Dr. Whitmas's com- ing the country was practically in pos- session of the Hudson Bay Company, and it was their policy to keep it a wil- derness for their fur trade. In the set-
tlement of the doctor and other mission- aries in the Willamette valley they could see aditional immigration, and in such a menace to their operations; and they set about for purpose of conteraction of the same by the importation of recruits from the Red River . If the doctor de- fined their objects, he did not allow his thoughts to become known to them, but caused a young man connected with the company to throw up his hat asd ex- claim: "Hurrah for Oregon! America is too late; we have got the country!" On his return home the doctor had fully determined that his duty to his country was paramount to that due the Mis- sionary Board, and he resolved upon go- ing East. About this time some immi- grants reached the station where he was located, who brought word from the Board that the missions were to be aban- doned on account of the expense re- quired to maintain them, and because of their unsatisfactory progress. The ex- cuse for going had come, and after plac- ing his wife with friends, he set out to accomplish a two-fold errand-incident- ally to induce the Missionary Board to change its purpose of discontinuing the missions, and in particular to make a desperate attempt to save Oregon to the United States. The start was made on the 3d of October, 1842. and he reached the East in the following February, and Washington on the 3d of March. De- tail of the many incidents of the long trip made by the intrepid traveler can- not here be given, nor word of the trouble he had with worthless guides, but glimpses of him can be seen here and there, revealing toil and dangers in the extreme. The elements wrap him about with their intense fury, hiding the summer trail. For days lost in the de- files and on plains; here fording ri
partially frozen over and filled with jag- ged blocks of ice, but bravely he buffets the rapid, foaming currents and laughs at frozen clothing; then onward goes through deep and almost impassable expanse of snow. Hope for the mo- ment even dies in his lion's heart, and the inevitable-death-seems near, but the whitened drifts shall not be his wind- ing sheet nor yet his sepulcre; nor the
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cyclonic winds tuned for funeral dirge. "Man's extremity is God's, opportunity." The solemn situation is transformed to one partaking of the ludicrous. The stubborn mule. stiffened by cold, yet with instinct unimpaired, points its long ears this way and then that, as if seeking the trail obscured or remembered point. and suddenly plows his way through the snow catrying the baffled rider to the encampnient of the previous night. From here the doctor again took his bearings and proceeded on his journey. this time with better success, and at last reached his goal, but not without many reminders of the hardships incurred and results of the irresistable cold and mer- ciless storms of his journey.
On his arrival at St. Louis he found that the treaty which had been pending did not include the Oregon question. and this news gave him time for a first visit, a brief one, to the Mission Board. and then he was away to Washington. Dressed in buckskin and furs, he ap- peared before President Tyler and Web- ster, secretary of state and members of congress. While the subject was not under discussion between the Union and England, he knew that it would be, be- cause of agitation of the matter in the East. a fact unknown to him before starting on his trip, and the opportunity was present for assisting the movement and a portrayal of Oregon as it was and a refutation of the disparaging state- ments which had been made concerning it. With persuasive eloquence and min- ute description were the worth and value of Oregon to the United States set forth. His interviews stimulated the friends of her acquirement to renewed action. the wavering were convinced. and the opposing forces deprived of their misapprehensive arguments used in opposition. The dress, the perilous ride and the carnestress .of his words so deeply impressed his listeners that con- viction forced itself upon them that what he said was true, and when the subject was later on for consideration, the senti- ments which his visit gave birth to in the minds of some, and were enlarged
and strengthened in those of others, were a factor in th bringing about the treaty ceding Oregon to the United States. An addition to its domain of over 250.000 square miles, a territory of vast mineral wealth, with timber enough to make a band around the earth over five miles wide, vast acreage of farming and fruit lands, the equal of any on the globe.
Eleven years after their life of such romantic beginning a tragic end was in store for them. Whatever were the causes which brought it about, the re- sult was one of the saddest in the his- tory of America. The full resume of that November day of 1847 need not be told, though extended report of it is at hand. The party lifted curtain re- veals enough-Dr. Whitman fell by the tomahawk of those who he had befriend- ed and his wife by the leaden messenger of their rifles. Twelve others were butch- ered at the same time and share their graves. A shaft of marble marks the scene, but a greater memento of their worth lives in the hearts of the pioneers to Oregon, and is recorded in its historic pages.
Dr. Whitman was a true American. zealous of his country's honor and zeal- ous to promote her interests. His faith. in the future-the American future-oi Oregon was unbounded. and his mind penetrated the misty veil with prophetic power. It is said that Webster, the statesman, famed as a diplomat unriv- aled, once said of Oregon that "it was a worthless area. a region of savages and wild beasts, of shifting sands and whirl- winds of dust. of cactus and prairie dogs." It is also said that is later hours he acknowledged that he erred in jndg- ment. and that Oregon. the fairest land on God's green earth. came to the United States through the efforts, in the main. of Dr. Marcus Whitman. What better epitaph than these expressions. with reference to their author, could grace a monument and speak the worth of an American?
S. H. FREDRICK.
THE LEGEND OF TAHOMA. (MT. RAINIER.)
The Indian is a man of silence is well known. A human that will not readily confide in people of other nations, and there are but few who can draw from them but little if any knowledge of their traditions and beliefs. Contact with the white race, in its various forms, has served to dispel from the minds of the younger generations of the red men the ideas and superstitions of their ancestors. It is only when one meets with a patri- arch among them, whose pride of race and hatred of those who occupy his once hunting grounds, that anything worthy of preservation concerning his people in their primitive state can be learned.
Their reminiscenses are usually of an incoherent character, and unless con- versant with his ideas of times long since past, it is extremely difficult to so con- nect their accounts of such hours in a manner that they seem a relation of in- cident appertaining to the same event.
During the time I was employed as purser of one of the Puget Sound steam- ers, an old Puyallup Indian was quite frequently a passenger. He held himself aloof from the whites and had but few words for his own people who accom- panied him. One day as I approached him to collect his fare, I noticed that the old man's face was set as if in marble chiseled and eyes intently gazing upon Mr. Rainier. Being interested in the leg- endary lore of his race, I asked him in "Chinook" what he called the mountain. His reply was that "the Sahale Tyee"- Great Spirit-placed him there before the "Boston-white man"-came, and that the "hvas illahe"-mountain-was Tahoma. Further question was as if twer spoken to stone, for the old man wholly ignored my presence. Subse- quently he came on board the steamer and looking to ill-clad to withstand the rigors of winters cold. I presented him with an overcoat which had outlived its usefulness to me, and then had the cook place a bounteous dinner at his disposal. From that moment I was a "close tilli- cum" -- personal friend -- and it was not long before he mentioned the subject of our first meeting.
After listening to hint for a short time it became evident that he was relating fragments of more than one tradition, and frequent question soon proved this to be true. Finally, however, he under- stood that all incident to each happening was desired separate from other legen- dary tale. Beginning again, he said that the mountain had not always occupied its present proud and isolated position. That in the "hyas ancutty" or long, long ago, when the Great Spirit created beings in his own image, and possessed of the pow- ers of speech and action, that he endowed them with much greater knowledge and powers than the present race of Indians were blessed with.
Among them was a chief-Do-ce-wal- lops-whose word was law over all the Puget Sound country, which, at that time was a beautiful valley abounding in all kinds of pleasant places, fish and game. He was descended from Ne-ka- na and La-wis-wis, whom tradition links with Puyallup valley, which is said to be the Eden of the Indian; and, also with the story of how the wild rose bush first grew thorns. For reasons of state, it was urged upon him to take as his spouse a Columbia river princess, a goddess who held sway over the salmon known to those waters. For many moons he hes- itated; his affections had been given over to Ta-ho-ma, a beautiful maiden of his own people, cne whose time was spent in causing laughing streamlets to burst forth here and there from hillside and plain, giving drink to the earth's mantle of green, its bush, animal and the people.
As a compromise, it was proposed that he take both of the charmers to wife, which he did, but it was not long before jealousy arose between them and his wig- wam ceased to be at peace. Met-la-ko. the Columbia river bride, had born her lord a son. Ta-ho-ma was barren of is- suc. Anger over her lot bred dislike for the new addition to the family circle and she resolved upon his death. Fearing that danger threatened her babe, Met-la- ko went forth, as Hager of old, wander- ing in the wilds refusing to return.
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