This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com ' OREGON OREGON Her History Her Great Men r Her Literature Written and Published by JOHN B. HORNER, A.M., Lltt.D. Professor oj History Head of the Department of Historical Research. Oregon Agricultural College; Author of "Oregon Literature"; "Vacation on the Mediterranean" ILLUSTRATED Distributed by The O. A. C. Co-operative Association The J. K, Gill Company Corvallis, Oregon Portland, Oregon For sale at all bookstands ; Price $2.00; postage prepaid 1919 Press'of M^Gazette-Times CORVALLIS, OREGON Ooprighted in 1919 THE NEW YORK By J. B. HORNER ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R 1019 L WAR EDITION. Engravings made by Hicks-Chatten, Portlaod; Cover desigoed by W. M. Ball, Corvallis ; Bound by The Enterprise, Oregon City. TO THE HEROES AND HEROINES OF OREGON PATRIOTISM IS INCREASED BY KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE This volume was written largely from first sources, the author having been personally familiar with the Oregon Country for more than a half century. His gratitude is due, however, to the following members of the Oregon Historical Society: Curator George H. Himes, Hon. Binger Herman, Hon. John Gill, Mr. Leslie M. Scott, Mr. Frederick V. Hol- man, Mr. T. C. Elliott, and Capt. O. C. Applegate, for valuable suggestions, and to other authorities freely con sulted in the preparation of this book. These are men tioned later with more data than can appear in the preface. All have wisely interpreted their observations and have commendably performed their part in preserving and exalt ing the history of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Hence with the encouragement and aid offered by these and others, the task of preparing this publication has been hopefully pursued with one advantage over its predecessors — the op portunity of gleaning the choicest from all of them. The reader will observe that the volume is offered essentially as a history of Oregon with only such reference 8 OREGON to the story of the Pacific Northwest as may be indispen sable in the introductory chapters. Approximately five hundred events relative to the historical importance of Oregon have occurred since she avowed her purpose to "fly with her own wings" in a glori ous ascent to American statehood. This volume, therefore, is designed to give such a condensed, authentic account of these activities as will instruct the reader, create a love for Oregon, and arouse patriotic respect for her laws and insti tutions. OREGON The Oregon Country was the first territory the United States acquired on the Pacific Coast of America. It com prised the region bordering the Pacific Ocean from Cali fornia on the south to British America on the north, and extending as far east as the summit of the Rocky Mountains — an area equal to all the first thirteen states, Georgia excepted. From this vast domain were carved the states of Ore gon, Washington and Idaho with a part of Wyoming and Montana. There are 96,699 square miles in the State of Oregon, which is more territory than the combined area of AREA OF OREGON— 96,699 Square Miles New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Ver mont, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, with several other states each of which would be the size of Rhode Island. 10 OREGON So great are the distances and so wide the area of Oregon that Massachusetts could easily nestle in the Willamette Valley. Massachusetts and Rhode Island to gether have less area than either Harney County or Malheur County. Any one of sixteen Oregon counties is larger than the state of Delaware, and any one of twenty-four counties is larger than Rhode Island. England, with about thirty-five million people, com prises only three- fifths as much area as Oregon. Were Eng land as large as Oregon, she could support more than half OREGON COMPARED IN AREA WITH GREAT BRITAIN the present population of the United States. Yet the total population of the State of Oregon is less than one million. The white settlers who came, when Oregon statehood was a mere Utopian dream, were strong of intellect and heroic of heart. Many of them were the descendants of the Pilgrims and the Cavaliers; and the others were like them. True to their traditions, they took up the westward journey of their ancestors, and traveled 3,000 miles, which is INTRODUCTION one of the longest pilgrimages mentioned in history. Their hardships were so severe that every mile of the long journey could have been marked with graves of those who fell along the way. Truly the Oregon emigrants1 were no less Pilgrims OREGON COUNTIES COMPARED IN AREA WITH MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND Harney County, 9,933 sq. m. Malheur County, 9,883 sq. m. J H Area of Mass. 8366 t sq. mi. ~1 " ■ Rhode I Island 3 Rhode j— J Island I Surpj^.^J j* " Surplus . and Cavaliers than were the colonists of Plymouth Jamestown. i"In the history of the Northwest the terms 'emigrants' and 'emigration' have commonly been used instead of 'immigrants' and 'immigration'." — History of the Pacific Northwest. 12 OREGON Upon their arrival in Oregon, they found themselves among Indians whose language was strange and whose habits were devilish. But despite the atrocities committed by the natives, the forests were converted into homes, school houses, churches and cities; the prairies, unscathed by plow since creation's morn, were transformed into fields, gardens and orchards; and the treacherous Indian was taught to worship the God of our fathers. Under the white man's touch the hunting ground became the scene of a harvest home, the tepee a college, and the battlefield a sanctuary. As the result of changes ordained by the sterling men and women who had come on the serious business of home making, Oregon produced more standard literature in fifty years than the original Thirteen Colonies produced in the same length of time; and according to area and population there can scarce be found in the Union, more universities, colleges, academies, high schools, churches and other refin ing forces than there are within the 1 30 miles lying between Eugene and Portland. As Massachusetts is the mother of New England, so is Oregon the mother of the Pacific Northwest. But while Massachusetts requires her historic achievements thoroughly taught in schools, Oregon has not yet made a similar de mand regarding her own. It has, therefore, become the patriotic duty of the schools, the press, the pulpit, and social and literary clubs insistently to encourage and actively to promote historical research concerning Oregon until the long neglected story of her development is taught with the same enthusiasm, skill and interest as is the history of Massachu setts or that of any other State in the Union. EPOCHS OF OREGON HISTORY The History of Oregon is divided into five epochs: First Epoch. Early Explorations. This epoch treats of the explorations that led to the discovery of Oregon, first from the sea, (1792), then by land, (1805). It begins in 1 502, with the effort of Columbus to find a passage through Panama to India, and ends in 1805, when Lewis and Clark completed their overland expedition to Astoria. Also under Epoch I are selections from Indian folk-lore as told to the earliest white explorers and settlers. Second Epoch. The Settlement of Oregon. This epoch extends from 1805 to 1843. It treats of the settlement of the Oregon Country by the British and Canadians, who came as trappers and traders; and by the American emi grants, who settled the country in true colonial fashion. Third Epoch. Oregon Under the Provisional Govern ment. This epoch begins in 1 843, at which time the settlers provided for themselves a government independent of the Hudson's Bay Company; it ends March 3, 1849, when Governor Joseph Lane proclaimed the territorial govern ment in Oregon. It is the story of Oregon under the Pro visional Government. Fourth Epoch. Oregon Under the Territorial Govern ment. This epoch extends from 1849 to 1859. It is the history of Oregon from Governor Lane's proclamation of P*pvk 3, 1849, to February 14, 1859, when Oregon was admitted to statehood. Fifth Epoch. The State of Oregon. This epoch ex tending from 1859 to the present, is the history of Oregon as a state, in the union of states under the federal constitu tion. Also under this epoch appears Section XIV which treats of the Literature of Oregon, the most of which was written during her statehood. CASCADE RANGE CREATED 1 5 THE EARLIEST ACCOUNT OF OREGON The earliest account of Oregon was recorded in the great Book of Stone which lay buried under mountain and valley, prairie and seashore, to be opened and read, with the aid of pick-axe, microscope and retort. The stories in the book are full of meaning. They are illustrated with pictures printed, life size; and pressed between the flinty leaves are the perfectly-preserved evidences of life in earth and sea and air. Among the first to open that part of the book which gives an account of Oregon, was the late Doctor Thomas Condon, professor of geology in three universities and at one time state geologist of Oregon. The stories he read from its pages were so inter esting and instructive that he published them in a volume entitled "The Two Islands," later republished under the title of "Oregon Geology." In one of the stories Doc tor Condon describes the first appearance of our greatest mountains as they might have been viewed from some eleva tion — possibly that ancient sea-bank, which we now call the Oregon Coast Range.