Biography of Joel P. Kinnison, 1902, Baker Co., Oregon: Surnames: Kinnison, Finch, Chandler, Hanna, Perkins.

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Transcribed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
W. David Samuelsen - November 2001
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An Illustrated History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties, pub. 
1902 by Western Historical Pub. Co. of Chicago. page 269

Joel P. Kinnison

Few men within the confines of the county with which our volume is concerned
have lived here longer and seen more of the development and progress of
eastern Oregon than has he whos ecareer it is now our task to present in
epitome. He tells us that he has ridden all over the site of the present Baker
City when he could not see a track even of a cow or a horse and that he has
watched its growth from the time its first cabin was erected until the present
date. He also has the honor of having broken the first sod, planted the first
potatoes, sowed the first oats and operated the first mower in Baker county.
During all the years of his residence in this important and wealthy political
division he has been engaged in enterprises which have added to its
prosperity, and his active public spirit has led him to take a vital interest
in all its concerns and to promote its welfare whenever opportunity offered.
What then can be more fitting than that his important services should receive
due recognition in a work of this character?

Our subject was born in Perry county, Missouri, on the Mississippi river on
March 11, 1838. His parents, J. P. and Harriette (Finch) Kinnison, natives of
Virginia, died when he was quite young, so he early had to shoulder life's
responsibilities alone. In 1853 he accompanied an uncle across the plains to
California, making the journey with ox-teams in six months and four days.
During the first two years after his arrival he worked for his uncle in the
stock business and farming, then he and his brother H. A. bought a band of
cattle and engaged in the industry on their own account. In 1862 they drove
their herds through to Baker county, Oregon, and located on a place seven
miles west of Baker City, where our subject now lives. They purchased a half
section from the state of Oregon, and upon this they renewed their stock
raising business.

It is of interest to note that for about one hundred beef cattle which they
drove from California into the minng town of Placerville, Idaho, they received
as high as twenty-five cents per pound dressed. They had quite an interesting
experience with Captain Jack and his band of Indians while driving to Idaho.
This doughty red skin surrounded the company and their cattle and demanded pay
for the privilege of grazing stock on the range. The whites refused and,
getting their guns, prepared for battle. The Indians seeing that their
would-be enemies were in earnest, decided to compromise by accepting as pay a
crippled cow.

In 1863 Mr. Kinnison raised fourteen acres of potatoes, for which he received
ten cents per pound, also a patch of corn, the product of which sold for one
dollar per dozen roasting ears. The same year he raised some five or six
thousand pounds of oats more than were needed for their own consumption, and
these sold for from sixteen to twenty cents per pound. In the spring of 1876
he and his brother drove one thousand head of cattle into Wyoming, realizing
twenty thousand dollars upon the transaction. Verily these were the times to
accumulate fortues.

At present Mr. Kinnison has a fine farm of six hundred and forty acres, all in
one parcel and well improved. He is also the owner of some valuable city
property.

Our subject is a member of Wingville Lodge, I.O.O.F. He has been twice
married. On January 18, 1865, in Baker county, Oregon, he married Miss Mary, a
daughter of Charles and Rachael Chandler, and a pioneer of 1862. They had five
children, Charles G., engaged in mining in Cripple Creek, Colorado; J. W.;
Hiram B., residing in Baker county; Lawrence O., deceased; Joel P., Jr., at
home. Mrs. Kinnison died in 1883, and her remains lie buried in Wingville
cemetery. On December 28, 1884, Mr. Kinnison again married, the lady being
Mrs. Mary Hanna, widow of Samuel Hanna, who came to Union county in 1862. She
had two children by her former marriage, Ada, wife of Flavius Perkins, of this
county; Anna, who was queen of the carnival in 1901; and she and Mr. Kinnison
are parents of two children, Mabel H. and Myrtle.