JOTTINGS OF PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF A PIONEER OF 1850: By GEORGE E. COLE

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CHAPTER I.

During the month of October, 1850 there were fitted out in San Francisco three
brigs, suitable for carrying passengers, which were advertised for sailing
during that month to the mouth of the Umpqua river. No American vessel had
ever entered that port before. The mines had been discovered in northern
California, and a company had been organized in San Francisco to locate
townsites on the Umpqua river. The townsite at the mouth of the river was
called Umpqua City. Up the river at the head of navigation was Scottsburg;
farther up, near the site of the post of the Hudson Bay Company, was Elkton,
and still farther up, on the trail from Oregon to California, was Winchester.
This route was intended to reach the northern California mines. Flaming hand-
bills were posted showing the advantages of the route and advertising the
cities as before named. Plats of these new cities were made out, and lots -
were offered for sale at public auction at real estate offices in San
Francisco.

The names of these three brigs were the Bostonian, the Kate Heath and the
Reindeer. The two former having sailed, the brig Reindeer left San Francisco
on the 24th of October with about seventy passengers, part for Umpqua, among
whom were Bush Wilson, Phillip Ritz and myself; and the rest for Portland.
Ritz and I had crossed the plains together during the preceding summer, and
had formed Wilson s acquaintance in San Francisco. Wilson located in Benton
county, and held the office of county auditor for about thirty years. He died
a few years ago. Ritz first located in Benton county, and in 1862 removed to
Walla Walla county, where he had a big nursery. He was a prominent and public
spirited citizen. He was an early advocate of the Northern Pacific Railroad,
and made several trips to Washington, D. C. in the interest of that mad. He
obtained from the company six or seven sections of land near where Ritzville
is now located, and which was named for him. He died in Walla Walla a few
years since.

Meeting with adverse winds after passing out of the Golden Gate, we were
driven far to the southwestward, and did not reach our destination until the
8th of November. Arriving opposite the mouth of the river as nearly as could
be ascertained, as we had no chart and there was no one on board who had ever
been at the harbor, we fired signal guns, and getting no response, started for
the entrance. Arriving at the bar, we found that the Bostonian was a wreck,
lying just outside of the channel on the north side. Thereupon we lowered
anchor, discovering a ship s boatload of sailors coming down to meet us. It
proved to be from the Kate Heath, commanded by Captain Tichenor, who was at
that time mate of the Kate Heath. Coming alongside of our brig, and running up
the ladder, he sang out in a shrill voice, "Weigh anchor and hoist sail, or
you will go to h l in five minutes."We took hold in assisting the crew in
getting the brig under sail, arriving inside of the harbor in a short time,
where we anchored in safety. As we were anxious to get up to Scottsburg, we
three, Wilson, Ritz and myself, purchased a small canoe from Indians who came
aboard, and together with a Frenchman named Brobant and a Canadian, whose name
I do not now recall, got into the canoe, having been supplied from the ship
with a piece of salt "junk" and some hard biscuit, and rowed up the river. The
tide setting against us, by dark we had reached within four or five miles of
Scottsburg and camped.

Soon a raft of logs came down the river, having a sail and one man on it. We
all agreed we would like to have that sail, as it had commenced raining, to
protect us from the rain. So Wilson sang out to the man on the raft and told
him to come ashore and stop with us over night. The man replied that if we
would take his line he would do so. Having landed his raft, he proved to be an
old acquaintance of Wilson s, from the Kennebec river in Maine, so there was a
very agreeable reunion of the two Maine men, in which the others took no
particular part, but were nearly as glad as they in getting the sail as a tent
for the night, as it was now raining quite hard. Early the following morning
we got into our canoe and went up to Scottsburg, which consisted of several
tents and a log cabin built up to the square. Having no more salt "junk" or
hard bread left, we applied for a breakfast, but found that no one was
provided with the means there of getting us one. But the lone lady there,
whose husband, named Fisk, was the proprietor of the cabin, sold us five
pounds of flour and a pound of butter and loaned us the use of her stove, on
which we cooked our own breakfast.

As the bateau which was to bring our luggage would not be there for several
hours, the Frenchman and myself started on foot for Ft. Umpqua, leaving the
others to look after the baggage when

it arrived. We were not able to reach that point before darkness set in,
having to climb a mountain while packing our blankets besides a bundle, so we
camped for the night. As the woods were inhabited by large numbers of wild
animals, particularly bear, the grizzly, the brown and the black bear, we
kindled a fire and took turns in keeping it alive, more for protection against
the wild beasts than anything else, while the others slept, until lay-light.

In the morning we discovered that we were about two miles from Ft. Umpqua. A
cabin had been built at the new city of Elkton. We reached this cabin early in
the morning, which was Sunday. Having had very little to eat for a long time,
we were provided with a sumptuous breakfast, consisting of the meat of a bear,
which had been killed the day before, potatoes, which had been brought up from
the settlement on the Willamett and baked in the stove, and very fine biscuits
and coffee, all provided by Mrs. Wells, the wife of Dr. Wells, who owned and
lived in the cabin, and who had moved from the Willamet that summer. The lady
was some time preparing the meal, we were very hungry, and as our cook was
neatly dressed, was young, and to us, who had not seen ladies for a long time,
seemed very beautiful; we patiently waited, dividing our time between the cook
and the breakfast preparing, until it was ready for the table, which proved to
be indeed a very sumptuous meal.

After breakfast our Frenchman was very anxious to get to Ft. Umpqua, having
heard there was a Frenchman named Garnier in command at the Hudson Bay
Company s post. Of course he and our Frenchman had volumes to talk, while I
sat by, not being able to understand a word. Suggesting to Brobant that we had
better move forward, our host insisted that we stay with him over night. To
this Brobant readily acquiesced, but after partaking of a luncheon consisting
of tea and hard bread I took my blankets on my back and started for the
settlement, some fifteen or twenty miles distant. The trail lay up Elk creek,
crossing and re-crossing the same a great number of times. Reaching the
outskirts of the settlement about dusk, I found a camp there of men who had
come up on the Kate Heath, and who had been up in the valley and procured
animals with which they were returning to Scottsburg to get their luggage and
provisions, intending to pack to the new Eldorado in northern California.

On my inquiring the distance to a house, one man with an Irish brogue told me
that I must stay with them over night, that they had some fine venison that
they had just killed and plenty of bacon, and that he would get me up a meal,
as they had just eaten. Every time he spoke I thought he must be an old
acquaintance, like our friend Wilson's from the Kennebec. Getting in a
position where the light shone on his face, I tried to decipher his features,
but could not bring to my memory a recollection of them. Finally as he handled
the dough in such manner as showed that he was probably an old camper, I
inquired of him what his business was, and he said, "I ve been a baker all my
life." This gave me a key to recollection. I said, "Where are you from ?" He
said, "I m from Covington, Kentucky." I had an acquaintance there by the name
of Silas Rockwell, with whom I had stopped a week in April, '49. I asked him
if he knew Silas Rockwell. He said, "Yes, I know him well; I ve furnished him
bread many a time." Having one night at my friend Rockwell s been requested by
him to go down to the baker s and order some bread, as the firemen, who had
just succeeded in quenching a fire, had come to his restaurant to get a
luncheon, telling me that I would find where the bakery was and that I would
find it closed, but to go to the rear end, in which the baker lived, rap on
the door and call him and give him the order and see that it was sent
immediately, - the inmate replied, "Ay, ay, sir; tell Mr. Rockwell I will be
there in a minute." This was the same voice that I now recognized. So, telling
him I was the young fellow who called him up, we soon became boon companions,
and on the return of his companions, who had been looking after the horses, he
hastened to tell them he had found an "ould acquaintance."

I remained there until morning. Getting breakfast, I started on for the Umpqua
valley. In a short distance I met a man on horseback with a compass and a
chain, and in conversation soon found that this was Jesse Applegate, who
informed me that he was out surveying and would be gone for a day and a night,
that his house was only three or four miles from us, and he was very sorry he
could not be at home to look after and entertain me. But he told me to go to
the house of Charles Applegate, his brother, which I did, and stayed over
night. These two with their brother Lindsay had emigrated from Missouri in a
large emigration from that state in 1843, and located in the Willamett valley,
but the year before had removed to the Umpqua valley, this portion of it being
called Yoncalla, a beautiful spot, in which they had selected each a section
of land and had built improvements.

There were no grist mills at that time nearer than Rickreall, in Polk county,
more than one hundred miles distant; so, having used up the amount with which
they had provided themselves, they used instead boiled wheat, which was more
palatable than one would suppose and answered all purposes of bread. At this
place I found a copy of the New York Weekly Tribune, to which the Applegates,
being Whigs, were subscribers, and which reached them, via Panama, San
Francisco and Portland, once a month.

I concluded there that I did not want to see any more of the Umpqua valley
until after I had seen the Willamet, and started in the morning retracing my
steps northward, reaching a man by the name of Goodall at Elk creek, the site
of the present town of Drain, and, learning that some of my comrades of the
ship had stayed over night there the night previous and had pressed on to the
Willamet, I disposed of my blankets to make my pack lighter and started on up
the Pass Creek trail over the Cailiapooia mountains, reaching Martin s, a
bachelor, who lived in the Siuslaw, at which place I overtook my companions,
reaching there late at night.

The next day we started on, reaching at the head of the Long Tom, a settler by
the name of Mart Brown, who had married a daughter of one of the four
Richardson brothers, three of whom lived farther down the Long Tom. Two of his
wife s brothers, or cousins, were there on a visit to stay over night, having
with them a violin, or, as they called it, a fiddle, and we made a jovial
night of it by getting up a dance, in which, there being but one lady, the
wife of our host, three of our party personated ladies by tying a handkerchief
on the arm. We had a very enjoyable time, dancing for hours on the puncheon
floor, and I made myself very popular with the party by calling the "country
dances," money musk, Virginia reel, etc. These young men were very anxious
that we should stop at their house the next night. They told us we would pass
Uncle Ben Richardson s about noon and get our dinner, and before sundown reach
the house of Gideon Richardson.

The next day we started for Marysville, now Corvallis. About eight or ten
miles below we crossed the Long Tom to the west bank on a ferry which was
operated by "Doc" Richardson, who was the chief of the Richardson family. He
took us across the stream and cordially invited us to remain with him, but we
excused ourselves and pushed on, taking dinner at Winkle s Butte, and arrived
at Marysville in the middle of the afternoon.

The first house belonged to J. C. Avery, the proprietor of the town, who also
had a little store near by. Finding him absent, I went on down to what was
called the lower town, built on the edge of a claim of James F. Dickson, at
which was a log school house, and a store belonging to Hartless & St. Clair.
As I was anxious for information, learning that there was a young man by the
name of A. G. Hovey teaching there, I called on him as soon as school hours
were over and made his acquaintance. I found he was from Ohio and had reached
Oregon that year overland. I also learned from Hovey that a man named Jacob
Martin, who lived out about six miles in the foot hills, was in town and was
going out in the morning to his claim, that there was a quantity of vacant
land in that neighborhood, and that there was a school house near him which
was not as yet provided with a teacher. So, staying over night with Dickson, I
returned in the morning to the store, at which Hovey was a clerk as well, and
made the acquaintance of Jacob Martin, who was a large specimen of humanity
from the Monongahela river district, in Pennsylvania. Uncle Jake, as he was
familiarly called, held out great inducements for me to accompany him to his
home, in the forks of the Muddy and Marys rivers. Loaded with a large quantity
of provisions for the family, he struck out with long strides, and I, not eing
able to keep up on the walk, had to make trot to keep near enough to him to
talk with him. We crossed the Marys river, wading it, about three miles
distant from the town, and passed the house of Solomon K. Brown, an old
settler, and then reached the home of Nicholas Ownby, or Uncle Nick, as he was
known, who was a principal settler in that district.

Reaching Ownby's about sundown, having remained in Marysville most of the day,
Martin informed me that it would be good policy for me to remain over night
with Ownby, who would most certainly invite me to do so. He was the most
influential man in the neighborhood and had a family of four or five children
that he wished to send to school for the winter, and also telling me that if I
made a good impression upon the old Missourian, as he called him, between
Ownby and myself I could be located on some unclaimed land, which I could take
up as a donation.

I found Uncle Nick to be a fine specimen of man, about sixty years of age,
born and raised in Kentucky, having married there and moved to Missouri and
purchased land on what was known as the Platte purchase, and settling down on
which, he reared his family. In 1845, finding he did not have land enough and
could not get land cheaply on which to locate his children, he fitted out for
Oregon. He brought with him the entire family, except the oldest boy, who was
then married; a fine lot of cattle, some blooded horses, also sheep, pigs,
chickens and, of course, dogs and cats, and his entire household outfit,
except such things as were made of wood, which would be cumbersome to carry,
and could be made by himself and boys in Oregon.

After learning from me, in answer to questions, that I had taught school, and
that I was hunting a piece of land on which to locate, he said that if I would
listen to him I could get a piece of good land and could get a situation to
teach school for the winter, commencing at once.

On the following day, Sunday, we took horses and rode up to the log school
house, about a mile distant, which proved to be on the vacant land referred
to, and Uncle Nick suggested that that would be a good place to stay over
night. occasionally and hold down my claim. A mile farther on we found Uncle
Jake Martin again. The two men made arrangements for the campaign of getting
up the school, and started out over the district settlements, the cabins not
any closer than a mile of each other. A sufficient number of subscribers was
obtained, and notice was given that school would commence on Monday, the next
day. Reporting their success,

Uncle Nick and I returned to his cabin. He said he had not seen all of them,
and had not got all the pupils they required, twenty-five, at six dollars each
for the quarter of thirteen weeks, hut whatever it lacked in number he would
sign additional ones, more than his actual number of children, to make out the
amount.

So the school commenced at once. In order to make up the number, the distance
to the homes of some of the boys and girls was six or eight miles. They all
came on horseback, brought their dinners in dinner pails, and returned as the
school was dismissed at night. Quite a number of the pupils were men and women
grown, but had never had the benefit of a common school education, and of
course were but beginners. They were very anxious to learn and gave me little
trouble.

The only thing which was noticeable was the attitude of the young men to the
girls, for each of them having a section of land as a donation claim was,
under the law, required by the 25th of September of the coming year to marry
in order to get a patent to more than half a section, married men being given
a section and unmarried men a half section. And the law allowed only one year
from the time the act was passed for the bachelors to marry, so that their
wives could also hold half a section. Hence, a good business in the
matrimonial line that season, and indications that were not unpleasing to me
were shown in the attitude to each other of the marriageable ones of the
sexes.