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

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CHAPTER VI.

The removal of the capital again to Salem did not seriously affect the
prosperity of Corvallis. The Statesman, of course, went with it, which might
have had sonic effect upon the reputation of the town abroad, but, as it was
never in sympathy with the people of Corvallis, its loss was not a cause of
regret to them.

The year of 1856 was an exciting one for Oregon and Washington. In addition to
the war east of the mountains, and at the Cascades, and through the Sound
country, war had again broken out in August, 1855, in southern Oregon, and
extended by the end of the year from the Canyon to California, reaching
westward to the ocean. Hostilities appeared simultaneously at far distant
points, indicating a general uprising of all the tribes of a vast region of
country, leaving only the Willamet valley entirely free from attack, as some
parts of the Umpqua valley were not unmolested. Many of the counties were
called upon to send companies of volunteers to the seat of war in the south. A
regiment for the south was raised in the southern counties of the Willamet and
the Umpqua valleys. At that time the county of Umpqua comprised what is now
the northern part of Douglas county, the dividing line being at Calapooia
creek. John Kelsey, of Benton county, was made Colonel, and W. W. Chapman,
then of Umpqua county, Lieutenant Colonel. Corvallis was headquarters, having
established there quartermaster and commissary offices in charge of assistants
appointed by the head office at Salem.

Numerous supplies were purchased, not only general supplies for the troops,
but individual volunteers were permitted to go into the stores under an
arrangement with the quartermaster and get all kinds of clothing. The prices
charged were usually about double the cash selling price, as it was understood
that it would probably be a long time before payment would be made. It was
another case of greenbacks, but a quartermaster s voucher instead of the
greenback. The question was not, as later in the Civil War, "when will the war
be over and the government able to redeem ?" but "will the government ever pay
?" When peace came, and the horses; mules and cattle on hand were ordered sold
at public auction under notice to purchasers that persons holding vouchers
could turn them in at par for their purchases, there were numerous bidders and
prices ranged high. Cattle that were worth for cash $100 per yoke were sold as
high as $250 per yoke, and afterwards, when the amounts allowed by the
government were paid in cash, it was found that those who held their scrip
fared about as well as those who sold, so that no injustice was done by the
transaction.

The government decided to remove all the southern Indians to reservations,
selected for the purpose, between the coast range of mountains and the ocean.
Accordingly they were brought in and located on the Siletz reservation, in the
western part of Benton, now Lincoln county, and the Grande Ronde reservation,
lying to the north of Siletz, and the cause of further Indian wars removed, as
after years of bitter experience it was found that a war of extermination
would have been carried on for years if whites and Indians occupied the same
territory. A large number of whites had lost their lives, either in war or by
massacres in times of peace, and the Indians claimed that they were safer
during a state of open war than at interval, of alleged peace. When Chief John
was asked at the council why he went to war he replied, "To save the lives of
my people," saying that he "lost more of his people in one year of peace than
two years of war." The fact is the peace treaties were not fully observed on
either side. They were doubtless made in good faith and controlled most of the
whites and Indians, while there were some of both races who, in such a
country, could not be held in check, and it was found necessary to separate
the races and plant the military in such positions as to be easily reached by
the agents in charge, so as to prevent the first attempt at outlawry on either
side.

It was also found that an Indian agent had to possess qualities suited for the
purpose. He had to have coolness and brains, and sufficient character to
command the respect of the Indians, and the military had to be vigilant and
see that white men were kept off the reservations.

In the year 857 Captain Auger built Fort Hoskins, 24 miles west of Corvallis.
Lieutenant Phil Sheridan was his quartermaster and commissary, who frequently
came to Corvallis in pursuance of his duties. The supplies for the camp were
shipped from Portland by boat to Corvallis. Sheridan made me agent to receive
and care for them. Accordingly when he came for them he stopped at my store,
frequently remaining over night He never would accept the offer of a bed, but
preferred to sleep in the store on blankets spread on the counter. Later,
however, I had it on the best authority that he became thoroughly cured of
that camp life habit. General and Mrs. Sheridan years afterwards came to
Portland and were given a reception by the Progress Club and many citizens had
an opportunity of being presented to him and his accomplished wife.

In 1857 another paper was established at Corvallis, more in sympathy with the
active sponsors of the town, and called the Occidental Messenger. L. P. Hall,
from California, took charge as editor. It came out boldly for slavery in
Oregon, and also advocated it as a vital principle of politics. It held
slavery to be a cardinal Democratic principle in theory, as well as for the
well-being of Oregon as an institution. A new line of thought was sprung upon
the public, and as Republicans were few in numbers at that time, it addressed
itself with emphasis to the Democratic party, and demanded a solution. A
majority of Democrats denied the claim made by the propagandists, and declared
that neither, slavery nor anti-slavery was a Democratic principle, and that
each individual was free to vote according to his views, either for or against
slavery, without affecting his standing in his party, and so resolved in their
convention of 1857. At the election of that year Lane was again chosen
delegate to Congress over George W. Lawson, an independent candidate. The
delegates to the convention were elected at the same time the vote on the call
for the convention was taken, which was decided by a majority of about 6000
out of less than 10,000 votes cast.

The convention met August 18, 1857. It was in session one month, and framed a
constitution to be voted upon on the second Monday in November of that year.
The boundary of the state conformed to that of the territory, except that
portion of Idaho east of Oregon, which was struck off, and an effort was made
to include that portion of Washington lying south of the Snake river, now
forming Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin counties, but Governor
Stevens, at this time the delegate to Congress from Washington, vigorously
opposed it, so that the permission of Congress was not obtained. The eastern
part of Oregon cut off was made a part of Washington territory.

The questions of slavery and the admission of free negroes were to be decided
by separate clauses. From the adjournment of the convention until the election
much discussion was had upon the slavery clause. The Occidental Messenger
warmly advocated the adoption of the slavery clause. The Statesman admitted
articles from both sides, requiring correspondents to sign their names to
their contributions in order to receive publication. There were several
arguments made through the press, but the most noticeable one I recall was
from the pen of Judge George H. Williams, on the free state side of the
question, which was considered at that time by the free state people as
unanswerable, and gained him a great many friends; but later it proved
somewhat in his way when a candidate be-fore the legislature for the senate,
as his anti-slavery views were objectionable to those favoring slavery. The
slavery clause was defeated by a vote of more than three to one, and the free
negro clause was defeated by a vote of about ten to one.

Among all the leaders of the Democratic party I can now recall but two
prominent ones who were for slavery - Nesmith, Grover, Harding, Bush, Delazon
Smith, in addition to Williams, and numbers of others, all being free state
men. In 1858 Grover was elected to the House of Representatives, and Lane and
Smith were elected Senator . As the state was not admitted until February 14,
859, Oregon s first representative to Congress served only 57 days, and one of
its Senators, Smith, the same length of time, while Lane s term was two years
and 17 days. A special session was called by the Governor to convene in May to
elect a Senator in place of Smith, whose term had expired, but it adjourned
without effecting an election, and thus was inaugurated a precedent that has
been followed with much persistency since.

Owing to the divisions among Democrats, their candidate for Congress in 1859,
Lansing Stout, was elected by a very narrow margin, and in the following year
George K. Sheil was elected by a small majority. In both cases David Logan was
the unsuccessful candidate.

In the year 1858 I moved to Portland, and in the year 1860 took some little
part in politics there. Owing to the warring factions, it was evident that
Democrats could hope to win only by uniting on some fair basis of co-
operation. Judge Williams and A. C. Gibbs had moved there also about that
time, and as Williams  views represented the views of those Democrats who
voted for a free state, it was desired by them to elect him as one of the
Senators at the next meeting of the legislature, and an effort was made to
make up a ticket so as to include him as one of the Senators.

Accordingly, Mr. Gibbs was put on the ticket for one of the members of the
legislature, and Benjamin Stark, who favored Lane, was the other nominee, and
thus both factions were represented and the ticket was elected. Before the
legislature convened, however, the split at Charleston came, and two
Democratic electoral tickets were in the field, and no further union of
Democrats was possible. The legislature met, and while the Democrats had a
decided majority, the factions could not be reconciled. Instead of this a
coalition was made between the Douglas Democrats and the Republicans which
resulted in the election of J. W. Nesmith for the long term and Colonel E. D.
Baker for the short term. Nesmith was an old pioneer, had been an active
member of the provisional government, had been superintendent of Indian
affairs under the territorial government, and a Colonel during the Indian
wars, and was a prominent Douglas Democrat; besides he had a personal
following among the Republicans. Baker had come up from San Francisco in the
spring and stumped the state for Logan for Congress. He was thoroughly well
equipped for the position and was thought not to be very radical in politics,
so that it was easier to make this combination than any other. He was a good
stump speaker. It was told of him that, while making a speech at the
courthouse in Lafayette, an ardent Democrat, possessing a very dark skin for a
white man, after listening to Baker for some time, interrupted him and asked
him if he was a black Republican. All Republicans were black Republicans in
those days in the estimation of dyed-in-the-wool Democrats, with the accent on
the black, as pronounced by them. Baker was a very white man, both his face
and full head of hair being very white. His questioner was standing on a seat,
so as to be plainly seen over the heads of the audience.

Baker looked over the audience at him and replied: "Since you have called up
the question of color, and we both are in full view of this audience, I am
willing to leave it for the audience to decide which of us is the blacker man
of he two." His friends pulled 'the questioner down and hid him from sight
instantly, and the entire audience, Democrats as well as Republicans, joined
in uproarious laughter. While he was always polite and affable to an
interrupter, it was found that t was a good thing to let Colonel Baker alone
while speaking. Delazon Smith canvassed the state for Breckinridge and made a
very strong fight. There was no one who could make a more forcible speech. He
had an excellent voice, and was a finished orator, and possessed the faculty
of stirring up his audience to the highest pitch, and there are many persons
now living in Oregon who will tell you that they have never heard his equal in
the political arena. He died soon after the close of the campaign, mourned by
many, even those who did not endorse his politics. An attempt of an eulogy to
Baker would be superfluous, as we all know how he fell, at the head of his
command at Ball s Bluff, on the Potomac, soon after taking his seat in the
senate, in a manner honorable to himself and serviceable to his country.

In September, 1860, I moved my stock of goods from Portland to Walla Walla,
and on the Saturday before the election in November returned to Portland to
vote for Douglas, well knowing he had not a ghost of a how for an election.
Many of his supporters, not wishing to lose their votes, as they termed it,
and it being evident that the vote of Oregon would go to Lincoln or
Breckinridge, dropped Douglas and voted for their preference as between the
other candidates, and so Oregon cast her electoral votes for Lincoln, who led
Breckinridge by a few votes.

As it is not the purpose of the writer to give a history of Oregon, but only
the personal recollections h at it is thought may be of interest to others, he
has purposely left out much of interest that transpired outside of his
observations; in fact, much that belongs to the general history of the
country. These re collection are confined to the locality of the writer a the
time, but all to Oregon, that is, old Oregon - the Oregon to which he came in
the year 1850. It then embraced all the country between California and British
Columbia, and the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific ocean, and contained 13,294
white people, according to the United States census of 1850, principally
confined to the Willamet valley, and many times that number of Indians. That
Oregon now embraces Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and a very important part of
Montana, all that portion lying west of the Rocky Mountains, in which is
situated the most important mining camp on the globe, Butte, Montana, having a
pay roll much larger than. any other mining town, and also quite an area of
southwestern Wyoming. It has an aggregate population of about one and one-half
million of people, and possesses, in view of its already ascertained
resources, sufficient wealth for an empire as large as the one over which
Kaiser William proudly reigns. Fifty years shows an increase of more than a
hundred fold in population, and many times that in productive wealth. What
then will another 50 years accomplish?

Men are living today in the strength of manhood who will live to see an empire
in population and wealth embraced in the limits of the Oregon to which I came.
Men here speak of the state of
Washington as quite a different country, and Idaho and Montana as quite
distant states, but to the old pioneer, and especially to me, they are all
one all parts of the old Oregon to which my heart is attached. New people from
the East are heard speaking of Oregon somewhat sneeringly, as if they w ere an
entirely different people. Let them be reminded that they are a part of one
people. that they are joint inheritors of what was won by those hardy
pioneers, who crossed the desert plains and scaled the rugged mountains, and
thereby established the right of America to the rich heritage which they now
enjoy, and which forms an integral and an important part of this great and
glorious country of ours.

In this connection I wish to say that, in my judgment, no territory of the
United States was ever settled by a people so well adapted to endure and
overcome the hardships that beset the people of Oregon. And if those who came
later, and those who are native to the soil of these states do as well their
part as the pioneers did theirs, it will be well for the states that compose
the Oregon which the pioneers established.

Here is all honor to the pioneers! I am proud to be known as one of them, and
have only pity for those who, coming in palace cars years later, therefore
think they are for that reason superior to the pioneers who crossed the plains
with ox teams, eating their "peck of dirt" perhaps many times over.

THE END.