Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 25/Number 2
THE OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Organized December 17, 1898
FREDERICK V. HOLMAN President CHARLES B. MOORES Vice-President F. G. YOUNG Secretary LADD & TILTON BANK Treasurer GEORGE H. HIMES, Curator and Assistant Secretary
DIRECTORS
THE GOVERNOR OF OREGON, ex-officio THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ex-officio Term Expires at Annual Meeting in October, 1924= • .^|^1||| MRS. HARRIET K. McARTHUR, RODNEY L. GLISAN -i3m Term Expires at Annual Meeting in October, 1925 CHARLES H. CAREY, B . B . BEEKMAN Term Expires at Annual Meeting in October, 1928 LESLIE M. SCOTT, JOHN GILL Term Expires at Annual Meeting in October, 1927 P. H. D'ARCY, T. C. ELLIOTT
The Quarterly Is sent free to all members of the Society. The annual dues are two dollars. The fee for life membership is twenty-five dollars.
Contributions to The Quarterly and correspondence relative to historical ma- terials, or pertaining to the affairs of this Society, should be addressed to
F. G. YOUNG, Secretary, Eugene, Oregon
Subscriptions for The Quarterly, or for other publications of the Society, should be sent to
GEORGE H. HIMES, Curator. Public Auditorium, ThirdTSt. , between Clay and Market Sts.t
Portland, Oregon THE QUARTERLY
of the
Oregon Historical Society
VOLUME XXV
JUNE, 1924 NUMBER 2
Copyright, 1923, by the Oregon Historical Society
The Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages.
CONTENTS Pages Exercises on the Occasion of the Dedication and Unveiling of the Equestrian Statue, "The Circuit Rider,"—the Gift of R. A. Booth to the State of Oregon
79-100
Introductory Remarks by Charles H. Carey, presiding.
Invocation by Thomas Jefferson Villers.
Donor's Letter to the Governor of Oregon, read by William Wallace Youngson.
Acceptance for the State by Governor Walter M. Pierce.
The Christian Minister and the State, Address by Bishop William O. Shepard.
The American Pioneer, Address by Joseph N. Teal. j££f<
CHARLES E. LEWIS —The History of the Educational Activities of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Oregon 101-135
P. V . CRAWFORD—Journal of a Trip Across the Plains, 1851 - - 136-169
Errata ^^^JSi^S^r. ' f^ 170
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Entered at the post office at Portland, Oregon, as second-class matter 
THE QUARTERLY
of the
Oregon Historical Society
Copyright, 1923, by the Oregon Historical Society
The Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages.
EXERCISES ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEDICATION AND UNVEILING OF THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE "THE CIRCUIT RIDER"
SALEM, OREGON, APRIL 19, 1924
Remarks By CHARLES H. CAREY, Presiding
Oregonians, Fellow Citizens of the Great Republic:
We have assembled for the purpose of giving expression to an ideal. Governments and institutions are dependent upon the quality of citizenship, but unless a nation cherishes its ideals and nourishes its higher aspirations it loses the things of the spirit, gravitates into gross materialism, and soon falls into decay.
In this thrice blessed country of ours, wherein we enjoy the gifts of bounteous nature and have as well the blessings of liberty under a free government, we should never lose sight of the fact that our peculiar development as a people is due to idealism. The pioneer preachers, with rare self-sacrifice and devotion to a belief, typify in a degree the spiritual influences that have permeated and characterized our civilization and our social and political structure.
This is particularly true of Oregon where the first permanent settlers were missionaries, and where the first attempt at popular government, the first steps toward universal education, and the first impulse toward righteousness, were due to the example and the instruction of the unworldly ministers of the gospel.
The sentiment that actuates the distinguished citizen who has made the generous gift, and that draws together this assemblage, bids us lift our eyes from the daily tasks of life and visualize things of the spirit; we turn to thoughts of the essential nobility of the nature of man, and consider how in all ages and in all countries there have arisen those who at sacrifice of self have given themselves freely for the welfare of others.
Let us then in reverent spirit incline our hearts to prayer, while the Invocation will be pronounced by the Rev. Thomas J. Villers, D. D., President of the Portland Council of Churches.
The Invocation
By Thomas Jefferson Villers
Thou God of our fathers, we thank Thee for this great monument, which brings to our memory the heroic days of the pioneers,—the men and women who laid in faith and sacrifice the religious and educational and governmental foundations of our commonwealth.
Especially do we thank Thee today for the old time preachers, who carried Thy gospel to unchurched communities and lonely frontiers,—Thy servants who opened vast new territories to Christianity and civilization, and in so doing gladly endured exhausting hardships, not even counting their lives dear unto themselves, as compared with the joy of fulfilling the commission which they had received from the Lord Jesus.
We thank Thee not only for the sections which they evangelized and the churches which they organized, but also for the schools and colleges they helped to found. We thank Thee for their influence in establishing law and order,—that when the plastic elements of this western world were rounding into form, their loyal hands shaped it according to Thy pattern.
They being dead, yet speak through this statue today. Make us in some measure worthy of the heritage which they have bequeathed to us As we recall this glorious band, the chosen few, on whom the Spirit fell, O God, to us may grace be given to follow in their train.
With his family do Thou bless Thy servant, the donor of this memorial, designed perpetually to remind us of the service and sacrifice of the heroic dead. As the mystic cords of memory bind the Oregon country to Robert Booth today, do Thou bathe all our souls in the passion of Calvary, that like him we, too, with persuasive tongues, may tell how Christ died to save men, and still lives to bless and help them.
Our commonwealth and our common country we commend unto Thee. Keep us true to Thy word and Thy will and Thy work,—to all our cherished institutions, our American traditions, and our Christian ideals. O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget. Accept, we beseech Thee, this the work of our hands; and bless all who participate in this dedication, and witness this unveiling. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
Donor's Letter to the Governor of Oregon
Read By The Rev. William Wallace Youngson, D. D.
January 6, 1921.
His Excellency, Ben W. Olcott,
Governor of Oregon,
Salem, Ore.
Dear Governor: For a long time I have cherished the hope that some day I might be able to express in a degree my admiration and appreciation of the Ministers of the Gospel, who as Circuit Riders became the friends, counselors and evangels to the pioneers on every American frontier and who so largely directed the thought of our citizenry and shaped the course of our civilization and who, in their last and possibly their best work, were strumental in determining the boundaries of the Oregon Country.
The sacrifices they so joyfully made for their fellows, their unflinching loyalty to their country and its institutions and their ringing proclamation of a brotherhood defining the loftiest standards of human action have been an inspiration to all who have been the beneficiaries of their achievements, and have imposed upon Oregon's sons obligations which can never be repaid, and which may be recognized only by the best efforts of a worthy citizenship.
Some months ago, I commissioned Mr. A. Phimister Proctor, the sculptor, who has endeared himself to the West by his interpretation of frontier life, to design and have cast in bronze an equestrian statue of heroic size to be known as the Circuit Rider. In height, it is to be about 12 feet and placed on an appropriate pedestal, 6 to 8 feet high.
Mr. Proctor has just brought to the state the model of his design. It has been exhibited to a goodly number of our people for critical observation, and all who have seen it express their approval of it.
Through you, I desire to offer the statue as a gift to the state. If you consider its acceptance appropriate, will you kindly name a committee of Oregon citizens, with whom I desire you to act, to designate a place to locate it.
It is expected that it will be ready for delivery some time next year. I enclose you a photograph of the model.
Grateful for your anticipated consideration, I am,
Sincerely yours,
R. A. BOOTH
Acceptance for the State by Governor Walter M. Pierce
The people of the State of Oregon accept from Honorable Robert A. Booth this magnificent statue, The Circuit Rider.
The citizens of this great commonwealth appreciate the unselfish devotion of one of her most distinguished citizens who has so generously provided this beautiful memorial—a memorial through which coming generations will recall the spirit of the early Circuit Rider, who carried the story of the Nazarene into the homes of the early western pioneers.
Countless generations yet to come will view with admiration this beautiful work of bronze, which will be a constant reminder to citizens of the Pacific Coast of the arduous work of those who laid the foundation for this unparalleled civilization that we today enjoy.
Oregon is exceedingly proud that she has among her citizens, Honorable Robert A. Booth, of Eugene, Oregon," a son of one of the early and most devoted Circuit Riders.
Words cannot recite—monuments fail to fully commemorate—the work of the men who, in the pioneer days, followed the circuit, teaching and preaching the doctrine of the Savior. They went into the homes to alleviate the suffering of the sick, to pray for the distressed, to preside at weddings and funerals. They overcame many an obstacle for the early settlers. They scattered roses of joy, sunshine and kindness along the roughhewn paths by these empire builders.
Years will come and go. Men in almost countless myriads will pass from the theatre of action into the great unknown, causing hardly a ripple in the history of their times. But the Circuit Rider's influence will be felt as long as time.
The spirit of the Circuit Rider is a part and parcel of our humanity. It has been woven into our very nature. It has given the people of the Pacific Coast a peculiar sense of public duty, distinctly American and distinctly Oregonian.
As Governor of Oregon, representing nearly a million inhabitants—I accept this present and sincerely thank you—Robert A. Booth, for your generosity.
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER AND THE STATE
By the Rev. Bishop William O. Shepard, D. D., LL. D.
Historians and romancers busy themselves with warriors and kings and uniforms and banners and martial music, and all the pageantry of war. Historians and romancers seldom discern the influence of the idealist, the poet and the prophet. It is likewise with the average man in business and industry. To him statesmen and politicians and all the machinery of the state are of supreme importance. For the thought of the average man is concerning higher wages, shorter hours of labor, better clothing and better houses; and he looks to the state and statesmen to provide all these.
The estimate which writers and business men have placed upon war and commerce have led the undiscerning to regard legislators and executives of the law as the principal promoters and functionaries of civilization; and to such undiscerning ones any eulogy of the Circuit Rider, a minister of the Gospel, is far-fetched and unreal. The undiscerning would speak of the Circuit Rider, if at all, in words condescending and patronizing. But William Watson sings truer lines when he says:
"Captains and conquerors leave a little dust,
And kings a dubious legend by their reign;
The swords of Caesar they are less than rust;
The poet doth remain."
And Watson's lines are equally true if spoken of the Circuit Rider instead of the poet. He remains.
I am to speak today of the Circuit Rider as the frontier's first policeman, first librarian, first teacher, and at once the first board of health, board of hygiene, and commissioner of child welfare. I am to ask you to think of him as he threaded the forests, forded the streams, and found passes over the mountains, "searching out the lost sheep of the house of Israel," as the first highway commissioner, marking out by the feet of his patient, hardridden palfry the thoroughfares of a coming empire.
The Circuit Riders of the nation have done this on every frontier. They have been men divinely fitted for their tasks. In the earliest days of every section of America they have been men of modest and sterling characters who have felt they were under marching orders, and rejoiced to see the banners beckon, and hear the bugles calling the order to advance. It has been they who have fathered cities, sired empires and molded states, —Cartwright in Illinois, Whitman in Washington and Jason Lee in Oregon, whose voices rang like bugles in an untrodden canyon.
Roosevelt, who wrote "The Winning of the West," said of such men: "I have made quite a study of American history, and have always been greatly interested in the thrust of our people westward across the continent; that movement which began during Revolutionary days, and which from its very beginning included as the spiritual leaders of the pioneers an extraordinary proportion of preachers. It was the preacher who gave to the backwoodsmen, as they lived in their stockaded villages among the dotted clearings, the spiritual life that prevented them from going down in the hard materialism of their surroundings." That is good testimony from Roosevelt, himself a Rider. He himself had heard the axeman's blade echo in the lonely forests, had forded numberless streams, followed the trails of the Red Man, made his breakfast out of the trout that at sunrise leaped in the cool waters, and at evening kindled a campfire which reflected in the dark, surrounding pines, the eyes of prowling beasts.
But I am here to speak not only of pioneers, but also of the larger work of the prophet and minister of the Gospel.
There will be no need of argument for the worth of morality. Morality is necessary for the health and vigor and longevity of the individual and the nation. And morality must be propagated by religion. The best teachers and thinkers of all time have recognized and declared this truth. Washington said, 'Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Morality has never propagated itself. It always must have an apostle moved by religious fervor if it is to live and grow. Seneca and Marcus Aurelius were moralists, but they sent no apostles into the world; therefore, Seneca and Aurelius are almost unknown. The Man of Nazareth sent Circuit Riders everywhere, even the "uttermost parts of the earth"; and His moral teaching with its fundamental bases—the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man—shall
"spread from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more."
Modern ministers of His Gospel are His apostles, sons of the Circuit Riders of pioneer days, and they propagate His morality for the health of the state, for the weal of the city, and for the good of men. They are not salaried by the state, but they are of more worth than its police force, and of more value to the city than its officers. They unceasingly toil for everything that makes mankind richer and stronger and better. Because this influence is invisible, and, except on rare occasions like this, voiceless, the public seldom gives the herald of the Gospel the credit which his worth deserves.
Historians do not hide the fact, however, that it was the religious conviction of the people, expressed by the minister (which means servant), the parson (which means chief person), which settled America. The Puritans made Massachusetts a religious colony, spreading westward over other states and gave impulse and character to American civilization for all time. And it was John Robinson, the minister who had more influence than any other in launching the Mayflower and in molding the life and policy of the Pilgrims, and, therefore, was more influential than any other, either Standish, the Captain, or Winthrop, the Governor, in molding the life of America. The Baptists, under Roger Williams, founded Rhode Island, as did the Quakers, Pennsylvania; and what America owes to those two states is largely attributable to two remarkable ministers. When Oglethorpe, the philanthropist, got his charter for Georgia, he brought with him a minister, John Wesley, and depended upon him for the shaping of his incipient state. It was the French Protestants who settled the Carolinas, the Dutch Protestants who built New York, and the Roman Catholics who founded Maryland.
I have spoken of the Circuit Rider and implied that he fitted the conditions of primitive society. He was a plain, natural preacher, who laid the sills of the church and state on the frontiers of civilization. But the minister is not always such. Emerson in "The American Scholar," says: "They are always, more universally than any other class, the scholars of the day." John G. Holland declares that though his association had for many years been with the leaders in the literary world, he had received intellectual life and stimulation from no class in such degree as from ministers.
It may seem that the speaker is arrogating much to his own profession, but the occasion permits it, and requires it. The minister's training and experience imply all that is claimed. Usually he has come in contact with many phases of life. The nature of his work compels him to be a reader of the best literature; and he gives currency to all the most significant facts and the careful thought and the beautiful fancy of all the ages culled by his extensive reading. He is compelled to emphasize culture, intelligence, morality and patriotism. He is naturally the foe of autocracy in state and industry, the undoubted enemy of vice and intemperance, the certain opponent of greed in places high and low. He must be the friend of all. By the very nature of his position he knows every class, and in his own person and by the Church of which he is the exponent, unifies society as nothing else can. The minister, whether as Circuit Rider in pioneer conditions, or the son of the Circuit Rider in the more complex life of today, has often inspired ideals of life and service, set in motion beneficent reformation and even revolutions, and profoundly influenced the world-movements which have made human history what it is. He has often become the veritable conscience of the communities where he has labored and the people for whose souls he watched over. He has again and again in his day of power reduced all other figures in the community to comparative insignificance, and ruled from the pulpit as from the throne,—as Savonarola ruled Florence, John Calvin ruled Geneva, and John Knox ruled Scotland.
Although it is not given to many men either in the pulpit or out of it to make great conributions to the life of a whole nation, yet from the earliest days we have record of ministers who gave impulse to the spirit and character of America. It would be but a matter of transcription to give such names as Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians! Hooker, who was the leading spirit in colonizing the Connecticut Valley; Increase Mather, President of Harvard College, and celebrated diplomat; Stiles, the brilliant President of Yale; Witherspoon, President of Princeton, and member of the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence; Edward Everett, Conductor of the North American Review, member of Congress for ten years, Governor of Massachusetts,, minister to England, President of Harvard, and Secretary of State; Beecher, whose influence in the dark days of our Civil War is so well known; Marquette, a discoverer and pathfinder in all the middle west; and a legion of others whose names are sprinkled all through American history.
If ministers had not reared families, that gratuitous fling, "ministers' sons always turn out badly," would, of course, have never been given currency. Neither would the world have had Morse, the Inventor of the Telegraph; Arthur and Cleveland and Wilson, Presidents of the United States; Field, who laid the Atlantic Cable; Agassiz, one of America's first naturalists; Stuyvesant, ablest Governor of New York; Dwight, renowned College President; Clay, the great Compromiser; Holmes and Lowell and Richard Watson Gilder; Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher; and again a multitude not less conspicuous than those thus named.
One of the great contributions which America has made to civilization is the public school system. This was the development and outgrowth of the Pilgrim-Puritan idea, and ever since the Pilgrim days the Church and its ministry have been the friends of education. Long before universities were instituted by the state, denominational colleges were educating the youth of America. As is well known, Harvard was founded by a minister, Yale by ten ministers, Hamilton College, Rutger's College, Dartmouth, The Woman's College at Baltimore, Willamette University, and a multitude of others were founded by ministers. For many years scarcely others than ministers furnished the chief executives for the institutions of higher learning or took high rank in their teaching forces. To mention the names of Increase Mather and Edward Everett, Presidents of Harvard; Stiles and Dwight and Woolsey and Porter of Yale; Jonathan Edwards, Witherspoon and McCosh, of Princeton; Mark Hopkins, of Williams; Knott, of Union College, president for sixty-two years; Wayland, of Brown University; Haven and Day, of Syracuse; Fisk and Olin and Bangs, of Wesleyan; Cummings, of Northwestern; Simpson, Bowman, John and Gobin, of DePauw, formerly Asbury; and Presidents of Willamette University, Hoyt, and Coleman and Hawley, local preacher and President for ten years, and as long an unchallenged Congressman, and Homan, and last but not least, Carl Gregg Doney.
While it is only suggestive of a much larger list, it is sufficient for our purpose. Time does not permit even a mention of the long array of ministers and ministerssons who have inspired the people to patriotic action in the periods of storm and stress in American history, or who have given America its literary masterpieces. It is enough to mention in this connection Henry Ward Beecher, Lyman Abbott, Jared Sparks, Jacob and John Abbott, Thomas Starr King, Samuel Smith, the author of "My Country 'Tis of Thee," Theodore Parker, William Ellery Channing, Phillips Brooks, Henry Van Dyke, Edward Everett Hale, Edward Eggleston, and Newell Dwight Hillis, just closing his quarter of a century of a pastorate in Brooklyn.
The minister preaches two fundamental truths, one has to do with man's relation to his Creator, and the other has to do with man's relation to man. He would break down the barriers between God and man, and between man and man. He is forever the ambassador of peace, and in the Gospel which he preaches is the best hope of humanity that the demons of suspicion and hatred and aggression shall finally be exorcised, and nations learn war no more. His eye is ever upon that vast tomorrow when battle flags shall be furled "In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world."
I am here, however, not to eulogize the ministry, but to say that this statue standing on the state-house grounds of a far western state, is a most appropriate testimony to the contribution that the Circuit Rider and the settled pastor have made to American life. It commemorates in a worthy way those knights of Christ who suffered great hardships that the following generations might know something better than hardship and struggle, that every common citizen might have an opportunity for a decent competence, and that every child might have an opportunity for the fullest measure of culture of which he is capable.
On June 3, in the capital of the nation, there is to be unveiled an equestrian statue of Francis Asbury, the prince of Circuit Riders, and here in the capital of the farthest western state is unveiled a like statue commemorative of the numberless Circuit Riders who have been heralds of patriotism and Christianity across the whole land. Today we emphasize especially those men who waged the first hard conflicts in this last frontier of America. It is they especially whom we honor today. It is they upon whom we should place the laurel of the valleys and hills which they watered and enriched by their tears. Jason Lee, David Leslie, Gustavus and H. K. Hines, John McKinney, John F. DeVore, Father Wilbur, Robert Booth and T. L . Jones, are the men to be crowned today by filial and grateful hands. Their names should be repeated over and over, that the thousands who enjoy the benefits they secured may know their benefactors. Those men of direct Saxon speech, "straight-grained men, with the bark on," are worthy of our interest, admiration and gratitude. Without the facilities furnished by schools, or established society, or regular Church economy, with few advantages such as we have inherited, they laid foundations so deep and firm that history with all its changes has but proved their abiding strength. As was said in eulogy of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of £>t. Paul's, in London:
"If you seek his memorial, look around." And as has been said of other heroes, no braver than ours:
"We crave not a memorial stone
For those who fell at Marathon.
Their fame with every breeze is blent;
The mountains are their monument,
And the low plaining of the sea
Their everlasting threnody."
Nevertheless, it is most appropriate that this enduring monument shall stand for generations to tell the story of the Circuit Rider to the statesmen who tread these capitol grounds, and the students who throng the halls of learning across this highway. It is most fitting that this noble statue should be erected by filial love and in testimony of the worth of those who did so much to shape the moral and religious life of this frontier commonwealth. Looking upon this monument, children and children's children will swell with pride as they remember how the Circuit Rider lived and died; and they will vow to walk themselves the shining way. This monument will teach children's children to reverence the dust sleeping in sacred plots sweet with the odor of wild flowers and under the shadows of the sanctuaries built by the heroes here commemorated.
Amzi Smith, a New Jersey pastor, served fifty-three years in little country charges. The son of another preacher paid tribute to his memory in words that might be written of many a Circuit Rider:
"Six hundred dollars was the most he earned
In any year, so far as I am aware;
For two and forty years he lived on that,
Or less. Riches unsearchable he preached,
And drew his pittance for his household needs.
And yet he seemed to think it was enough.
I do not know that ever he complained.
Perhaps it was enough, for he was fed
And clothed. His wife, the boys and girls, the horse,
All had enough. He had his work to do,
And did it faithfully, as unto God.
And where he labored hungry hearts were blest,
Sinners became good men. The village smiled
Where Amzi Smith abode.
As God blessed Obed-Edom and his house
The while the ark was there, so did He bless
The towns and fields and hamlets where this man
Dwelt, with God's glory in his humble soul.
O God, let not that race of giants die;
Give us more men like them, old-fashioned, brave,
True to the truth; men that have made the Church
Mighty, and glad, and songful in the past."
THE AMERICAN PIONEER
By Joseph N. Teal
Each age, each epoch, has had its pioneers. Frequently the motive actuating them was based on a spiritual or religious impulse that impelled them to face dangers, privations, persecution, and death itself in their desire to secure for themselves and their children liberty of thought, of worship, of action.
The Pilgrim Fathers, from their exile in Holland, looked forward to a land as a home where they could worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. More than three centuries have passed since the Mayflower landed in midwinter on the granite shores of New England. During that period the face of the world has changed, but throughout all the changes the spirit of the Pilgrim Fathers has taken root in widely scattered centers and entered very largely into the life of nations and particularly into that of the Oregon country.
The impulse which furnished the urge that caused the Pilgrim Fathers to face the dangers of an almost unknown ocean and still less known land, peopled as it was by savages, differed from that which caused the Oregon pioneer missionaries to face a journey even more hazardous and trying than that the Pilgrims faced. While the call was spiritual and religious it was not for themselves but for others the pioneer missionaries faced a path full of peril and which only the high call of duty, based on a deeply religious spirit, would have prompted them to take.
It is said that in 1832 a council was held by the chiefs of the Flat Head Indians to consider a story they had heard of a white man's God. It may have been from an occasional trapper they first heard the story, but their interest was aroused and they wanted to learn the truth. As St. Louis was then the chief trading point for the hunter and trapper, to that city four Indians were sent to get the details of this strange tale. Tradition and history tell they learned but little. Two of them died in St. Louis. The other two, disappointed and disheartened, turned toward the land of their fathers, no wiser than when they left their wigwams in the far West. One died on the way—the other may have reached home. Here ends this part of the story—but it was not the end. It was but the beginning. The story was published in the newspapers and it came to the notice of those whose life was devoted to the service of God.
The missionary spirit was fanned into a flame at the thought of vast numbers of human beings living and dying without knowledge of the Gospel and all that it means, and with the unquenchable ardor and zeal of the crusader, the pioneer missionaries, the men who blazed the way for others, soon were struggling forward, fighting their way across thousands of miles of desert and boundless plains, crossing great mountain ranges, fording or swimming dangerous streams, enduring all things to answer the call of the Indians for knowledge of the white man's God.
In the settlement of various parts of what is now the United States, more often than otherwise, the real leaders, the pioneers, were missionaries of various faiths, all imbued with the same spirit, all serving the same God, and all consecrating their lives to a cause founded on the fatherhood of God and the brotherhoood of man. It is well that it was so, for their lives, the principles on which they acted, and on which was built this great commonwealth, will be in time of stress the sure foundation on which we can rest in security and a rule by which we may measure our duties and obligations as citizens.
The Circuit Rider was a natural product of the time in which he lived. The population was small and scattered over wide areas. There were no means of locomotion except the horse or going about on foot. The roads, such as they were, were few, always rough, and frequently impassable. Trails led here and there, from settlement to settlement, from cabin to cabin, through the wilderness. At first there were no churches and even when their building began they were very few and far apart. To reach and serve the scattered people, it was necessary to carry the Gospel to them. In sickness and in health, in hours of sadness and of happiness, the Circuit Rider was oftentimes the only comforter, the only one on whom to lean, the only connection between the tenant of the cabin and the outside world. He left no call unanswered. He was always at the command of those who needed him. The missionary of God was not only the herald of the Gospel but, in words of another: "He was architect, carpenter, ox driver, axman, painter, blacksmith, and pastor." While preaching the Word he was not only earning a living for himself and his family, but was aiding others in the most practical of ways.
And it must not be understood that these early missionaries were uneducated, uncouth, or uncultured men. How much they knew of the sciences, I know not, but of the Word of God they knew much. However, their daily labors left them scant time for study. Accordingly, not infrequently—as depicted in this group—the Circuit Rider would read his Bible and collect his thoughts while riding slowly to a meeting place where people were assembled to hear his message. There were no cowards, physical, spiritual, or intellectual, among them. Nor was there place for weaklings in those days. Fearless, faithful, and direct, they went about preaching the Bible and what it taught, doing good, helping this one, encouraging that one, facing hardships of every kind. They suffered patiently, they endured much. Some suffered even martyrdom by the hand of the Indian wielding the murderous tomahawk. Others in threading the treacherous rapids of the rivers and mountain streams were swept away. Indeed, death and danger faced them on every hand. Like the great Apostle to the Gentiles, he could not ineptly say: "In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers . . in perils by the heathen . . in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea . . in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." So also, as with Paul, it was literally true of this itinerant outrider for the Kingdom of God—"I die daily."
In many instances devoted women shared with these missionaries every danger, every hardship, every trial. What a glorious roll do the names of the early missionaries make!
Then, when the growth of the population seemed to justify the effort, they directed their energies to laying the foundations of educational and charitable institutions which continue to this day, ever exerting a powerful influence in molding the character of men and women of the Northwest. The Willamette University at Salem is one of these institutions.
When one contemplates this wonderful country, its resources, both actual and potential, and what we now refer to as its early days, it is difficult to avoid dealing somewhat with its history and the part of the Circuit Rider played therein. There were indeed giants in those days. While this magnificent memorial is representative of a type, one may be pardoned, in considering the progress made in the last 100 years, for referring to a few facts.
It was on September 17, 1834, that the great pioneer missionary, Jason Lee, arrived at Fort Vancouver and was there received most hospitably by Dr. McLoughlin, who has been most rightly termed the "Father of Oregon." At that time there were few, very few, white men in all the Oregon country. On the advice of Dr. McLoughlin, Jason Lee selected as the site of the first mission a spot on the banks of the Willamette River a few miles north of where Salem now stands. At that time, except at Fort Vancouver and possibly a few solitary points, there were no houses, not even log cabins, but the resting place of the missionary was a camp under a fir tree or under the lee of some great cliff. It was, in fact, the great outdoors. Isolated, with very few companions, separated by thousands of miles of distance and months of time from their old homes, often from family, facing an unknown world, the early missionaries confronted an appalling and well nigh hopeless task. God blessed their efforts, and slowly they made headway against almost unsurmountable obstacles, facing trials that only their faith and zeal enabled them to endure.
June 1, 1840, brought to Oregon what was often referred to as "The great reinforcement." It consisted of nine ministers, eleven seculars, and four teachers. All the ministers and seculars except one had families. Thirty-six adults and sixteen children composed the party.
Events moved rapidly and on May 2, 1843, the first American government in the Pacific Northwest was authorized by the people of the Willamette Valley at Champoeg. It gives one some idea of the sparseness of the population at that time to know that but one hundred and two men gathered to consider the report of a committee which had been appointed in a March meeting of the same year. When the vote was taken, fifty-two voted for the report and fifty against it. By this narrow margin, was it declared that the "Stars and Stripes" should be our flag and we be a part of our common country. It is interesting to note that the same number met to frame the first constitution and self-government on the Pacific Coast as there were in the Mayflower when those who came over in her adopted what is declared to be by some the first written constitution for civil government ever set up in the world, and certainly the first self-government on the Atlantic Coast.
In 1847 the Whitman Massacre occurred. The first victims at the hands of the treacherous and ungrateful Indians were Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife, who had been serving and caring for them since 1836, when the mission, later called the Whitman Mission, was established. The Oregon Provisional Government waged the war of 1847-8, growing out of the Whitman massacre, followed by the capture and execution of the murderers concerned with the massacre.
Oregon was admitted as a state February 14, 1859, at which time it had a population of about 53,000. While the temptation is great, time will not permit of more than this brief reference to a few of the high points in the history of the Northwest.
The Circuit Rider is a particularly fond memory to the pioneers. It is but natural that this should be so. And we are now gathered together to join in dedicating this magnificent and lifelike memorial to his life and character. It is peculiarly fitting that the state owes this splendid gift to the patriotism and generosity of Robert A. Booth, a pioneer and the son of a pioneer Circuit Rider. It is a great pleasure, a great satisfaction, for me to have the opportunity of joining in this unveiling, and I appreciate the great compliment paid me in asking me to speak on this occasion. No words of mine can add anything to the standing and character as a citizen and as a man of one I am honored in calling my friend, Robert A. Booth. His life is a part of the history and growth of his native state and his example an inspiration to all who know him or have come within the influence of his life. His desire is to perpetuate the memory of all the early missionaries of whatever race or creed. While this memorial was inspired by the love and reverence 'Mr. Booth bore his father, it is not intended to commemorate any individual, but is erected in honor of all who honored the greatest call that can come to a man. Notwithstanding this desire of Mr. Booth, there are occasions, there are times, where history and the future require facts to be stated. In this instance I feel certain everyone at once will concede the propriety. It makes this occasion doubly interesting for all to know that the father of Mr. Booth was a pioneer Circuit Rider, one of the type I have tried to depict, and that Mr. Booth is a native of Oregon, having been born in Yamhill county in May, 1858, which in itself makes him a pioneer. His father was a true type of the pioneer missionary, a type fast disappearing. His name was Robert Booth. He was born in England in 1820; came to America with his parents in 1830; lived in and about New York six years and then went by steamer to New Orleans, up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and thence crossed the plains to Oregon by ox team with his wife and four children in 1852. He joined the Oregon Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1855 and remained a member until his death, July, 1917, at the age of 97 years. His last charge was Grants Pass. To paraphrase concerning the woman in Proverbs, "Let his own work praise him in the gates."
I feel that this occasion should not be allowed to pass without this very simple biographical sketch of the father of the donor.
In the selection of the artist to put into everlasting bronze his conceptions of what he desired to express, in the way of honoring and representing the Circuit Rider of the early days, Mr. Booth made no mistake in selecting Mr. Proctor. Mr. Proctor breathes the spirit of the West. He is true to its life and to its traditions. A western man himself, fond of all that makes it glorious, of its traditions, of its history, he has put into this group the very best that is in him.,, Fettered by no instructions, limited by no set designs, controlled by no preconceived notions, there was committed to him the task of expressing in bronze the high ideals the donor desired to commemorate and to perpetuate. I feel sure that you and all to follow you will feel that this great group is truly representative of those great and good men whose lives were devoted to the service of God and their fellow men.
In what I have said here, I do not think I have misconceived the meaning or scope of my subject. It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of religion in the lives of the American pioneers and quite impossible with it left out, to paint even an imperfect picture of the pioneers of the Pacific Northwest.
In closing, I wish that I could leave with you the picture of the Circuit Rider as I see him. He was no materialist nor opportunist. Abraham like, "He looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." His faith was founded on verities and was anchored deep in the Word of God. In honoring him we honor ourselves, and in contemplating his life and work we are elevated to a higher plane. He had the vision of a prophet, but with it all he had to deal with the problems of everyday life. His life was passed in a country in the making, with but few of the instrumentalities of civilized life to aid him. Obstacles that might well have caused him to falter were treated as but trifles light as air in the path he was following. Dangers and death he faced calmly as part of his life. Doing all the things that fell to the lot of the early missionary, baptizing the babies, ministering to the sick, marrying the youths, burying the dead, preaching and exhorting and helping in every way,—is it a matter for surprise that these brave and simple, god-fearing souls should have endeared themselves to their friends and neighbors and now that they are gone, have left their memory a priceless heritage. Such men as these do not die. With the passing of time and the separation of the dross from the gold their lives and their examples stand out more and more radiantly as beacon lights to guide others on their way. They will live forever in the hearts of those they leave behind. In the words of Holy Writ we can say of them:
"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens .... of whom the world was not worthy."
THE HISTORY OF THE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN OREGON[1]
BY CHARLES E. LEWIS
In order to understand the ideals and the motives of the Episcopal Church in its efforts to promote education in Oregon, it is necessary to know something of the traditions of that church as revealed in its earlier activities in America and in England. In the latter country the Church of England has always insisted upon church control of education. As a result of this and the fact that this church is much stronger in England than any other, it held practically a monopoly of elementary and secondary education until 1870. In that year an act was passed creating elementary schools outside of church influence and control, and in 1902 the system was so revised that education was still further taken out of the hands of the church. In spite of these changes, however, it may be said that the Angelican Church still practically controls half of the elementary and secondary schools of England today.
In the early history of the American colonies, we find the Episcopal Church again active in educational activities. In addition to numerous elementary and secondary schools founded in the Middle and Southern colonies, we find such prominent colleges as King's College, the forerunner of Columbia University, in New York, and William and Mary College, in Virginia, founded by this church in the eighteenth century. It is therefore to be expected that, when a sufficient number of church members had settled in Oregon to have organized church activities, they would very soon take up the problem of education. One feature of Episcopal schools which has been characteristic both in England and in America, and is fleeted in all of the schools founded in Oregon, is the disbelief in co-education. The attitude of the church may perhaps be best summed up in the words of an editorial writer which appeared in the Oregon Churchman, the church paper, in February, 1872,[2] "Is not the confusion of the respective spheres of man and woman, to which there is now a tendency, the result of what are called mixed schools? i. e., schools in which boys and girls are taught together. So long as there are two sexes, and each sex has its characteristic virtues and duties, so long will there be a necessity that each sex receive a peculiar treatment suited to perfect its special character. One method for both will produce confusion and hinder the highest attainments of each. In infancy and in maturity, when the difference of sex is either undeveloped or fixed the sexes mix freely and to advantage; but when boys and girls whose characteristics are in the process of formation are equally taught together in one method, they must lose the special perfection in which respectively their attainments and usefulness would be the greatest; and in due time society will be supplied with those monsters, which even now shock us, masculine women and effeminate men."
The history of Episcopal education in Oregon may be shown to include four rather well defined periods. In the first period, running from 1852 to 1869, it had its origin. In the second period, from 1869 to 1890, Portland saw a tremendous expansion in its population and prosperity, and the Episcopal schools enjoyed a similar growth. The period from 1890 to 1904 saw the rapid growth of the public schools, when there was keen competition, and the private schools, including those of the church, failed to keep pace with the growth of the city, and the fourth period saw the complete triumph of the public schools and the disappearance of all but one of the Episcopal schools.
The first effort of a member of the Episcopal Church to establish a school in Oregon came in 1852. In March, 1851, Rev. William Richmond set out from New York by way of Panama as a missionary to Oregon. He arrived in Portland in May of that year and a short time later took up a claim about eight miles northwest of the town of Yamhill. The next year he wrote the following to the "Spirit of Missions": On Tuesday I returned to my mountain cabin, found Mrs. Richmond well, and her school room, which she had commenced before I left home, covered in. The rest of the week was spent in labor on the school room. All the timber except the boards for the floor, was procured from our own claim, the cedar shingles made, the fir trees cut and split for boards, etc. Of course, it is a rude building, 16 by 16, forming our cabin. It will probably cost about $200, and I am in great want of assistance in paying for it. On Monday, the 16th of March, Mrs. Richmond commenced her school, six scholars being present." No information is available which indicates just how long this school continued, but it could not have been for many months. It has been claimed that Rev. Richmond founded this school in what is now Portland, but the above quotation would indicate that it was located on the claim in Yamhill county.
In 1853, before Oregon had been organized as a Missionary Diocese and when there were only three parshies in this district, a convocation was held at St. Paul's Parish at Oregon City on August 2, with not over a dozen delegates present. At this meeting a committee of six was appointed to consider and report on the subject of establishing a "Seminary comprising religion and learning, to be under the patronage of the church." This committee made a long report in which it emphasized the lack of moral and religious training in the public schools and the particular need for a church boarding school for boys in Oregon and Washington because of the sparsity of population. The school to be established was open to boys of all sects, there was to be no proselyting although the beliefs of the church were to be taught. It also proposed to establish a seminary in connection with this for training ministers and missionaries for Oregon and Washing who would be able to support themselves by their own labors. The tuition should be low, salaries of teachers to be small, living plain and opportunity offered for boys to earn part or all of their board and tuition by working. Money should be raised mostly in the East for purchase of land and the erection of cheap buildings. The report of this committee was cordially approved by the convocation and the committee increased to eleven members[3] for the purpose of bringing the matter to the attention of Episcopalians both here and in the East. This committee never accomplished anything of importance.
By the next year the Missionary Diocese of Oregon and Washington had been created and Bishop Thos. F. Scott had arrived in April to take charge. In his address before the second convocation, held in Portland, June 17, 1854, he brought up the subject of a church school and although he advocated the establishment of such a school, he questioned the advisability of assuming the debts at that time which it would entail. The convocation, however, appointed a committee of three, with the Bishop as chairman, to receive proposals for a suitable location for the proposed Seminary, with lands for the same, and for its endowment by donations; and to report to the next meeting of the convocation.
The next year, Bishop Scott reported an offer of 140 acres of land situated about two miles west of Milwaukie, by two gentlemen[4] interested in the establishment of the school. The conditions of the grant were such, however, that the Bishop feared they could not be met, and referred the matter to the convocation. This body then appointed a committee to confer with those gentlemen in regard to changing the conditions. It seemed that satisfactory arrangements were about to made to accept this land, when another site of 70 acres was offered to the committee for $4000. This property was on the west bank of the Willamette River in what is now Oswego. As it had a commodious dwelling nearly finished and a large school house upon it, the committe decided to purchase it instead of accepting the other property. The money for the first payment was borrowed until funds collected in the East arrived. The sum of $5000 was collected largely by Hon. Sam H. Huntington, of Hartford, Connecticut, for this purpose. About the same time a sum of $250 was received from the Sunday School of St. George's Church, New York, which sum was used in purchasing four acres of land next to the original tract.
The school was opened in the fall of 1856 and the next year became known as Trinity School. The first teacher was Mr. Bernard Cornelius, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, who had had many years experience as a teacher in England and America. The first year there was a total attendance of 17 boarding students, 15 of whom finished the year, and in addition there were a few day scholars. The school year was divided into three quarters and students were charged $60 per quarter for board and tuition.
Mr. Cornelius continued in charge for four years until 1860, when he resigned and the school remained closed during the next year. Late in the fall of 1861 the school was reopened under the principalship of Mr. E. W. Hodgkinson, a young unmarried man, so that the school began without being able to receive boarders. This proved to be a very serious detriment to the school and after considerable delay, arrangements were made with a family in the neighborhood to move into the house and take charge of the domestic department. But when this was done, many who had intended going to the school had entered upon their studies elsewhere, so that the number of boarders at the school was exceedingly small. Mr. Hodgkinson resigned in March and the year was completed by Mr. John W. Sellwood. Mr. Hodgkinson had been secured from the East and had evidently misunderstood the nature of the school.
The next year, 1862-63, the Rev. St. M. Fackler, who had been in the diocese since its organization, took over the school, but his report indicates that he did not get along well with the boys and he resigned at the end of the year. His report shows that there were 13 day and 10 boarding pupils the first quarter, and that, "one boarder, being refused to stay in Portland over night, went home at the end of one week, and three others were sent home for disobedience involving gross misconduct."[5] The second quarter there were only six boarders and six day pupils, and by the end of the year only five students were left in the school.
The following year, Mr. Cornelius, who had been at Eugene City at least part of the intervening time, returned to the principalship and remained the next two years, resigning again in 1865. Efforts were then made to secure another principal but they proved unsuccessful. The school was never reopened and the property was disposed of in February, 1866.
When the school was first organized, its management was vested in a committee of three with the Bishop' as chairman. In 1857 application for incorporation was made to the State Legislature. A charter-was granted by that body which, however, "limited the income and property of the institution, and reserved to the Legislature the power at any time to alter, amend, or repeal the charter, when the interest of the school or the public good may require it." These provisions were unsatisfactory to the convo cation of 1858, but the charter was finally accepted by them in 1862. Under the charter the school was managed by a Board of Trustees consisting of the Bishop, five clergymen and five laymen. The Bishop then transferred to this board all of the school property held by him and also the property at Milwaukie, known as Spencer Hall, the school for girls, which will be discussed later. This board continued to manage the property of both schools until 1870. In that year the convocation approved a recommendation by Judge M. P. Deady[6] to disincorporate the board and to turn all funds in its possession over to the Bishop for the use of the new schools which had been founded in Portland.
By 1866, through expenditures on furniture, repairs and improvements, the original investment of $4,000 had expanded to $6,500. In this year, however, the school and the 74 acres of ground were sold for $4,000, the money being so handled by Judge Deady that by 1870, the fund amounted to $5,474.45. An interesting phase of this period was the difficulty encountered in paying Mr. Cornelius his salary. At the time of his resignation, the trustees owed $430 to him. A committee was appointed to solicit contributions from the parishes to pay this but was unsuccessful. The next year he was paid from funds of the school and each parish was assessed a fixed amount to cover this. Very little of this was ever collected, however, and the money was finally taken from funds received from the sale of the school property.
In the meantime, a girls' school had been established at Milwaukie, known as Spencer Hall.[7] Negotiations for 108 CHARLES E. LEWIS m I securing this building were begun by Bishop Scott as early as 1859, but it was not until 1861 that the property was secured and the school opened. There is less data available regarding this school than the other, though it seemed to be very successful the first year or two, under the direction of Miss Foster. The school year was divided into quarters, the fee for each quarter being $60. The attendance averaged between 25 and 30 pupils. Miss Foster left in 1864 and Bishop Scott and Mrs. Scott, aided by a few others, managed the school. For the time they made their home at the school, Mrs. Scott acting as matron and both assisting in the actual instruction of the students. Their willingness to make great personal sac- rifice showed a devotion to the work and ideals which today would inspire anyone who has a hard task. Miss Jane Gray became principal in 1865 and was expected to continue the next year, but for some unknown reason, she declined its continuance. Bishop Scott referred to the circumstances as "most mortifying." The school accord- ingly was closed in 1866 and never reopened. The prop- erty was sold several years later and with the proceeds a fund was created, known as the Spencer Library fund for supplying a library for St. Helen's Hall. With the closing of these two schools and the death of Bishop Scott in 1867, the first period of this history ends. The next year the Rt. Rev. B . Wistar Morris became Missionary Bishop of the diocese and in 1869 a new era opens. By this time the Civil War was over and the great flux to the West had created new atmosphere and new condi- tions. Portland had grown from a village into a city. The period from 1870 to 1890 was one of great develop- ment of all lines of activity. Under the leadership of Bishop Morris we find a new interest in education. The diocese had increased from three parishes in 1853 to thir- teen in 1870, with a total of 321 communicants. During this period there were two main educational institutions in Portland and a number of smaller ones in various parts of the diocese. Those in Portland were St. Helen's Hall PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 109 for girls and Bishop Scott Grammar and Divinity School for boys. Before his death, Bishop Scott had purchased three- fourths of the block bounded by Third, Fourth, Madison and Jefferson Streets, and had erected a house and chapel thereon, hoping that the property might some day belong to the church. Bishop Morris readily recognized the value of the location and immediately took measures to secure it. He made an urgent appeal in the church paper, "The Spirit of Missions," and this appeal was answered by Mr. John D. Wolfe and his daughter, Catherine Wolfe, of New York City, by supplying most of the funds neces- sary for the purchase of the lot. It was accordingly pur- chased from the widow of Bishop Scott for $7,000 in 1869 and in 1876 the remainder of the block was purchased, making the total cost $10,000. The rent of the house on this lot was used to establish the "Wolfe Scholarship," which supported a boarding pupil in the Hall. Bishop Morris brought with him as teachers, his three sisters-in- law, the Misses Mary B., Lydia, and Clementina Rodney, who, with three others, made up the teaching staff the first year, 1869-70 . Miss Mary B. Rodney was the princi- pal of St. Helen's Hall from its beginning until her death in 1896. Her work is spoken of repeatedly in the highest terms. She was a graduate of and subsequently a teacher in St. Mary's Hall in Burlington, N. J. In 1879 she re- ceived a flattering offer from that school to take full control of it, but declined and remained in Portland. The school was a success from the start. It opened September 6, 1869, with fifty pupils and the number in- creased later in the year to seventy-five. By the end of the year it had reached 130 and the attendance for the next twenty years varied from that number up to 190. The teaching staff was increased to ten the second year and later increased to fourteen or fifteen. The old Bishop Scott dwelling and chapel were used as a nucleus about which the school was built. The first year, 1869, a dormitory building was erected at a cost of m 110 CHARLES E. LEWIS 1 $11,203, which provided rooms for thirty boarders. The next year the chapel, known as St. Stephen's Chapel, was moved and raised, and an entire story constructed under it, at a cost of $3,385. This made an addition of five school rooms. Again, in 1871, an additional building was constructed in the rear of the original dormitory building, at a cost of $4,609. This provided a laundry, gymnasium, and twenty additional dormitory rooms. A further ad- dition, in 1872, costing $2,358, increased the capacity to fifty boarders and provided room for the Bishop's family and teachers. This made the total original cost of the ground and buildings amount to $28,555. In addition to this, $5,000 was spent from time to time for paint, furni- ture, etc., another $5,000 for sewer and sidewalk assess- ments, etc., and $8,000 more for insurance making (1890) a total investment of $46,000. Of this amount, citizens of Portland contributed only $3,440 or thereabouts, exclu- sive of scholarships. Scholarships and endowments se- cured by 1890 amounted to about $19,000, most of which had also come from the East. The school was usually self-supporting. When Bishop Scott bought the property upon which the school was located it was considered rather distant from the main part of town. The school, however, had not been in operation long when it was recognized that it would soon be too noisy a location for such an institution. Accordingly, in 1882, a large block of ground was pur- chased in Johnson's Addition, at St. Claire Street, Park Avenue, Vista Avenue and Main Street, largely through the influence of Miss Rodney. As the old location became more unsuited for school purposes, plans were made for the erection of new buildings on this site. The old loca- tion was sold to the city of Portland for $100,000 cash and on June 9, 1890, the cornerstone was laid for the new structure. This was a brick building overlooking the city, which cost $100,000 and which had a capacity of 100 boarders and a like number of day students. There was an indebtedness of $20,000 on this building, which it was w PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 111 thought could be removed by rentals on other property owned by the school. As the building was not ready for occupancy as soon as needed, the old building was removed to the corner of Twelfth and Main Streets and used as temporary quarters. The new building was occupied February 24, 1891, and the other location subsequently disposed of. The work of this school is always spoken of by Bishop Morris in the most complimentary terms in regard to scholastic standards as well as its moral tone. The first catalogue indicates that the work included both elemen- tary and secondary subjects. It states that the studies to be pursued, "will necessarily vary with the age and attain- ments of the pupils; but the following may be taken for the general course of study: Spelling, Reading, Writing, English Grammar, Analysis of English Poetry, Etymol- ogy, a complete course of History, Arithmetic, both mental and written, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Geogra- phy, including Ancient and Physical Geography, Astron- omy, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Botany, Conchol- ogy, Rhetoric, Exercises in Composition, and History of English Literature. Special attention will be paid to Spelling and English Grammar and the pupils of every class will study these essential branches. The course of studies for the Middle and Senior classes will occupy four years and those who complete it satisfactorily will receive a testimonial to that effect." In 1872 this course was increased to five years. In 1876 the regular course of study for the Senior classes was made to include four years, and in the catalogue of 1882 the complete course I of study shows four years for the Senior course, two years for the Middle, two for the Junior and one for the Pri- mary, making a total of nine years. The last year of the Senior course carried the student little beyond the work of the last year of the present-day high school. In addi- tion to this course, it states, "such of the pupils as desire to remain at the school after graduating and pursue their studies further, will be permitted to do so on the same 112 CHARLES E. LEWIS terms as the members of the classes. The Post-Senior Course will include Religious Instruction, the Classics, Modern Languages, Music, Drawing, Painting, the Higher Mathematics, History, Philosophy and Literature." The above indicates an emphasis upon academic and artistic subjects and is in accordance with this, their motto, "That our Daughters may be as the polished corners of the Temple." The Collegiate department was continued only a few years, always with a limited number of students. The work was of the same high class as that of the other courses, students from it being admitted to advanced standing in different colleges and universities. The original charges for students in this school were as follows: Board and tuition, per term of 20 weeks, $125.00, with extra for washing; music $35.00, and spe- cial fees for languages, vocal music, drawing and paint- ing. For day pupils the tuition was $25.00 per term for Seniors, and $18.00 for those in the Junior classes. The board and tuition fee was increased to $150.00 per term in 1872, and to $160.00 in 1883. This included such things as washing, however, so that the cost remained practically the same throughout this period. The rules of the institution as given in the catalogue indicate that every effort was made to promote whole- some, economical and serious, yet pleasant atmosphere in the school life. A few quotations from the rules will show their general character. "Visitors allowed by par- ents or guardians will be admitted on Saturday between one and five o'clock. No visitors will be admitted' on Sunday. The pupils will be allowed to visit, on the last Saturday of every month, those friends in the city whom their parents may designate; provided, these friends ac- company them to and from the school, and the conduct of the children has been so satisfactory that they are entitled to this privilege." "It is particularly requested that all shopping for friends at home be done before the pupil comes to school, and that any necessary visits to the dress- maker, dentist or photographer be paid before the school MP PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 113 term begins, as these things are a great tax upon the teachers' time and a serious interruption of study." In specifying the clothing with which each girl is to be sup- plied, emphasis is placed upon simplicity and economy. One catalogue states, "Parents are earnestly requested to provide their daughters with plain and inexpensive dresses only, and not too many of them. Fine dresses for school girls are entirely out of place." Another states, "If the pupils bring very costly dresses, they will not be permitted to wear them." That the physical welfare of the girls was carefully looked after, is shown by the rule published in the catalogue of 1882 that, "Pupils are re- quired to take part in the daily calisthenics, unless excused by a physician. The pupils are drilled on school-day evenings in light gymnastics." All of these things indi- cate a high standard of work, accompanied by a distinctly religious and wholesome atmosphere in which the general welfare of the girls was carefully watched. Shortly after the founding of St. Helen's Hall, the other major educational enterprise, the Bishop Scott Grammar and Divinity School for boys, had its beginning. On the evening of June 21, 1870, at an informal meeting of the vestry of Trinity Church at the rooms of the Rector, Bishop Morris called the attention of that group to the subject of establishing a boys' school in the city of Port- land under the auspices of the church. On this occasion Captain George H. Flanders and his sister, Mrs. Couch, gave for this purpose four blocks, including the streets, to the church. The property was located between what is now Washington and Everett, Nineteenth and Twentieth Streets, and included a total of thirty-eight city lots. It was at that time sufficiently distant from the business portion of the city to be free from the attending noise and yet of access by means of two lines of street cars. The cornerstone for the building was laid July 5, 1870, and the school opened on the 6th of September. This building cost about $10,000, of which $4,500 came through Bishop Morris (evidently from friends in the East), 114 CHARLES E. LEWIS $3,200 was contributed by Portland people, the balance being raised later from both sources. 7 The fund coming from the sale of the old Trinity School at Oswego was made the nucleus of an endowment fund for the new school. Starting in 1871, at $5,996.55, it had increased to $10,483.62 by 1887. 8 In 1888, $10,000.00 of this was used to construct three residences on the school grounds on Nineteenth Street. The history of the Bishop Scott Grammar and Divinity School during the period from 1870 to 1885 was in marked contrast to that of St. Helen's Hall. While the latter was steadily progressing, under the direction of the same Principal year after year, the boys' school suf- fered a number of reverses, due to changes of Head Mas- ters and various misfortunes. The school began under the direction of Prof. Charles H. Allen, " a teacher of large experience and established reputation, who has given up an influential and lucrative position as Superin- tendent of the State Normal School at Plattsville, Wis- consin, to undertake this new and untried work for us and our children." 9 He was assisted by the Rev. John Rosenberg, who also preached in St. Stephen's Chapel. Mr. Allen remained only until March, 1871, when he was S 7 Judge Deady gives these figures in his diary. He says that Pr. Wilson, Lloyd Brooke and Col. John McCraken were appointed as a committee to raise $2,500. Deady himself declined to serve because he says he had already exhausted his resources to raise the $3,200. 8 The following table shows the growth of this endowment fund year by year: 1871 $ 5,996 .55 1872 6,209.40 1873 7,000 .00 1874 7,420.80 1875 7,582.20 1876 7,850.01 1877 8,242.56 1878 8,548.39 1879 9 These are the words of Bishop Morris, 1880 8,770.62 1881 9,313.54 1882 9,048.11 1883 9,596.31 1884 9,845.33 1885 9.761.17 1886 10,231.12 1887 10,483.62 w PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 115 succeeded by Prof. R. W . Laing. 10 Mr. Laing was assist- ed by Rev. George Burton, rector of Trinity Church, Mrs. Burton, and others. The first year there were 83 pupils, of whom twenty-one were boarders, the second year there were one hundred pupils and the third, ninety-three. In 1871 and 1872 a gymnasium was constructed and fur- nished. Considerable scientific and other apparatus was added. Many changes were also made to the original building, with a completely new wing being added (1873), at a cost of $6,000. Bishop Morris made a trip East this year and secured one-half of this amount as well as some $800 worth of books to be added to the library of the school. In February, 1873, a reporter for the "Daily Bul- letin" 11 made an inspection of the entire plant and de- scribed it in detail, under the title, "A Model Institution." He states that the building had a frontage on the south of 102 feet, and on the east of 85 feet. Most of the building was three stories above the basement and at the north- east angle was a tower 75 feet high. In the basement were located the dining room, laundry, kitchen, bath- rooms, cellars and wood-rooms . On the first floor were music and reception rooms, reading rooms, cloak room and laboratory, Junior school-room 30 by 40 feet, Senior room 26 by 50 feet, and a large recitation room in the rear. In the second floor were the chapel, primary room, two large recitation rooms and rooms for the matron and instructors. On the third floor were the dormitories, divided into alcoves, each large enough to contain a bed, chair and bureau, and each occupied by a single boy. The entire place was described as neat, clean and attractive and was praised in the highest terms. 10 Judge Deady says that on February 25, 1871, he met Mr Laing and describes him as a "magnificent looking man; to all appearances cut out for this position." On March 19, 1874, however, he describes a difficulty which Mr. Laing had with the boys including his son. The Judge went out to the school and he and the Bishop adjusted it together. Judge Deady says, "If Laing had had the matter in his own hands, he would have spoiled it. I don't think he is fit for the place." "This is quoted in full in the Oregon Churchman of that date. 116 CHARLES E. LEWIS J* In 1874 Prof Laing resigned as Head Master, on the ground of his unwillingness to be separated longer from his invalid wife and aged mother. Rev. George Burton, who had been assisting Mr. Laing, became Head Master and resigned the rectorship of Trinity Church to give his entire time to the school. The school was very prosperous until 1877, usually paying its expenses. On November 8 of that year, however, the building burned down, causing a loss of $25,000. The school was moved to temporary quarters in Holliday's Hotel building in East Portland. In March, 1878, Mrs. Anderson, a widow and matron of the institution, was delivered of a child at the school. She claimed that Burton was the father of it. Burton at first denied the accusation but later confessed, made a settlement with the woman and left with his family on the first boat for California. This tragedy, combined with the peculiar circumstances surrounding the fire a few months previous, as well as rumors that had passed about, caused a general belief that Rev. Burton had set fire to the building himself in order to cover other mis- deeds of a similar character. The two circumstances to- gether almost wrecked the school, although Messrs. Miner and Grant, two of the instructors, finished the year with about thirty boys. 12 In 1878 a new building was erected on the site of the old one, with a capacity of thirty boarders. Dr. Joseph W. Hill, of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale, was se- cured as Head Master, who continued in that position until 1901. Dr. Hill at the time of his resignation de- scribes his coming as follows: "When I, a young man fresh from college, entered upon this work twenty-three years ago, it was certainly a day of small things, as far as the school was concerned. I well remember the open- 12 Judge Deady describes both the fire and the other affair with great detail in his diary. He had been a strong supporter of Rev. Burton all of the time and this disclosure was a great shock to him. It was mentioned in the Oregon Churchman that Rev. Burton had been deposed from the ministry and spoke of the disgrace which he had brought upon the school and the church. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 117 ing day in 1878, when I sat down to the table with five boarding pupils, one of whom, fortunately, was a full-pay pupil, two of them were half-pay, the other two paid for their board and tuition by doing janitor work about the school. Here it may perhaps be proper to say that from the beginning I had assumed not only the management of the school but also the financial responsibility, or in other words, that I conducted it under a lease from the Bishop, until 1889, when Oregon became a diocese" In 1880 Bishop Morris suggested the introduction of Manual Training, but it awakened little interest. In 1887 the name of the school was changed to the Bishop Scott Academy and a modified system of military drill and discipline was introduced. This proved to be a popular innovation and the succeeding three or four years found the school at its height, so that the buildings had to be enlarged. The highest attendance ever reached was in 1891, when a total of 234 students was enrolled. The rules of the Acadamy describe a strict code of discipline, accompanied by detailed provisions for devel- opment of all phases of a student's life, mental, moral and physical. All boarding pupils, together with the Head Master and teachers, attended the services of the Episco- pal Church, none being excused. On other days than Sat- urday, no boy was permitted to make or receive visits, except from members of his own family. One rule states that no pupil can receive 100 demerit marks in any four successive weeks without being reported for expulsion from the school. Another states that every pupil who shall be absent from school for more than two full days in any month, except in cases of unavoidable necessity, shall be reported to the Head Master for discipline. It is stated that in extreme cases, "corporal" punishment may be inflicted, but that it will be used only as a last resort. The school year was divided into two terms of twenty weeks each, called Christmas and Easter terms. The cost of board and tuition was $150.00 per term. For day pupils tuition was $15.00 in the Primary department, 111 m 3^( -* 118 CHARLES E. LEWIS $25.00 in the Junior department, and $30.00 in the Senior department, with extras for modern languages, music, and drawing. Students were permitted to enter at any time. The board and tuition was increased to $160.00 per term in 1884, and to $200.00 per term in 1889. . Other fees varied accordingly. The course of study was very soon organized on a basis similar to that of the English Grammar schools. It was divided into six forms, the first two comprising the Primary department, the third and fourth the Junior, and the fifth and sixth the Senior. This course took a boy from the usual elementary subjects to the equivalent of the second year of college. The distribution of the stu- dents in the different departments varied from year to year, but the Primary usually had the largest enrollment. In 1875 the curriculum was expanded to include a col- legiate course of two years in addition to the six forms. These included the higher branches of the subjects already studied. In the Convocation of 1876 a committee was appointed to take measures to have the school incorpo- rated as a college, but there is no record of anything being accomplished by it and the collegiate department was very soon discontinued. The curriculum was modified slightly from year to year; manual training, military drill, com- mercial studies, etc., were introduced, a complete reorga- nization being made in 1889. According to this, there was to be a Primary Course, a Preparatory Course of four years, and in the Academic department there were a Classical Course of four years, Scientific three year's, English four years, and Business two years. It was the aim to prepare boys for college or scientific school or for business, and each boy's course was arranged to try to fit his particular need. No scholar was held back or turned back in any one subject for deficiency in another. The character of the instruction may be inferred from the following extracts from the catalogue: "Drill is the secret of successful teaching. It requires diligence, pa- tience, and perseverance both from pupil and master. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 119 Whatever is so learned is learned thoroughly, and learned for all time. To secure this, every Friday is given to a review of the week's work. A second review is had at the end of every month, while at the end of each ten weeks the quarter's work is gone over, when there is a written examination of all studies. Before the close of the year all past progress is again reviewed, followed by a General Public Examination. 13 We claim that results, more thor- ough and permanent, are so reached than by any other system." "Should a pupil fail to receive a mark of 7 in any of his daily recitations, he will invariably report to his teacher at the close of the afternoon Chapel service." As an incentive to good work and deportment, prizes were awarded to the boys who stood highest in the school for the year. 14 Although the scholastic work is highly praised in all of the Convocation Proceedings, there are a few facts which would indicate that if the work were really of a high character, the standards and methods must have been much different from those of the present day. For instance, in 1871-72, Mr. Burton had classes in Reading, Higher English Grammar, Rhetoric, History of English Literature, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Latin, and U. S . History. The other teachers had an equally large number. It is hard to conceive of one man teaching such a wide variety of subjects and doing it efficiently. For the year 1876-77, the grades are given and of a list of sixty-one students, over 70% ^received grades over 90, 23% between 80 and 90, with only 3% between 70 and 80, and almost no failures. There is one grade of 99.86%, two others over 99, and two exactly 99. Such an overwhelm- 13 Judge Deady describes a Public Examination at the Grammar School in which his son failed in Latin because he did not decline a noun properly. He says, "I thought at the time that Mr. Rosenberg gave him a harder example than he did anyone else and helped him less. But my feelings may have warped my judgment." 14 Consisted in 1873 of the Trinity Medal of $30 given to the pupil who stood highest in General Scholarship, Deportment and Attendance for the whole year, the Deady Medal of $25 for the pupil who stood high- est in Declamation, the Wilson Prize for the best Day pupil, Bishop Scott Prize, Head Master's Prize, etc., all being less. li II km 120 CHARLES E. LEWIS $s 1 m p li||"' %'
ing number of exceptionally high grades would indicate a tendency to over rate the work of the pupils. However, since this school was in such a different environment from modern high schools and the system of grading may have been different, it is hardly fair to judge its reports by present day standards. In addition to the two chief educational institutions just described, there were two other diocesan schools founded during this period, as well as a number of paroch- ial schools. In 1872 a lot was purchased in Walla Walla, Washington, and a two-story school house was erected. In the fall of that year a school for both boys and girls, but evidently with separate classes for each, was opened and known as St. Paul's school. The first year there were twenty-five boys, under two teachers, and forty girls, under four teachers. In 1873 a fire caused consid- erable loss but a new building was erected and the school continued for several years with an attendance of from fifty to eighty. In 1881 it ceased to be controlled by this diocese and its later history is not within the scope of this paper. The other diocesan school was at Cove, in Union County, eastern Oregon. In 1882, Mr. Samuel G. French, of that place, left at his death, his house and farm of 100 acres for the use and support of a girls' school. The school was opened in September, 1884, after con- tributions for that purpose had been received from the East and from citizens of Cove. The school was taught by the Rev. Mr. Powell and the first year there were forty-nine girls and twenty boys. It was then divided into two separate schools, Ascension School for girls and Leighton Academy for boys. The latter was closed in 1889 because of lack of funds, Ascension School continu- ing most of the time until 1902, after which time no report on it appears in the Convention Journal. In 1912, however, is found this statement, "In view of the action taken by the Convention of 1910, the Ascension School fund now held by the Board of Trustees will be handed over to the Bishop of Eastern Oregon as soon as request PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 121 for same is made. The reason this fund has not been conveyed before this time is that the Bishop of Eastern Oregon has requested that the fund be held by our School Trustees pending a settlement of a suit with the railroad company." The details of this affair is also outside the scope of this paper. The school was destroyed by fire in 1893, was rebuilt as a day school, and had a checkered career from that time, having an attendance varying from eight to thirty. In 1870 Parochial schools were established in Astoria, Vancouver, Corvallis, Salem and Eugene. The life of these schools varied from a few months to several years. In most cases they were conducted by the rector and his wife and continued as long as a rector remained in the par- ish who was particularly interested in that kind of work. The school at Astoria lasted with some intervals until 1884 and had as high as fifty-six pupils. The one at Vancouver continued until 1889, while the others lasted only a short time. In 1871 a school for Chinese boys and young men was opened in Portland, meeting usually at St: Helen's Hall. While this was primarily a religious undertaking, in addition to the religious instruction, classes were con- ducted in English and other subjects, which made it a distinctly educational proposition as well. The teaching was done by a few women and old students of St. Helen's Hall. The school was discontinued after about 1878. By the year 1890, a change had taken place in the educational situation in Portland, which brings about a new era in this history which might be called the era of struggle. The population of the city had increased to 46,000. A public high school had been established in 1883 and the Portland Academy in 1889, and these institu- tions largely absorbed the increase in the school popula- tion, the church schools remaining practically stationary. This competition finally forced the Bishop Scott Acad- emy out of existence and was instrumental in bringing about a reorganization of the management of St. Helen's Hall. During all of these years Bishop Morris repeatedly 122 CHARLES E. LEWIS 'ill called upon the church people to support the church schools and emphasized their importance to the church and to the community. The schools failed to grow, how- ever, and the majority of the students came from outside the church. The financial administration of the two schools was taken out of the hands of the Bishop in 1890 and placed under a Board of School Trustees, consisting of the Bishop as chairman and two lay and two clerical members. In 1893 the vestry of the Church of the Redeemer at Pendle- ton submitted a memorial, suggesting a reorganization and enlarging of the board. This was adopted in a modi- fied form and the board was increased to seven members. The supervision of Bishop Scott Academy remained under Dr. Hill during this period, until his resignation in 1901. In 1888 the Academy was leased to him for five years, upon condition that he assume all indebtedness then exist- ing, and pay thereafter for all fire insurance, taxes, and street improvements, as well as for any new buildings required for the school. It was further agreed that at the expiration of the lease, Dr. Hill was to receive a cash payment of not exceeding $2,000.00 for the value of the buildings added. The first year he expended $9,560 for repairs and improvements alone. The lease was then extended for three years, and by 1895, Dr. Hill had spent about $23,000 on improvements, assessments, etc. Con- trary to the conditions of the lease, the board paid him a considerable amount of this and had to borrow money to do so. Furthermore, the building of the new St. Helen's Hall on Vista Avenue had necessitated the borrowing of $16,000. The payment of interest on these loans, com- bined with the hard times and other factors, rapidly placed the board in a critical financial condition, with the result that by 1899 they were beginning to sell some of their real estate to pay the interest on the debts. The report of the board in 1895 shows the property of the Bishop Scott Academy to be worth $166,102, with in- cumbrances amounting to $12,500. The property of St. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 123 Helen's Hall, including the different scholarships and professorships which had been established, amounted to $177,573.17, with incumbrances amounting to $20,000. In addition, the board had a general indebtedness of $10,922.15. In 1897 the indebtedness was all consolidated into two mortgages to the Palatine Insurance Company and a loan of $50,000 was secured. In 1901 a legacy of $33,364.65 was received from a Felix Brunot, for St. Helen's Hall. This was turned to paying off the general debt but after the closing of the Bishop Scott Academy the money was all returned to the other school. Of importance in this period of the history of St. Helen's Hall was the death in 1896 of Miss Rodney, the principal. Her sister took charge for the remainder of the year and the following year she was succeeded by Miss Eleanor Tebbetts, Ph. D., of New York, who remained in charge until 1904. In 1898 a new "post-graduate" depart- ment was created, but was discontinued very soon after- wards. By that year the school had recovered from the effects of the panic, as is shown by the nerollment of 199 pupils, the largest number in its history. The depart- ments of Literature, Music and Art continued to be stressed and a large number of students were enrolled in these courses. 15 In 1896 a kindergarten was established and although not a financial success at first, it was con-. sidered well worth while. In 1901 the students of the different schools were distributed as follows: Prepara- tory 86, Intermediate 17, Primary 22, Kindergarten 23, Kindergarten Normal 6, Music only 5, Art only 2, and English only 2. In 1904, after considerable deliberation, it was decided to place the school under the management of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist. This group of women was founded at Clewer, England, and affiliated in 15 The catalogue of 1897 states that Wednesday evenings are spent by the pupils in the society of the faculty. The first Wednesday of each month, the pupils and teachers are at home to their friends in the city; alternate Wednesday evenings parlor lectures, open to patrons and in- vited guests are given on various subjects, scientific, historical, and literary. The list of lectures and reading for the year 1896-97 is given. 11 If 124 CHARLES E. LEWIS this country in 1881. There was considerable opposition to this step, as is evidenced by the plea which Bishop Morris made in his address to the convention: "It is to be hoped no narrow and foolish prejudice upon the part of any of our people or patrons will be manifested against this religious order of self-sacrificing women, pledged unto God for the accomplishment of this noble work. In addition to the management of the school, they have charge of the religious instruction and in sdme cases take charge of the regular classes, although this is mostly handled by special teachers employed for this purpose." 16 Bishop Scott Academy, as has been mentioned before, made a tremendous growth in 1888 and 1889 following the introduction of military training, but suffered a severe slump during the years of the panic. It had gained a high reputation by that time, as is shown by the fact that there were students enrolled from eight states in 1892. In 1895 the military discipline had new life in- fused into it by being placed under the charge of an officer of the regular army. In 1896 a movement was started to introduce manual training but this was not brought about until the spring of 1898 because of lack of funds. In that year a capable and experienced teacher was secured from the East and the work was evidently very popular and successful. In 1899, Dr. Hill made this report in regard to the work and attendance of the school: "The religious work has been carried on with the belief that man is a threefold being, body, mind and spirit, and that any true education will take all of these into consid- eration. Attendance upon Chapel services is compulsory but has required no efforts or friction to enforce the rules. Brighter times are certainly before us, for I can truthfully say that should no more pupils present them- selves than have already spoken of coming, we shall have 16 At no place in the Convention Journals is the salary of any teacher or principal given. Occasionally the total amount expended for teachers' salaries is listed, but this is no indication of the individual salaries. The Sisters, of course, serve without pay. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 125 a larger number than that with which we close. In fact, the year just closed has shown so much larger attendance and the prospects at the present time are so much better than they have been for six years, that I feel more certain of the future than for a long time." 17 The further growth of the school which Dr. Hill pre- dicted, was completely stopped by his resignation in 1901 and starting his own school, the Hill Military Academy. As there was objection to leasing the school, as had been done in the past, the Board of School Trustees took over its direct financial management. Mr. A . C. Newill, re- cently a student in Oxford University, was selected to succeed Dr. Hill as Head Master. A number of factors operated against the success of the new regime, in addi- tion to the growing competition of the public schools. Although Dr. Hill asked that the Bishop Scott Academy send its surplus of students to his new school, he actually took many of the former students with him, greatly reducing the attendance of the older school. That there was friction and lack of loyalty to the Bishop Scott Acad- emy on the part of the church is indicated by the fact that, exclusive of the children of clergymen, there were just three pupils enrolled the first year whose parents were members of the church, and the secretary of the board said that, "The feeling seems to have been more than one of mere indifference." Another feature of the situation was that, although Dr. Hill, by the terms of the lease, had agreed to keep the buildings repaired and im- proved as needed, and although the board had actually paid him several thousands of dollars when he had ex- ceeded his instructions, when the board took over the management of the school plant it found it necessary to spend $9,277 for repairs and refurnishing it in order to make it fit for school purposes. The decrease in attend- 17 It is interesting to note that Mr. Hopkin Jenkins, the present prin- cipal of Jefferson High School, was a member of the faculty in 1900-1901. He was a graduate of the school, had been an assistant teacher, and had just completed a course in Yale. I yi i & 126 CHARLES E. LEWIS ance caused a deficit of $10,236 for operation the first year and these losses, combined with the interest on the debt, made the situation critical. The board was accord- ingly authorized in 1902 to make such disposition of the property as in their discretion seemed proper; provided that the proceeds of such disposition be devoted to paying off any indebtedness of the board and afterwards to the purchase of a new site for a boys' school. No action was taken along that line that year, how- ever, and heroic efforts were made to save the school. The faculty was reduced and expenses were curtailed wherever possible. There was a better attendance the next year and the school showed a profit of over $2,000, so far as its operation was concerned. Mr. Newill said, "It is my intention next year to provide a course of study that will place the Bishop Scott Academy on a plane higher than any other school in Portland, and one that is so ad- vanced that those who have received the Bishop Scott Academy diploma can enter any college or university in the United States." The board and tuition at that time was $400 per year. There had been little change in the curriculum except to restore the "Form" system and to allow a greater election of studies by the individual student. The third year (1903-04) of the new management was again unsuccessful, showing a deficit of $8,248. At that time the interest bearing indebtedness of the board (cov- ering both schools) was $53,717.64, with an outstanding floating indebtedness of $3,500. There was an estimated shortage for the next twelve months of $3,250, independ- ent of the probable, if not inevitable loss in operation of the Bishop Scott Academy. Confronted by this situation, and realizing that it would not be many years until all of the school property would be sold to meet the indebted- ness, with nothing left to show for it, the board recom- mended that the school be discontinued until funds could accumulate to start it again, or until the present site be sold and a new one purchased for less money, the balance m PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 127 being used for an endowment. The board accordingly was authorized to close the school, sell the Academy prop- erty if they considered it wise to do so and reopen else- where as soon as practicable. The building was rented in December, 1904, for $250 per month and became the Glendora Hotel. The period from 1904 to the present time has been one of continued misfortune for the affairs of the Bishop Scott school, but with the exception of one reverse, the history of St. Helen's Hall has been one of general prosperity. During the first years of the administration of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist, the attendance rose until in 1910 it had reached 243. The quality of the work was very high, as is indicated by its recognition among colleges and unversities, particularly in the East. The Sisters introduced a kindergarten which was discontinued in 1911, opened again for a short time a few years later. They also created a new post-graduate department which was fairly well attended for a few years but for which there now seems to be no demand. It consisted almost entirely of work in Languages, Music, Art, and English Literature. At the present time there are only two departments, called the Lower School and the Upper School. The Lower School consists of six classes, covering in English and Arithmetic the same ground as the elemen- tary public school to the seventh grade but with a broader range of subjects. The Upper School covers six years and is divided into two courses—the College Preparatory Course and the General Course. The first and second forms of the Upper School correspond with the seventh and eighth grades of the public schools, and the other four forms correspond with the four years of the public high schools. The College Preparatory Course is so arranged to meet the requirements of the leading Eastern colleges, while the General Course is intended for pupils desiring to lay the foundation of a broad general education and meets the requirements of those universities and colleges which do not require four years of preparatory work in 128 CHARLES E. LEWIS 1 HI I9% Latin. In it the time, which in the College Preparatory Course is necessarily spent in Latin, is devoted to Litera- ture, History and Modern Languages. Much of the work is common to both courses and the standard of thorough- ness is the same. The certificate of St. Helen's Hall is accepted for admittance to most higher schools on the same basis as a high school diploma. In 1902 the board and tuition was $350 per year with the tuition of day pupils varying from $40 to $80 per year. 18 In 1905 the board and tuition was increased to $400 per year, the tuition alone being $100. In 1913 the rates were again increased to $500 and $120, respectively. At the present time the charges are as follows: Board and tuition $800 per year, day tuition for the Upper School $170, for the Lower School $120. In addition to the fixed charges, there are numerous extras for music, dancing, elocution, etc., making the school a very exclusive one. In 1906 the Board of Trustees recommended the election of a separate Board of Trustees of St. Helen's Hall, to consist of the Bishop, three clerical and three lay members, and recommended further that members of the existing board be elected to the new board, to insure continuity of service. No action was taken on this matter that year, however, because of the death of Bishop Morris but such a board was created and incorporated and all property of the school transferred to it in 1908. The two boards became distinct bodies June 1, 1909, the original board now being known as the Bishop Scott School Board. In 1910 the Trustees of St. Helen's Hall purchased twenty- three acres on the high ground back of Linnton, between the Cornell and Germantown roads, as a future site for the school. It appeared that the old building was becom- ing inadequate for the needs of the school, which was growing rapidly at that time and it was thought that it 18 An interesting feature of the terms was a reduction of 10% on board and ordinary tuition for 2 sisters, 15% for three and 25% for four. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 129 would be wise to have a new site ready. This was known as Willalatin Park and was valued at $8,500 although it was appraised at much less than this later and has never been used. In 1912 the total assets of the school were given at $235,614.45, of which $200,000 represented the St. Helen's Hall building and grounds. In the summer of 1914 the building was destroyed by fire. The sum of $22,750.15 was collected as insurance and the next year the net worth of the institution was given as $197,548.28 . The gymnasium building was reconstructed and used as a temporary home for the school, and the old Bishopcroft, at Twentieth and Everett Streets, was acquired as a residence for the Sisters and a few boarding pupils. The next year a frame building was erected on the site of the old St. Helen's Hall and devoted to a kindergarten, which was temporarily re- established, and to a kindergarten teachers' training school. The former residence of the Bishop and the two buildings adjoining it were remodeled for the temporary residence of the Sisters and the boarding pupils. In 1916 a chapel was built with funds contributed by the Sisters for that purpose, thus helping to relieve the pressure for room as well as to emphasize more potently the religious side of the institution. In the meantime the board con- sidered new sites for the school and in 1918 determined to lease the property of the old Portland Academy at Thirteenth and Montgomery, the Sisters having volun- teered to meet the expense of alterations to the building. The Academic department was accordingly moved to that building in the fall of that year This venture proved temporarily successful, but the uncertainty of the tenure and the inadequate accommodation for the increased number of pupils were causes of dissatisfaction. These conditions became so aggravated that the Sisters seriously contemplated the severance of their connection with the supervision of the schools. As this would probably have meant closing the school, the board made renewed efforts to purchase the building, which they succeeded in doing «• 130 CHARLES E. LEWIS in 1920 at a cost of $110,000. The Sisters undertook the payment of the first $5,000 of the purchase price and it was necessary for the board to increase its mortgage on the Vista Avenue property from $8,000 to $15,000. 19 Since 1920 the grounds at the new location have been beautified, the outdoor gymnasium having been moved to the rear of the building, and the entire plant made into an attractive school home. As the building was originally intended for a day school only, it does not supply adequate dormitory space for the needs of the school. The past year the school had an enrollment of about 130, an average number. After closing the old Bishop Scott Academy in 1904, the Board of School Trustees set about to dispose of the property in order to pay off its indebtedness. The first year $48,747.90 worth of property was sold. The next year Trinity Place, between Nineteenth and Twentieth Streets, was opened and lots sold to the value of $20,750. This left the board entirely free from debt and property belonging to the Academy amounting to about $95,000 remaining. All of this was subsequently sold except the actual site of the school, which in 1912 was leased on very favorable terms 20 for a period of 50 years. In 1909 the board purchased 100 acres of land in Yamhill County about four miles north of the town of Yamhill on the West Side branch of the Southern Pacific Electric. This was purchased from the Walnut Grove Company at a cost of $250 per acre, including all buildings, which were insured at $8,000. The next year the board received a donation from Mr. C. G. Thayer, of Rainier, Oregon, of 19 This property has just been sold to the Masonic Lodge in which a large cash payment has been received along with some real estate in- cluding some lots on the west side of Vista Avenue across from the old property. 20 By this lease the board was to receive annually as rental during the first and second years $3,750.00, during the next 8 years $7,500, during the next 10 years $10,500, during the next 10 years $13,500, during the next 10 years $16,500, and during the last 10 years of the lease $19,500, all of which sums were to be net to the board. m. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 131 thirty acres fronting on the Columbia River in the vicinity of Rainier, as a site for the Bishop Scott Academy. They accordingly made efforts to dispose of the Yamhill prop- erty but were unsuccessful. That same year, Dr. A . A. Morrison, Rector of Trinity Church and member of the board for many years, made an investigation of the prominent church schools of the Eastern states and reported the result of his investigation to the board. That body decided that the time for re-opening the school had not yet arrived but when it did, the proper place would be the farm in Yamhill County. It accordingly arranged to return the land near Rainier to Mr. Thayer. In February, 1912, a proposition was submitted to the board by the Ashland Commercial Club and citizens of that place to secure the donation to the board of the site of the former state institution known as the Ashland Normal School. The offer included about 15!/2 acres of land about a mile from the center of Ashland, on which were located two large buildings and a number of smaller ones. This was a very generous offer and was considered for some time by the board but finally rejected because it was situated too far from Portland. 21 In the fall of 1913 the school was finally opened on the Yamhill farm, under the name of the Bishop Scott Grammar School. Bishop Scadding said, "The idea is not to compete with the high priced boarding schools in the East, but to provide a good grammar school education, manual training, and healthy out-door life on the farm, 21 At a meeting held April 24, 1912 , the board adopted the following resolution, "Resolved, That this board hereby adopt as its settled policy and plan of operations, the establishment of church homes for boys, availing itself, so far as secular education is concerned, of the facilities offered by the public school system of the state of Oregon, and supplement- ing such secular education with Christian home influences and that the efforts of the board be devoted, primarily but not exclusively, to the establishment of worthy destitute boys in the city of Portland and other centers of population in the diocese; that the farm owend by the board in Yamhill County be operated in the interest of such homes as shall be established, and to be used during the summer months as a summer country home for the inmates of such homes." This resolution was evidently not considered, however, when the school was actually opened. 132 CHARLES E. LEWIS I* all for $300 per year." The attendance the first year aver- aged only 6 pupils. In the summer of 1914 a new build- ing was erected at a cost of $20,000 and which was to have a capacity of 50 boys. Bonds were issued mortgaging the property on 19th Street to the amount of $50,000 for this purpose and for building a road to the place. The board spent about $28,000 on building and equipment that year and the school was operated at such a loss that it was never reopened after 1915. The attendance that year averaged only 11. In 1914 upon the death of Bishop Scadding, the Rt. Rev. Walter T. Sumner became Bishop of the Diocese and he set about immediately to straighten out the affairs of the school. He described the location as being inaccessible and unfortunate. Rev. A. H . Marsh, who had been brought from the East to become the Head Master of the school said that when he first approached the place, he felt as if he were going into a forsaken wilderness. His efforts to make the school a success were praised by all who came in contact with him. Dr. Kerr, President of Oregon Agriculture College, and Dr. Sheldon, Dean of the School of Education of the University of Oregon, visited the place at the request of Bishop Sumner and agreed that the school could never be a financial success in that location. Steps were taken accordingly to conserve the remain- der of the Bishop Scott School funds and property, and with the consent of the heirs of the original donors of the property ,a decree of the court has given the board the authority to divert the funds into other channels of the church. In trying to clear up the matter, the board has brought suit against Dr. Morrison for mishandling the funds of the board at the time he was a member. It has been shown that he was one of the stockholders of the so-called Walnut Grove Company from which the Yamhill property was purchased and acted in that capacity as well as chairman of the board in the absence of Bishop Scad- ding. This suit was brought for the following purposes: m% PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 133 (a) To secure an accounting from Dr. Morrison for the sum of $25,000 trust funds of the board which were de- livered to him. (b) As a part of this accounting to seek recovery from him for all profits which he made person- ally by the use of these funds, (c) That he make good all losses which were occasioned by his conduct, (d) That judgment be given against him for all losses which the board suffered because he breached his duty as a trustee, (e) To bring about a just disposal of the 100 acres of land. This suit was lost in the Circuit Court, was ap- pealed, and is now before the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon. 22 Inasmuch as the Board of Trustees of the Bishop Scott School still exists, one cannot consider that chapter in this history definitely closed and might even look forward to the reestablishment of the school. Surveying the work as a whole, one sees aims and ideals as firmly established as the Church itself. The attempts to fulfill these ideals have, however, been dwarfed and thwarted, at one time by financial inability, at another time indifference, or again some person by his greed or personal ambition or reckless living has brought calamity upon the noble efforts of others. There have been many like Bishop Scott and Miss Rodney, willing to sacrifice everything for the school's progress. If every- one of the church could share even in a small degree their spirit! For we are not to suppose that now the era of the public school is upon us the great purpose for St. Helen's Hall and Bishop Scott Academy is at an end. As long as parents desire religious instruction for their children, personal instruction and personal guidance and character building (which the large public High School is thus far unable to provide) there will be not only a need but a necessity for the private denominational school. St. Helen's Hall's standards are undoubtedly high in every respect yet to do the maximum amount of good of which 22 This material was taken from the Brief of the Appellant in this case. Shortly after this paper was written, the Supreme Court gave a decision sustaining that of the Circuit Court. 134 CHARLES E. LEWIS it is capable, it will have to be made possible for a larger number of the children of its own church to attend, its present charges being prohibitive for all but the wealthy few. This is not criticism of the school but merely shows that before the school can render again for society the service for which it was intended, it will have to receive greater personal and financial support from the member- ship of the church itself. APPENDIX Statistics of Attendance, Teachers, and Graduates BISHOP SCOTT ACADEMY ST. HELEN'S HALL Year Students Teachers Students Teachers Graduates 1870 130 10 1871 83 4 179 11 1872 100 6 193 11 5 1873 92 5 135 9 3 1874 80 8 129 8 7 1875 52 4 144 11 5 1876 63 5 148 11 5 1877 62 6 114 5 1878 30 2 132 12 2 1879 63 7 153 13 2 1880 59 5 155 12 3 1881 78 7 162 13 7 1882 71 7 186 13 2 1883 74 8 157 14 1 1884... 82 9 165 15 1 1885 73 10 156 13 1 1886 76 9 146 13 6 1887 90 11 136 13 6 1888 120 132 1 1889 156 2 1890 210 165 6 1891 234 4 1892 191 157 15 4 1893 158 3 1894 90 10 4 1895 63 3 1896 97 62 9 8 1897 88 177 5 1898 79 199 3 1899 95 198 5 1900 110 180 2 1901 106 163 3 1902 32 177 6 1903 73 151 3 1904. 84 148 15 W'K PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 135 1905
155 1906
171 1907 J 171 1908 1909 SSlZZZZ^ Discontinued - 203 1912 .* .."..."( 209 1913
1914 I 145 1915 / 77 1916 / 98 Although the above figures are incomplete, they growth of the two schools. an idea of the I :IH BIBLIOGRAPHY Proceedings of the Annual Convocations of the Missionary Diocese of Oregon and Washington. 1853-1887. Bound in 4 Vols. Journal of the Annual Conventions of the Diocese of Oregon. 1887-1922. Bound in 4 Vols. Oregon Churchman. (Portland) 1862-1922. Known as Columbia Church- man. May, 1883 to Oct., 1886, and as Oregon and Washington Church- man. Nov. 1886 to Oct. 1887. Paper not published regularly and no bound copies on file from 1900 to 1908. Monthly. Spirit of Missions. (Monthly). 1832 -1922 . Published by the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U. S . New York. (All of the above on file in the Percival Memorial Library, 19th and Spring Streets, Portland.) Annual Catalogue of the Bishop Scott Grammar and Divinity School. Copies from 1870 to 1887 on file in Public Library. Bound copies of the catalogues of the school from 1878 to 1901 on file in the office of Dr. J . W. Hill, Henry Bldg., Portland. Annual Catalogue of St. Helen's Hall. Judge Deady's Journal. On file in the rooms of the Oregon Historical Society. Bound in Vols, covering the years. Brief of Appellant for case of Board of School Trustees vs. A. A. Morri- son. Printed by Auterson-Bradley Printing Co., 149% First Street, Portland. In addition to the above sources, the writer has received much valuable aid and information in the preparation of this paper from Rev. Edw. H. Clark, Chaplain of St. Helen's Hall, who also has charge of the
Percival Memorial Library. JOURNAL OF A TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS, 1851
During the winter of 1850 and 1851 a number of persons, myself included, decided to emigate to Oregon, which required a very generous effort on our part to get ready in time to make the trip overland with ox teams during the traveling season, it requiring about five months to make the long journey, but after making forced sales and disposing of property at about half of its real value we managed to get all ready to start on the 28th of March, 1851. Our program for traveling was to ship by steamboat from Madison, Indiana, to St. Joseph, Missouri, where we could buy and fit up ox teams, the only safe locomotion for emigrants.
March 28, 1851.—Left Madison, Indiana, on board steamer Valtic at half after 8 o'clock in the morning. Fine clear weather. Landed at Louisville, Kentucky, at half after 12 in the afternoon. Left Louisville at 6 o'clock, P. M. Landed at Hawesville at daylight on the 29th. Here took in coal. Landed at Evansville at 10 A. M. Passed Hendersonville at 11 A. M. Passed the mouth of the Wabash at 4 P. M. Passed Cave-in-Rock at same evening. Fine weather March 30. Arrived at the mouth of the Ohio at 3 A. M. this morning. Here took in coal, then turned up Mississippi, truly a romantic stream to me. Still fine weather.
March 31.—Arrived at St. Louis, Missouri, in the morning. Here we had to ship for St. Joseph. Here we lay till the 3rd of April. Wharf crowded with business. Left St. Louis the 3rd day of April on a new steamer, Cataract. Left St. Louis on 3rd of April at 9 A. M . Weather fair. Good health among passengers and all in good spirits. Passed mouth of Illinois river at half after 11, A. M. Turned up Missouri river, here a rapid, filthy stream. We traveled on until 8 o'clock at night, passing occasionally towering hills but the most of the way the land low and addicted to overflow.
April 4.—We unhitched the boat this morning and, pursuing our journey up the river, passing towering hills on our left, while on the right lay the land of a second Egypt. Arrived at noon at a little town called Hermen, where they cultivate and make wine. The next place of note was Jefferson City, a truly romantic place for a city. Here we again halted for the night.
April 5.—Left Jefferson City this morning at 5 o'clock. Snowing, very blustery. Came to Booneville at 4 o'clock P. M. Weather clear, but cool. Traveled on afternoon, went to bed at 9 and found ourselves tied up next morning at Lexington.
April 7.—Left Lexington this morning at 4 o'clock. This day the river was most desperate. Traveled to all points of the compass. Snags and sand bars at every point. We stuck in the mud more than once. Passed several little towns and arrived at night at Kansas City built on solid rock. Lots of half-breeds.
April 8.—This morning we left Kansas City at 4 o'clock; found much better country. At 11 o'clock we came to Fort Levinsworth [Leavenworth], a very beautiful place, and at 12 o'clock we came to Weston, another very handsome little town, situated six miles above Levinsworth; this evening we passed an extensive prairie and tied up at a woodyard for the night.
April 9.—This morning left woodyard at 4 A. M. After running around through snags for 15 miles, we came in sight of St. Joseph at 10 A. M ., where we landed. St. Joseph is a beautiful town of some 5,000 or 6,000 inhabitants and is fast improving. Here we landed our freight, set up our wagons and encamped for the night on the wharf.
April 10.—This morning we moved out one mile east of the town preparatory to fitting out teams and provisions for our long journey.
April 11.—This morning we set out on the hunt of cattle, or rather work oxen, and after traveling hard all day and seeing thousands of cattle, we returned at night, cold, wet and hungry, to camp without making any chases, but a good warming and a good supper prepared us for a glorious night's sleep.
April 12. This morning is cold and windy, with showers, very disagreeable for persons not used to camp life. We lay, making our outfit till the 25th of the month.
April 25.—We left camp this morning and crossed over the river and camped six miles west of St. Joseph. Here we lay till the 27th, when we again fairly set out on our long journey. We traveled 20 miles this day. Camped on the bank of Wolf river, found wood and grass plentiful. We found the stream to be 12 feet wide and 6 inches deep.
April 28.—We left camp this morning at 9 o'clock, came to Iowa Mission at 11 A. M., passed the mission and encamped at a small branch at 1 P. M. Here we found but little grass.
April 29.—We prepared for an early start this morning and just as we began to eat breakfast, the wind commenced blowing, upsetting tents and stopped the operations for a short time. As soon as we could, we all gathered up and started. We had traveled but a few miles when it began to snow terrifically, till 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when it quit snowing, but the wind kept blowing very hard till night. Tired and nearly frozen, having traveled nearly 20 miles this day.
April 30.—We lay in camp all day, one of our company having smashed the spokes out of a wagon wheel and no chance to get timber to fill it nearer than the Mission,, 22 miles back. We sent a man back and cut up fence rails and packed them out on a horse.
May 1.—This day a Mr. Coryell and myself filled the wheel, after which we gathered up and traveled five miles to good camping.
May 2.—We had turned out our cattle last night and not being tired, they had rambled so badly that it took till 4 o'clock in the afternoon to find them. We then organized a company and guarded that night, for the first time on the road.
May 3.—We traveled a short distance to a small creek, where we laid up for the day waiting for a part of the company that was left at St. Joseph.
May 4.—We traveled 16 miles this day over very hilly road. Locked one wheel three times today.
May 6—This day we left camp at 8 o'clock and traveled 12 miles, camped where we found but little wood and poor water. The day has been very windy and, being dry, we are very dirty.
May 7.—This day we gathered up and started. After traveling five or six miles it commenced blowing and raining very hard. We all got very wet. We had traveled about 20 miles today and came to Big Blue river, which we found low enough to wade, which we did not mind at all, being already wet as rain could make us. After crossing, we got a seine from another company and went fishing. Good camping and lots of fish, good grass and plenty of wood.
May 8.—This morning some of our women washed. We gathered up after noon and traveled ten miles and camped on an open prairie, where we had no wood and but little grass.
May 9.—This morning we yoked up our teams and just as we got ready to start, there came up a storm of wind and rain which lasted till 10 o'clock, after which we gathered up and started. We traveled 17 miles this day and encamped on an open prairie, where we had neither wood nor water, only what we carried with us.
May 10.—We left camp early this morning, traveled 16 miles over ridges to a stream known here as Big Sandy, where we lay until noon on the 12th, during which time our population increased two in number by natural law.
May 12.—This day we started early, traveled 18 miles and encamped on a wide stream, known here as Little Sandy; no running water but very fine grass.
May 13.—This day, after traveling about eight miles over a dry, sandy country, we came to Little Blue river. After continuing up the stream about 10 miles, we camped on its bank. Here we found poor grazing but plenty of wood.
May 14.—This morning the wind raised and blew all day, creating such a dust that it was with difficulty sometimes that we could see our teams. The wind blew all night desperately.
May 15.—This morning we left the camp at 8 o'clock and traveled up the stream till 5 P. M. Had good bottom road all the way. Just before camping, we met six teams loaded with furs, each wagon containing about one card of lightly bound skins and buffalo hides.
May 16.—This day we left camp at 8 and traveled about six miles up the stream to where our road left and took over the hills to the Platte river. Traveled 16 miles and camped on a small creek; poor water.
May 17.—This day our road led over a wide ridge and down to the Platte Valley, which at this point is about seven miles wide. We have traveled about 15 miles today. We saw the first buffalo today on our route and a few antelope also.
May 18.—This morning' our road led up the Platte Valley near the river. We had traveled but four or five miles when it commenced raining very hard. We arrived at Fort Kearney at 11 A. M., but made no halt. The clouds broke away at 1 o'clock but clouded up again at 3. We hurried to find a good camping ground, when my youngest boy, a lad only four years old, fell from the wagon and was run over by one of the forewheels, breaking his right thigh two inches below the hip joint. During the storm, which upset tents and riddled wagon sheets, I was engaged in splintering [splinting] and bandaging the broken leg, which I succeeded in doing to good advantage, so that he could run and play with other children in six weeks time. Our camp was on the bank of the Platte, where we had no wood but green willow brush and we were all cold and wet.
May 19.—This day was cold and windy. We traveled about 12 miles and then camped without wood except what was brought from eight miles below. Fair weather now.
May 20.—This day we traveled up the Platte valley to where Plum creek enters Platte. The storm the day before had raised the creek so much that we drove into the river and drove around the mouth of the creek. After we got on the opposite side of the creek, we traveled about five miles, making in all 15 miles today. Here we had no wood but found plenty of buffalo chips, which we could use as a substitute. Here the river is about three-fourths of a mile wide and is from 10 to 12 inches deep.
May 21.—This morning we started at 7 o'clock. After traveling a few miles, we could see traces of wagons on both sides of the river as far as our visions would reach. Encamped at 5 P. M.
May 22.—This morning all in uproar. After we had just got to sleep last night, the cattle took a scare and stampeded. We had them corraled, and they ran over and smashed two buggies all to atoms. They ran ten miles upstream, when the men after them overhauled them and succeeded in turning back, in a desperate storm. They succeeded in getting all but 18 head back against noon. We stayed here till the next morning, the 23rd.
May 23.—This morning we gathered our ragged teams and traveled on as best we could. When we had traveled about 12 miles we passed the forks of the Platte; here met our renegade cattle. They had run 32 miles. After traveling 23 miles, encamped where we had plenty of wood.
May 24.—This day we find narrow valley, not averaging more than one and one-half miles wide. The formation here looks like lime core and is very broken and rough. Grass could be found only in the narrow bottoms. We found wood along the bluffs. This country along here is rougher than usual.
May 25.—This day, after traveling a few miles, the road turns over ridges, which form a gentle slope from the high plains to the river. Here our road was more hilly than usual. We camped this night opposite the main forks of the Platte river. Here some of our men got after some buffalo and succeeded in wounding one but failed to get him.
May 26.—This day our road was tolerable hilly and very hard. We traveled about three miles back from the river. Our men wounded several buffalo today but lost all. At one time we looked to be run over by a herd of buffalo but by a desperate effort succeeded in turning their course. Encamped on the river bank. Grass moderate.
May 27.—This day we traveled 18 miles over good roads all the way up the South Platte bottom. Saw but two buffalo today. After camping, we saw gathering a storm, which broke on us at dark. After the storm had abated, the cattle broke the guards and ran off, which took till midnight to get all back and everything settled.
May 28.—This morning we left camp early, traveled four miles to the crossing of South Platte. Here we found the stream to be about one-half mile wide and from three to twelve inches deep, but mud much deeper. If we stopped moving, the quicksand would soon let us down. We crossed over and took north over the divide between North and South Platte, struck Ash Hollow at 4 in the afternoon (this is where Gray had the trouble with the Sioux), and continued down the hollow. Plenty of wood and water but no grass. We had to tie all of our cattle up and guard them this night on account of wolves. This morning we left Ash Hollow as soon as possible. About two miles travel brought us to North Platte. Here we followed up the valley through deep sand, which made very heavy hauling for four miles. Here we came to good grass. Here we lay till 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when we again took up our line of march and traveled about four miles further and encamped on the bank of the river.
May 30.—This day we found heavy sand in the forenoon, in the afternoon we had good roads. This evening we met quite a number of Sioux Indians, the first Indians we had seen after passing the Iowa Mission. We saw no Pawnees on the road.
May 31.—This morning we set out, intending to reach the lone tower, 16 miles distant. Had some sand to contend with. Crossed stream in the forenoon, a beautiful little running stream. In the evening we crossed a stream that runs near the lone tower. The tower is about four miles from the road.
June 1. This morning our company divided, six wagons taking the advance, leaving thirteen in the rear. We traveled 16 miles today. Good road all the way. The bluffs on the left along here looked like an ancient city. This evening we camped opposite the Chimney rock. This huge mass can be seen 32 miles before reaching it, and looks like a haystack with a pole stuck in the top, but when you get within three or four miles of it, it looks like chimney on top of a peak of regular slope on all sides. The material looks like casing bricks
June 2.—This day we started early, traveled 10 miles up the river, watered and lay until 2 o'clock, when we left the river and started for Scott's Bluffs, 15 miles distant. We reached the Bluffs at 9 o'clock at night; found water and wood; pitch pine and red cedar both grow here. Here we found a trading post belonging to Rubedo (Robidoux), a Frenchman.
June 3.—This day we started late, traveled 12 miles and camped at Horse Creek. Here we can see Laramie's peak, 150 miles distant. It looks like a pillar of dark cloud rising in the Northwest.
June 4.—This morning we started at 8 o'clock, traveled 16 miles, had heavy sand first f^ve miles, balance of the day good roads. Here we find the character of the country very different from the past. The river here is narrow, deep and crooked, the bluffs here coming to the water's edge. We had low, sandy hills to cross. We stopped this evening near a trading post right in a prairie dog town.
June 5.—This morning at the end of four miles we found a trading post, where we had the opportunity of exchanging lame cattle for fresh ones by paying small boot. At the end of 14 miles of tolerable hilly road, we encamped on the banks of the Laramie river. Here we found a large number of Sioux Indians that were very friendly but were great beggars.
June 6.—This day we lay in camp overhauling our loads and shortening some of our wagonbeds, preparatory to crossing the Rocky mountains, which were considered to commence here but which point I never could see, for it has been the same for a long distance as it is here and appears to be for a long distance to come. This evening at 5 o'clock we crossed a tall ridge and passed around a high point of hills and camped near the main river in a beautiful bottom. The bluffs here are studded with pitch pine, the bottom narrow, the river narrow and swift.
June 7.—This day, our road up the river bottom 10 miles, then left the river. When we left the river we found a very rough road for four miles, into a valley surrounded by rocky bluffs, studded with pitch pine and red cedar. Here I could see the Rocky mountain points.
June 8.—This day we traveled up a long ridge and down another to Bitter Cottonwood creek, 10 miles. Good grass and water. Road good. Three miles over another ridge we found another small creek, then seven miles over another ridge, to the third creek. Here we camped, making 20 miles this day.
June 9.—This morning we traveled down the creek to the river. Here, left the river again and followed a gap between two low ranges of hills to a creek, named Horseshoe creek, a shallow creek about 60 feet wide. Here found a beautiful bottom, with luxuriant grass and plenty of wood. Eight miles farther brought us to the Dalles of the Platte, where we encamped for the night. At this place a spur of a very high mountain has split off from the main body, filling up the old channel and letting the stream run through the crevice, which is over 1000 feet deep at the highest place.
June 10.—This day, six or seven miles up the river brought us to where the road again leaves the Platte and follows a ridge towards Laramie's peak. We traveled the ridge 15 miles and struck the Mormon trails, then followed the road about five miles over very rough road, down to LeBonty creek [LeBonte], a beautiful stream.
June 11.—This morning our course was northeast for about six miles to Marble creek, a small creek. Here is a great abundance of beautiful white marble. The hills around here are very red. For the next five miles the road was very rough. Along here we find a strata of good grindstone grit. We traveled 20 miles today and camped on Mike's Head creek. This evening a man in our company killed two buffalo, which furnished a glorious repast for the company.
June 12.—This day we traveled 17 miles, over tolerable good road, struck the river five miles below Deer creek, drove to Deer creek and encamped. Here we found good camping on a nice running stream, full of fish, of which we succeeded in catching all we desired, which with our buffalo meat was a great treat.
June 13.—This day lay at Deer creek till noon, afternoon traveled nine miles, found good camping on river bank, plenty of good wood, water and grass.
June 14.—This day we traveled up to the ferry, 15 miles. Here paid three dollars per wagon and crossed over to the north side of North Platte.
June 15.—This day traveled two miles through deep sand. Found good grass. Here we lay till 5 o'clock in the evening, when we again started across a 30-mile desert to Willow Springs, which took us all night this night. I suffered intensely with sick headache. Reached Willow Springs early in the morning. Here found grass.
June 16.—We rested at Willow Springs till 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when we again traveled five miles to a beautiful place, where we found plenty of water and extra good grass.
June 17.—This morning we left camp at 8 A. M., traveled seven miles and came to Greasewood creek, a small stream of clear running water with a greasy looking shrub about the size of common currant bushes. In the afternoon four miles travel brought us to Alcaly ponds. Here we gathered salaratus, which answered a good purpose. A few miles farther brought us to Independence Rock. This huge rock is 700 yards long, 200 wide, and from 50 to 80 feet high, a solid granite, except one crack where it appears to have broken in two. We find thousands of names written on this rock.
June 18.—This morning we have a beautiful valley to pass through, of from four to five miles wide. Five miles of travel brought us to the Devil's Gate on Sweetwater. Here the stream runs through a deep crevice in the rock, where it has separated from the main bluff. We traveled 13 miles today. Our road led up the Sweetwater valley near the stream. We camped on the bank, found plenty of grass and greasewood.
June 18.—This day our course was a little south of west all forenoon, afternoon north of west all of the time. Near the stream, on our right continuing nearby are lofty peaks of solid gray granite, almost smooth, some of them being as much as 1,000 feet high and gradually sloping on all sides, while on our left at a distance of eight or ten miles the rugged mountains are covered with a forest of pine about half way up and with snow the rest of the way.
June 20.—This day at noon we came to the narrows. Here we passed between high rocky bluffs crossing the stream several times in a short distance. We had to prop up our wagonbeds to keep the water out of them.
June 21.—This morning our course was northeast for about six miles to Marble creek, a small creek. Here is a great abundance of beautiful white marble. The hills around here are very red. For the next five miles the road was very rough. Along here we find strata ....
June 23.—The altitude here is 7,000 feet. This day our course led over a rolling plain, crossing several small, clear mountain streams, finding snow drifts within their banks, while the snowy mountains are on our right, were continually in sight. Weather delightful. We reached the last camping on Sweetwater this evening. Here we found drifted snow 20 feet deep and prairie dogs by the thousands, plenty of grass and willow brush. We have traveled only 12 miles this day. We are now within eight miles of the summit on the South pass.
June 24.—This day we lay in camp for the purpose of wagon repairing, washing, hunting and fishing. The plan adopted for setting wagon tires was to get heavy, thick leather washers on the spokes and between the ends of the fellows—then heat the tire and put them on. This made a neat, substantial job.
June 25.—This day a beautiful road on a long, dry ridge brought us to the summit of the South pass, where we begin to descend the Pacific slope; here, stop and hail —Oregon—eight miles farther brought us to the Pacific Springs, where we found plenty of water and swamp grass. Evening, cool and windy. Here we drank the first water on the Pacific slope.
June 26.—This day, ten miles over a very sandy and dusty road, we came to a stream known here as Little Sandy, then down Little Sandy six miles. Here camped. Good grass and willow brush.
June 27.—This day, eight miles of dead level, sage, sandy plain, brought us to Big Sandy, a stream about four rods wide and from three to five inches deep. Here we lay till next morning.
June 28.—This day we followed down course of the stream on a high sage plain, destitute of anything but sage, for 17 miles. Here drove down to the stream and camped. We have good grass here and sage for fuel. Here we have one snowy range on each side of us; the Wind river and Bear River mountains, either of them not less than 40 or 50 miles of us. Weather cool and windy. The roads are very good.
June 29.—This morning we crossed a level, sandy beach of ten miles width, to the Green river ferry. Here we found five good ferry foats, which would ferry us over for three dollars for each wagon, by us swimming our cattle; but unfortunately got me as I was driving onto the boat my oxen took a gee-turn and broke a fore axle of my wagon, which delayed me the balance of the day, but I succeeded in finding an axle and getting ready to cross early next morning. Two of my family were sick here with mountain fever, a very common occurrence in this region
June 30.—This morning we crossed, and pursued the company, who had camped one and one-half miles down the river, but had moved seven miles farther down to where the road leaves the river. Here they nooned and I caught up with them. After noon we took over the hills towards Black's Fork, another branch of Green river that comes by Ft. Bridger. The hills here are barren and sandy. We united today with another train. We reached Black's Fork at sunset. Here found a beautiful stream skirted with willows and the best grass in the world, as far as I know.
July 1.—We traveled up the stream four miles to where we found a trading post. Here we stopped to reset wagon tires and do washing, which kept all busy the balance of the day.
July 2.—This day we traveled 18 miles up the stream, passing many curiosities. We passed several buttes. The country here is barren and sandy. We camped on a small creek, found poor grass but plenty of fish.
July 3.—This day we traveled 15 miles, which brought us on to Black's Fork, within three miles of Ft. Bridger. Here found good grass. Here we fished for speckled trout but caught but very few of them. We are near the snow here, where the stream is fed and the water is very cold.
July 4.—This day we traveled 20 miles. Ten miles brought us to a stream that empties into Black's Fork and ten miles farther brought us to another that empties into Hamm's Fork. Our course this day has been northward over a rolling country, studded with red cedar. Weather very pleasant, health good.
July 5.—This day our road was rough for eight miles. At the end of eight miles our road left the creek and turned northward up a small stream four miles. Here the scenery is grand. The Green River valley in the east and the Bear River mountains on the west.
July 6.—This day we followed up the branch seven miles to its source. Good grass and pure springs all the way. We met a lot of Indians today. They had been out on a hunting expedition, had plenty of game and were in good plight and good humor. Here everything is most lovely.
July 7.—This is one day of extreme interest. Here our road led up a long ravine of easy ascent to the top of the divide between Green river and Bear river valleys. The divide is very high and when on the divide we look eastward and see the Green river valley in all of its grandeur, with its snowy range, the source of the river trending northward as far as eye can reach, while on the south stands the cluster of high, snowy peaks that feed Black river fork of Green river and are known as the Bear River mountains, being the source of that stream; then turn west and see the Bear River valley, with its winding stream coursing its way northward through the valley at about 12 miles distant. But we must go. Our road follows the ridge to the right a short distance, then turns down a steep ridge one and a half miles to a ravine, which we follow down five miles to the open valley. Here we found a large spring of pure water, sufficient for all of us and our cattle. Here we also found oceans of grass. Here we refreshed ourselves and again set out for to reach Bear river, which we succeeded in doing after night, at 10 o'clock. Here we found grass and water plenty, and for fires, some green wollow, and plenty of growling. But few had supper that night.
July 8.—This morning our road led along a sidehill for one-half mile, to where we again enter the valley. Here a spring, sufficient to run a large flouring mill, bursts out of the bluff bank three or four rods from the river. Here a small valley, when we again took over a spur of the mountain, and again entered the valley. Here found thousands of acres of rich, level land covered with wild flax. Traveled 14 miles.
July 9.—Our camping last night was on a small spring branch, where Sublette's cutoff comes to the Bridger route, where we found good camping and plenty of trout. Three miles down Bear river this morning brought us to where Smith's fork comes in We had had to travel up the stream some distance to find a crossing, which we succeeded in finding between two high, rugged, rocky bluffs. The crossing was very rough, the stream very swift and full of mountain trout. At the end of 16 miles today we reached Thomas' fork. Here found a bridge and trading post, also lots of Indians.
July 10.—This day we remained at the bridge. We had a sick man in the train, who died here. His name was John Scott, of Missouri. He had been sick for a long time before leaving the States and took the mountain fever and it killed him. We buried him here.
July 11.—This morning we started; at the end of one mile our road led over a high ridge, then down into a beautiful little valley, crossed the valley and came to Big Hill, a very high ridge that the river cuts in two, forming a deep canyon, and we had to climb the mountain to get by. Our road followed a narrow, steep ravine for about one-fourth of a mile, and got onto a ridge, which we followed up one mile. Here see all the country 'round about, see Great Bear lake at a long distance south. After looking as long as we wished, we turned to the left down a very steep, stony hill one mile long, to the valley, which all succeeded in reaching in safety. After two hoursrest, we again took up the line of march. Traveled ten miles, making 17 miles this day, and encamped on a spring branch, with every advantage of good camping. All well and lively.
July 12.—This day we continued down the river, which runs north. The mountains are high on both sides of us, the summits are spotted with snow and the slopes facing the north, thickly studded with pine timber. The valley is wide and richly covered with grass and watered by numerous clear mountain streams coursing their way across the valley to the river. The banks of the streams are lined with willow brush, our only dependence for fuel. Seven miles of afternoon travel brought us to a high ridge that here crosses the valley. Here we found a grade about five miles east of the river, where we crossed with tolerable ease. We then turned to the left and found good camping, after a mile and a half drive. This day we traveled 20 miles.
July 13.—This morning, seven miles over tolerably hilly roads brought us to the far-famed Lodge [Lager] Springs on Bear river. Here nature seems to have put forth her best efforts. The high surrounding mountains, the summits of which are studded with snow; the beautiful groves of timber that stud the slopes, the rich swards of grass that carpet the valley, the beautiful streams that course the valley, with the novel looking soda mounds with the bubbling springs, all combined to make this one of the most lovely spots on the earth. It entirely baffles description. Here we lay the balance of this day, contemplating the grandeur. We had a nice refreshing shower of rain this day, the first drop we had felt for eight weeks.
July 14.—At the soda springs the river turns west, through a narrow gap. Here our road follows down five miles to where it opens again into a wide valley, where the river turns south and the road turns north. We have passed a number of soda springs along here, one of which was a natural basin of elliptic form, about 30 by 50 feet and about two feet deep, containing excellent soda water. Here our road turns north along the foothills. We traveled five miles this evening and encamped at a beautiful spring where grass was plentiful. We have traveled only ten miles today. The road has been very good. The rain yesterday has settled the dust.
July 15.—This day our course has been north, up the valley eight miles, over low strung hills, brought us to a fine spring, where we found plenty of grass but no wood. Here we nooned and again moved on eight miles farther. The valley along here is from five to six miles wide, with the creek running near the western ridge. We have traveled 16 miles today.
July 17.—This day we crossed the ridge between Bear River valley and the valley of Snake river. Our road led up a ravine three miles to the divide, then down a rocky ravine five miles to the valley. Here we nooned on a small creek. Good water, plenty of grass and willow, and thousands of crickets, two and one-half inches long, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter. This afternoon we crossed a deep, sandy desert, to a large cold spring rising out of the level valley. Here found plenty of willow and grass. We are now near Snake river and five miles above Ft. Hall. The weather here is very pleasant. Here, north and west, an extensive sandy ridge plain opens out to view and here we begin to descend Snake river, whose waters we follow to our destination.
July 18.—This morning we arrive at Ft. Hall at 9 o'clock, where we stopped and did some trading, when we again left the Fort and traveled southwest five miles to a large creek of clear, cold water almost thick with speckled trout. Here we nooned. We have crossed several sloughs and found the country full of brush thickets. All the way here we found wild currants in great abundance. We have to keep a good lookout here to keep the Indians from stealing and running off horses. They are very expert in the business and manifest but little fear. Six miles farther brought us to the Portneuf river; here we had to raise our wagonbeds on blocks to keep the water out of them, but all got over safe. After crossing, we crossed a very bad slough, then ascended a very steep hill onto a sage plain and over hills eight miles to a small creek. Here camped. We had traveled 24 miles today and over bad road a large portion of the way.
July 19.—At 2 o'clock this morning, some Digger Indians attempted to steal some of our horses, but as soon as the guards hailed them, the rascals ran like deer. One of the guard fired after them but the villians were too far out of the way. The report of the gun aroused the whole camp, but by day all was quiet on the Potomac, without any bloodshed. After breakfast we ascended a hill and crossed a sage plain. At the end of eight miles our road strikes the bottom, which we traveled down three miles and camped at a large spring one mile above the American Falls on Snake river. Here had good grass and brush wood.
July 20.—The scenery about the falls is grand here. We see a snowy range in the far west. The falls pour and foam over loose rock for a distance of about 100 yards and then run down off smoothly. The perpendicular descent, I should say, to be about 20 feet. We traveled about 14 miles this day. For the first seven miles the road was very rough and hilly; at one very short pitch we had to lock both hind wheels and then attach a rope to the hind end of the wagonbox and hold them back for safety. Here we are near the river, which at this place is very narrow, making its way between huge boulders. Seven miles more down a smooth valley road brought us to where the bluffs close in to near the river. Here we struck camp; good water but poor grass. The country along here is broken and very sandy.
July 21.—This morning our road led down the valley. Three miles brought us to Beaver Dam creek, a small creek that passes over a succession of natural stone dams of from three to four feet each and from four to five rods apart. We followed the river bottom two miles farther; then up a ravine half a mile farther to a sage plain, then six miles over the sage plain to the head of another ravine, which we followed down to the bottom of the stream, called Raft river. Here we met five men just from the Willamette valley, who had been to look at the country and were returning to take their families to Oregon. They gave us great encouragement with regard to the country, but imparted rather startling news to us with regard to Indian troubles. Fifteen miles from here, on our road, at Marshy Springs, where they had stayed the night before, two guards had been shot while on duty. This struck a panic in our company. But the company was large and well armed. Along here, several trains were traveling together; at this place there were fifty wagons in camp together. We remained here the balance of this day, having learned that we would find no more water for fifteen miles. At this point, the California route turns off and follows up the stream.
July 22.—This morning we set out for Marshy Springs. Our road leads over a dry, sandy, stony, dusty sage plain; the day is very hot, making it one of our worst days of travel, but here we find good water and plenty of good grass. Our company has increased to 61 wagons in all. There have been three men shot by the Indians at this place, within the last three nights, only one of whom is likely to recover.
July 23.—All quiet this morning. A lot of our cattle took a scare last night and started to run but were soon overhauled and brought back. This day we traveled down the Marshy Spring branch and crossed. Here we nooned, found wood, water and grass for all. Five miles farther this afternoon brought us to Goose creek, a deep, narrow stream lined along the banks with willows and plenty of grass. Here we encamped. The river valley here is from twelve to fifteen miles wide. The country, except along the creeks, is a dry, ashy sage plain, destitute of timber. The road is filled with dust that fills the wagon tracks like water.
July 24.—This day we traveled nineteen miles; seven miles through a deep, dusty sage plain, brought us to where the road strikes the river. Here we halted for a short time and watered our teams. We here left the river and traveled for about five miles over the roughest, strongest road on the whole route; then seven miles through deep dust, brought us to Pool creek, where the water stands in pools but is clear and tolerably good. There is plenty of grass up the stream nearby. The great American Falls [Twin Falls], are about two miles north of this place, but I was too busy to visit them. They are said to be 700 feet of perpendicular descent. They sounded like a continuous roar of distant thunder. We have about fifty wagons here tonight. Here we herded our cattle without grass this night, on account of the Indians.
July 25.—This morning we drove up the creek one mile and let our cattle graze. After we had let them eat until they were satisfied, we drove eight miles to Rock creek and down the creek one mile and camped. The country here is extremely barren, not even sage.
July 26.—Our road today led down the creek. Eight miles brought us to the crossing; here we descend a very rough, stony, but short pitch, to a bottom about ten rods wide, covered with coarse grass. Here we nooned. Our road has been very rough so far this day. We traveled seven miles of much better road this afternoon and camped on the little creek bluff, where we drove our cattle down a long, steep hill to the creek bottom. Here is a very dry, windy, disagreeable place to camp, which appears to have the same influence on many of our company, whose passions occasionally get the better of their judgment.
July 27.—This day, fifteen miles over a dry, dusty plain brought us to where the road led down to the river. Here we could get water but no grass. Here we watered and rested a short time and traveled two miles farther down the river to Warm Spring branch. Here camped late with but poor accommodations. The water was poor, the grass little, coarse marsh grass, and to make the matter worse, we had a very cool, windy night, after a scorching hot day and bad roads. We had suffered considerably this day for want of water. In this region there are only certain drives that can be made, and they are sometimes quite long ones.
July 28.—This morning we left camp before sunrise, for the purpose of finding better grass. Three miles down the valley brought us to Salmon Fall creek, where we found good water, a moderate supply of grass and willow brush. Here we rested, fished and passed the day as best we could on account of the wearied condition of our teams. This morning I was traveling in advance of the company, when I came to a beautiful spring issuing from the base of a high bluff, and being a little thirsty, I alighted and undertook to drink, but on reaching the water found it to be scalding hot. Here I, with two others, climbed a high mountain and viewed the landscape, which we found to be a vast barren sage plain, destitute of timber as far as the eye could reach.
July 29.—This morning, one mile down the creek brought us to the river. Then down the river one mile to where the water pours out of a thousand springs and foams and tumbles down to the river. Four miles farther brought us to the head of Salmon Falls. Here the river begins to break off into narrow chutes and run through narrow crevices in the solid rock bed of the stream. We traveled down the falls to where the road leaves the river. Here we found Indians, ready to trade salmon for anything we had to spare, but shirts were their greatest want, many of them having only what covering nature furnished. Two miles up a ridge brought us to a high sage plain, over which we traveled ten miles to Dry camp, where we arrived at dark. Here we had to drive down a very steep hill one mile to poor grass, and carry water up to camp. Here, one of our company who had traded his gun and a lot of ammunition for a very fine mare some days before, had her stolen. The Indian now owns both gun and mare.
July 30.—This day we traveled twelve miles. The first four or five miles were very hilly and sandy, then four miles of level sandy plain. Then down a ravine to a dry channel, that has the appearance of being a large creek at times, but is at this time perfectly dry. We followed the channel down to the river. Here camped, but had to swim our cattle across the river to grass. This is now called the upper crossing of Snake river. Here we decided to cross over to the north side.
July 31.—This day we spent in arranging for and crossing the river. We accomplished this by corking two wagons and lashing them together. By this means we were able to ferry over a wagon and its load at each trip. By noon we had our boat ready and began operations, but found it slow business, but succeeded in getting all over safely, but not the same day, for we had to lay by on account of wind. Leaving part of our camping on each side of the river, here we had both sides to guard.
August 1.—This day we completed crossing our fifteen wagons before night. Last night we had three horses stolen, and three more shot in the shoulders with arrows. Grass is good here, but Indians are very bad.
August 2.—This day our road led north over a ridge, then up a dry branch about two miles, then up a crooked, sandy ridge onto a sort of bench land. After crossing a sage plain of the first mile we came to good grass, over which we traveled about three miles, when we came to a spring branch where we found good grass and plenty of willow brush. Here we halted and enjoyed what to us had become a great luxury.
August 3.—This morning, after traveling a short distance, we came to a small creek, which in attempting to cross, my wagon tongue got fractured, which detained us for an hour. Five miles farther over a sage plain brought us to a very nice spring branch, with plenty of grass and willow. Five miles farther brought us to Hot Springs branch; here nooned. Grass good but water poor. After noon, one mile up the branch brought us to the hot spring. Here we found a large spring of boiling hot water. Four miles farther brought us to a spring branch, where we found good grass. Here we camped, having traveled seventeen miles this day, over a very dusty road and portions of it rough and stony.
August 4. —This day we traveled nineteen miles over tolerably rough road. About three-fourths of a mile after we left camp we crossed a small creek, where we found water. After watering, we traveled eight and a half miles, which brought us to a barrel creek. Here we found a small creek running through a barrel-shaped valley, which is surrounded by rock bluffs about twenty feet high. We nooned at Barrel creek, and pushing on, crossing several dry branches, we came to a sulphur spring, but not finding sufficient water, we moved on till night and made a dry camp. Here all the hills are covered with good dry grass. This whole country seems to be of volcanic formation. Here, at a long distance in the west, we can see a mountain with smoke continually issuing from its summit.
August 5.—This morning our road was very hilly for three miles. Here we found water and grass plenty, and brush for fire wood. Having had no water since we left Barrel creek, we halted here for a rest. We halted here till 1 o'clock in the afternoon. This evening we traveled four miles and found a good camping ground. Here we stopped for the balance of the day and night.
August 6.—This day we traveled thirteen miles, the first three miles brought us to a creek; here we found plenty of water, and grass here abounds all over the hills. At the end of eleven miles we found a gap in the bluffs of Boyse [Boise] valley, where we turned down and succeeded in reaching the valley in safety, although our road was very steep and stony, and long. Two miles farther brought us to the river. Here we had good water but poor grass; the grass had been burned off. The river here is about four rods wide and runs over a pebbly bottom. The banks of the stream are lined with balm trees. We found pine timber among the drifts here. Black-eared rabbits and prairie chickens are very numerous about here. We succeeded in getting some of them.
August 7.— This morning we started early; our course was down the valley. At the end of five miles we came to good grass on the river bank. Here we lay till 5 o'clock in the afternoon, when we gathered up and moved down four miles farther. Today our boys succeeded in killing a number of rabbits, prairie hens and quail, which abound here in great quantities, and to us are a great luxury at this time.
August 8.—This day, at the end of eight miles, we halted and nooned on the river bank. Here we found plenty of Indians, who were full both of trade and theft. They would trade anything they had, or steal anything we had, if they got the opportunity. This afternoon we traveled six miles and camped on the river bank. Here found good grass and wood, which is not lacking anywhere along this stream.
August 9.—This morning brought us to where we crossed the stream. We had a high ridge to cross before crossing the stream. After crossing, we traveled eight miles down the stream and encamped among the timber on the north side of the stream. Here we traded with Indians for salmon, which are very plentiful in the stream along here.
August 10.—Ten miles today brought us to Ft. Buyce. [Boise]. Here we found a trading post kept by a Mr. Craigge, a Scotchman. We found the river here too deep to ford and had to ferry in a large canoe belonging to the fort. The plan of crossing was to pile the load into the bottom of the canoe and balance the wagon on the top of the canoe. This required a good deal of care and skill to prevent capsizing. We had one wagon tumble into the river, but succeeded in getting it out alive. But it was well soaked. The Indians are fishing at this place. They catch and dry salmon. They are a very degraded, lazy, thieving set of beings.
August 11.—This day we spent in ferrying, as before described. The Indians were so bad that we had to keep a strict guard all of the time, and then we had a good many little things stolen.
August 12.—This day we traveled fifteen miles, for the most part over a dry, dusty sage plain, but some of the way over a rough, stony, hilly road. Our camp this night was on the Malheur creek, a stream about two rods wide at the crossing. Here we found a rock bottom, with springs of hot water boiling up in the bottom of the ford. At this place, there is a large butte of red lava that looks like it had not got cool yet, and one would hardly suppose it had, from the number of hot springs along its base. The grass here is very good, but the water rather warm.
August 13.—This day we traveled twenty miles, ten miles up a valley brought us to Sulphur Springs. But here was a lack of both water and grass. This afternoon, three miles over a very rocky ridge, then down a ravine six miles, then over a ridge one mile brought us to a small creek, called Birch creek; here we found good water and poor grass. The hills around here are covered with grass, they are very rugged and some of them are very high. It is difficult to see how we are ever to get out of this country, but we have a good road, over which others have gone and we certainly ought to follow.
August 14.—This morning, three miles over a very rough, hilly road, brought us to Snake river, where we see it the last time on our route. Here we left it again and traveled five miles over a ridge and down a ravine to Burnt river. This is a small stream, being about one rod wide and about three inches deep. The water is good and cool, the banks are lined with low brush; here the mountains are very high. This evening we traveled up this stream, which is in a deep gorge, through which the stream runs with rapid fall. At the end of three miles we came to a small spring branch, here we found room to camp and get good grass for our cattle. Our company divided this morning, leaving seven wagons in the division with which I traveled. We find small companies on this part of the road to be most convenient on account of camping.
August 15.—This day we traveled 15 miles. At the end of five miles the road leaves the creek for a distance of six miles and runs over the hills, then strikes and follows the stream again. The road has been very rough and uphill all this day. Good camping here.
August 16.—This day we traveled fourteen miles; our road led up branches, over ridges, by springs, down branches and through valleys too tedious to mention. Here are good camping places all the way. The numerous springs and the grassy hills all go to make it delightful.
August 17.—This day we traveled sixteen miles. Our road today led over ridges, up and down branches, first right, then left, till at last we passed the summit and descended to Powder River valley. Here we nooned and rested awhile, and moved on to a small creek or slough in the main valley, where we camped.
August 18.—This day fourteen miles across and down the valley, brought us to the main stream. One little incident I will here mention, that occurred on yesterday evening. After we had camped some of our boys concluded to take a little hunt, in timber on the opposite side of the valley, as it appeared to be but a short distance away and they had several hours to spare. They set out and traveled until sunset, when they turned back to camp, which they reached by the aid of the camp lights, at 10 o'clock at night. The distance to the timber was fifteen miles.
August 19.—This day we traveled fourteen miles on the west side of Powder river. The road has been over gentle ridges and across small creeks coming in from the west all the way. Here the valley is striped with small streams of clear, cold water all along the west side of the valley. This night we are camped at a spring at the foot of the dividing ridge between Powder river and the Grand Ronde valleys.
August 20.—This day we traveled fourteen miles; two miles over a ridge brought us to a valley with numerous springs. We traveled down the valley three or four miles, and over a sidling, stony ridge, to the top of the Grande Ronde hill, then down a long, steep- sidling to Grande Ronde valley. Here we found and passed some of our advanced company repairing a broken wagon. Eight miles across the head of the valley brought us to a small creek at the foot of the hill, where the road leaves the valley. Here we camped on good grass, water and wood. The surroundings here are most delightful. We found Cayuse Indians here, with peas, and potatoes for sale. All well.
August 21.—This day we traveled eleven miles. Where we started the road led up a very long, very steep, stony hill, hard to climb. It then winds along about one mile to the top of the hill. From here it was hilly with groves of scattering pines for five miles, then down a long, steep, stony hill, to Grande Ronde river. The stream here is about fifty feet wide, with clear water running over a nice pebbly bottom. The valley is very narrow, being only about sufficient for a wagon roadbed. Here we crossed and followed up the stream four hundred yards to where we begin to climb the Blue mountains. Here we nooned. This afternoon we climbed a very steep hill, to the top of a ridge, distance half mile, then up the ridge one mile and a half, then over a piny ridge, two miles, to where we enter a level branch land heavily timbered with fir and tamarack. Here we camped for the first time in the long-looked-for pine woods of Oregon.
August 22.—This day our road has been very rough, first a up a long hill, where we had to double teams, then down a long ridge to a dry branch, then up another long ridge and down a steep hill to another dry branch. Here we had to double teams again, to get onto the next ridge along the side of which we traveled five miles. Here we camped on the ridge and drove down into a deep hollow to water and grass. We had to carry water half a mile up a very steep hill to camp. We are now in the Blue JOURNAL OF A TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS, 1851 163 mountains and find it very rough country. Much more so than the Rocky mountains, and our worn-out teams seem to appreciate the difference equal to ourselves. August 23. —This morning our cattle were so badly scattered that we got a late start. Our road was very sidling, rough and stony. The roughest for about five or six miles that we had found on the whole route. At the end of eleven miles we came to a small creek, but there not being sufficient grass here for our teams, we kept on two miles farther, to where we found water and grass plenty. Here we halted for the night. Here we found thick groves of pine and fir timber, interspersed with small prairie. No underbrush, but tall grass under the timber all over the ridges. August 24.—This day we traveled fifteen miles, nine along a dry ridge brought us to where we turn down the mountain toward the Umatilla river. For the last few miles the land is very rich and is covered with groves of scattering pines, to the brow of the hill. The hill is four miles long and tolerably easy to descend. At the foot of the mountain we found a spring, where we halted and nooned. Then crossed the valley to the river, one mile. Then down the river one mile and encamped. Here we found a large number of Cayuse Indians, who had potatoes to trade or sell, which we found to be quite a luxury to us. August 25.— We lay in camp this day. We got ready to start and found that five of our horses were gone, which delayed us till late in the evening, when they were brought back by some Indians, who had agreed to find them for one dollar per head. This we understood. August 26. —This day we traveled twelve miles down stream. Found thickets of timber all of the way. This day it rained all day, which made it very disagreeable to all of us. August 27.—This day we traveled sixteen miles. We first ascended a long hill on the northeast side of the stream, to a high plain, over which we traveled for fifteen miles ,then down a long hill to the valley, then one mile to the stream. Here we found good camping and a butcher located here, with a bountiful supply of good beef, which he sold very cheap, and which we hungry emigrants ate with a good relish.
August 28.—This day we traveled twelve miles. Four miles down the valley brought us to the Umatilla Agency. Here the road forks, the right-hand one leading to the Columbia, at the mouth of the Umatilla, and the left-hand one leading to the Wells springs. Our company took the Wells springs road and crossed a dry, sandy desert, eight miles to Butter creek. Here we encamped on good grass and water.
August 29.—This day we traveled twenty-two miles. After traveling four miles up the creek, we left the bottom and turned over a ridge to the right and followed a dry, dusty plain for nine miles. Then the road became quite hilly for about six miles, at the end of which we followed down a long hollow for about two or three miles, then over a ridge to the right. Here find Well springs. We reached the springs at 10 o'clock at night, in a perfect gale of wind. Here we turned loose and all hands went to bed without supper, but not without some growling. We have some choice growlers in our train. The Well springs are at a sort of valley, or depression in the hills, and consist of several small mounds with water boiling up in the center and sinking to the base of the mounds.
August 30.—This morning we collected enough grease-wood to get breakfast with, and left Well springs as soon as we could get off. Our road led over hills and ridges for twelve miles, to Willow creek. Here we found water in pools, but were not very dry, for it had rained on us all day, but to our great relief, we found plenty of dry juniper for fire wood, and it quit raining, so that we could stand around large fires and get dry. This is a rich, grassy valley, about one-half mile wide.
August 31.—This day we traveled thirteen miles. First up a long, steep, winding hill to the top of a ridge, then over hills and hollows all the way to where we found a JOURNAL OF A TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS, 1851 165 dry valley with a pack of juniper. Here we stopped for the night. All the water we had was what we collected in a little pond, from the previous day's rain, and was a very poor quality. September 1.— This day we traveled fourteen miles. We first crossed a ridge one mile, to where we enter a trough, about a fourth of a mile wide, that lays back of a large cluster of hills, one end terminating at the Columbia river and the other at John Day's river. We traveled in this valley six miles and came to a small spring. Here we halted a short time. Here the road takes over the hills. We traveled seven miles this evening and reached John Day's river, at the bottom of a tremendous steep hill, about a quarter of a mile long. Here crossed the stream, which is 350 feet wide at the ford but quite shallow. Here we found grass plenty and had green willow for fire- wood. The valley here is about one-half mile wide, with very high bluff hills on both sides. September 2.—This day we traveled ten miles. One mile down the valley brought us to where the road leaves the valley and turns up a very steep hill, which we found very difficult to climb. At one place the road enters a very rocky ravine, which we found very difficult to pass. We had to hold our wagons to keep from upsetting. But all succeeded in reaching the top of the hill safely. Here we found a high, rolling, grassy plain, over which we found very good road, wi£h occasionally a short, steep hill. We camped this night without wood and no water for our teams, and only what we had hauled with us. The distance from John Day's river being twenty-four miles, without food or water. September 3. —This morning we started early, having fourteen miles between us and water. The road led over the high plain, which was hilly but not bad, the hills being short. When we reached the Columbia bluffs we found a long, crooked passage down the valley, steep in places but not stony. We followed down the river one mile to 166 P. V. CRAWFORD where we could get down to water and encamped for the night. Here the grass is poor. September 4. —This day we traveled three miles down the river, which brought us to the ferry on the Deschutes. Here we found a large number of wagons waiting to cross, which detained us the balance of the day. It rained near- ly all day. September 5.— This day we lay at the river till 2 o'clock in the afternoon. On yesterday evening the boat struck a rock and had to be moved lower down the stream. This morning we all succeeded in getting over and camped on the west side. September 6. —This day we traveled five miles and encamped on a small creek, known here by the name of Ten Mile creek, it being ten miles distant from the Dalles of the Columbia. The road today was long and steep on both sides of the high ridge we had to cross. Here we had good canoeing. Here we met a set of swindlers who discouraged all of the emigrants they could from crossing the Cascade mountains, for the purpose of getting their teams, for less than half their value. September 7. — This day we traveled fourteen miles. Eight miles brought us to the same creek, near the head. We traveled up the creek six miles, crossing several times and passing several groves of quakingasp. We camped on the creek; good wood, water and grass. Here we found groves of scattering oak trees. September 8.— This day we traveled twenty-two miles. Four miles brought us to where the road leaves the creek. Here we turn south and follow a six miles and leave the ridge and cross a pine hollow but no water could be found. We nooned here. This evening we had rough, stony road for twelve miles, to Indian creek, which we reached after dark. Here we found good camping, and a trading establishment, where we could get provisions. September 9. —This day, nine miles. First up a steep hill a quarter of a mile long; here we doubled teams, and had hard climbing to get up, at that. Here the road turns JOURNAL OF A TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS, 1851 167 west and is good for two miles, to a small creek, with short, steep hills. Six miles farther brought us to a small creek at the edge of the timber. Here we found several of our advanced company. September 10.— This day, five miles travel brought us to a small creek, known by the name of Barlow's Gate. Here we found a large number of wagons overhauling, for the purpose of lightening their loads. Some of our com- pany who had left us on Snake river on account of our slow traveling were here with their teams run down, so that they were in worse condition than ourselves. September 11. — This morning, when we got ready to start, we found that several of the loose cattle were miss- ing, which caused us to lay over this day. September 12. — This day we traveled eighteen miles. Our road from Barlow's Gate turns onto a ridge west, and follows the ridge several miles. We then descend the hill to a small creek, then up and cross another ridge and down to a second creek, after which we climb the third ridge, which winds along for some considerable distance, then down a very long steep hill, to a large swift creek, called Sandy Deschutes. We traveled up this stream for several miles and camped on a narrow bottom, entirely destitute of grass. Here we cut maple and alder for our cattle to brouse on. September 13. — This day we traveled fourteen miles on the worst road from S$. Joseph, Mo., to Oregon City, first up the creek six miles, then up one of its tributaries eight miles, through brush thickets, over boulders, through mud holes, among trees, on side hills, all as bad as it was possible to get through. No grass here. September 14. — This day we followed up the zigzag three miles to the summit, which we reached at the top of a miserably steep, stony, muddy hill, then down a very long but not steep hill, to a long sandy valley, studded with small pines. Three and a half miles down this valley we came to a small creek which we crossed, and crossed a low ridge, half a mile to a small prairie. Here we found ft 168 P. V . CRAWFORD li good grass, but the most terrrible mud we had yet met with during the whole two thousand miles travel. The weather is most beautiful, but the roads most desperate. September 15. — This day we traveled five miles only. The swamps here along the base of Mt. Hood are des- perate. We had to assist our poor teams in getting through by wading and pushing the wagons after them, and on some occasions had to pry up and pull the cattle out of the mud. During the day we met with two men from Yamhill, who had brought out fresh cattle and pro- visions for the relief of emigrants, which they dispensed with equal freedom to those not able to pay. All fared alike. The names of these men were Benjamin Stuart and Chandler Cooper, both well known citizens of north Yamhill. Sept. 16. — This day we remained in camp for the pur- pose of letting our cattle rest and graze, and to hunt some loose cattle which had strayed off yesterday. Some frost this morning, weather very fine. September 17. —This day we traveled twelve miles, including several hills, among which was Laurel hill. We strike a small creek, which we drove down and encamped among the tall firs, many of which would measure three hundred feet. September 18. — This day we traveled nine miles. Three miles down the creek brought us to Little Sandy, down which we traveled six miles, through thickets and over stones or boulders of all sizes. We camped this night among dead timber. Poor grass. September 19. —This day we traveled nine miles, the most of the way over heavy sand and boulders. At the end of six miles we crossed Big Sandy. After crossing we traveled over two stout hills and encamped on a bench land at the foot of a ridge, known here by the name of Back Bone; here we found poor feed for our cattle. September 29. — This day we traveled ten miles. First we ascended a long hill onto a long ridge, which we fol- lowed several miles, at the end of which we descended a m very steep hill, to the creek bottom. Here we crossed the creek at a ford, which was very swift and bad to cross, on account of large boulders. The road from here was good except two short, steep pitches we had to climb and one tolerably long and very steep hill. We are now entirely through the Cascade countains, into the great Willamette valley.
September 21.—This day over tolerably hilly road. At the end of seven miles we reached Philip Foster's, the first white settler on this route. The distance between this and St. Joseph, Mo., where we started, is about 2200 miles. Here we find all of the conveniences of civilized life and we are able for the first time to appreciate them. September 22. —This day our company separated and my own family and the family of one, Peter Smith, steered for north Yamhill valley, which we reached on the 25th of September, 1851, after having lived a camp life, five months and fifteen days, and having traveled 2,270 miles, through an Indian country, with ox teams.
P. V. Crawford.
ERRATA
The "Mr. Hughes" on the top of page 60 of the March number of the Quarterly, should be "Mr. Hewes."
Mr. David Hewes bought the engine, mentioned on this page as used at the Cascades, from the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and after converting it into a coal burner, used it in reducing street grades in San Francisco. An inscription on the side of the engine is to the effect that it was presented by Mr. Hewes to the State of Oregon. Instead of the engine's going "to rack and ruin," responsibility for it was assumed by the O. W. R. R. & N. Co., and it was placed in the Albina shops of that company.
On page 64, the first name, "B. F. Bradford," should be "D. F . Bradford." (The editor is indebted to Mr. Frank B. Gill for the above details.)
- ↑ Paper developed in a Seminary of Educational Research conducted by Dean Henry D. Sheldon, Portland, 1921-22.
- ↑ The author of this article is not given. Altho written several years after the first schools were started, it seems to reflect the attitude of the church during the entire period as well as in England and other parts of America.
- ↑ This included almost the entire personnel of the Convocation. Some of the most prominent Episcopalians of that period, including the Sellwoods, conspicuous in the early history of Milwaukie and vicinity, were members of the committee. It originally consisted of six men.
- ↑ Referred to in the report of the committee as Messrs. Dickinson and Franklin.
- ↑ The reason given for his resignation, however, was poor health.
- ↑ Hon. Matthew P. Deady, for many years United States District Judge and one of Portland's leading citizens. For 25 years he was a prominent figure in the work of the Episcopal Church, and at the time of his death, Bishop Morris spoke of his work in the church in the highest terms. His diary which is now in the possession of the Oregon Historical Society gives many interesting phases of the life of the city from 1870 until a short time before his death about 1890.
- ↑ Spencer Hall was named for a Captain Spencer who gave Bishop Scott a generous sum for the establishment of the school. He was an uncle of Miss Catherine Wolfe who contributed so freely to the founding and maintenance of St. Helen's Hall a little later.