Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 37/Number 3/News and Comment

NEWS AND COMMENT

MEETINGS

The annual meeting of the Oregon Pioneer Association was held for the 64th year at Portland, June 18, 1936. The membership of the association for the most part is now made up of persons who were born in Oregon, although there are still a few who crossed the plains. The oldest member present was John W. Cullen, who was also celebrating his 98th birthday. He crossed the plains in 1847. The mother queen was Minerva Thessing Oatheld, who was born near Dayton, January 7, 1852. Other prominent pioneers in attendance were Stephen A. D. Meek, born in 1857, son of the famous Joe Meek, and Samuel T. Walker, born at Forest Grove, May 2, 1852, son of the missionary Elkanah Walker, Mrs. Edith Tozier Weatherred read the annual address and after the afternoon program the woman's auxiliary served a dinner. At the business meeting Samuel Walker, Hillsboro, was elected president; George H. Himes, Portland, reelected secretary; David Stearns, Portland, treasurer; Robert A. Miller, J. O. Stearns and E. M. Croisan, directors.

The eleventh annual meeting of the Veteran Steamboat Men of the West, at Bonneville, June 28, 1936, gave a special place on the program to the history of the steamer Beaver, as it was just a hundred years ago that the little vessel left the Columbia River for its trip along the northern coast, the first steamer on the Pacific Ocean. Memorial services were conducted for the steamboat men of the northwest who had died during the year, as well as for the men who were lost in the wreck of the Iowa, January 12, 1936. Judge Fred Wilson, The Dalles, was master of ceremonies. E. C. Merrill, district superintendent of lighthouses, spoke on the history of lighthouse service. Other addresses and reminiscences entertained the large crowd that had arrived by automobiles and by the steamers Cascades and Georgiana.

At the annual meeting of the Indian War Veterans of the North Pacific at Portland, June 17, 1936, John W. Cullen was the only survivor of the Indian wars. He was born in 1838, and came to Oregon in 1847. He fought in the Yakima Indian War. The meeting this year was attended by the Sons and Daughters of Indian War Veterans. The Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers, at their annual business meeting June 15, 1936, elected Mary Drain Albro, president; James W. Crawford, vice president; Mary Bullock, secretary; Harold D. Marsh, treasurer. Directors are Mrs. Oliver A. Todd and George W. Caldwell.

The Siuslaw Pioneer Association met at Cushman, July 2, 1936. The following officers were elected: Mrs. Kenneth McCornack, North Fork, president; Mrs. Alice Bernhardt, Mapleton, vice president; Mrs. Emma Saubert, secretary-treasurer; Mrs. Clarence Welty, assistant secretary.

The Sandy Pioneer Association met at Jonsrud Park, July 26, 1936, for their annual summer meeting, John T. McIntyre was the oldest pioneer present. Mrs. Mary Bacon was queen mother. E. F. Bruns was elected president and A. C. Thomas, vice president.

THE WHITMAN CENTENNIAL

August 13-16, inclusive, at Walla Walla a four days' celebration was staged in honor of the arrival in that valley in August, 1836, of the missionaries, Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife, Narcissa Whitman, to build and occupy one of the first two American homes in the entire intermountain region of the Oregon country. A similar celebration at Lewiston, Idaho, in May, had honored the Reverend Henry H. Spalding and Mrs. Spalding, associates of the Whitmans. In scope both occasions covered recognition of the entire pioneer movement to the Pacific northwest.

At Walla Walla business houses and streets were profusely deorated, the citizens donned gala attire and the city presented a galaxy of color seldom witnessed. On four successive evenings a colorful pageant depicted under electric light episodes bearing historic titles before audiences of from five to seven thousand people. In the afternoons a long street parade portrayed and recalled scenes of pioneer days. At Whitman College a museum of history displayed many valuable relics and documents and the merchants rivaled each other in similar displays in the show windows.

A series of public addresses each day emphasized in detail the careers of the Whitmans and lauded the pioneers of Oregon. They were for the most part merely eulogistic and, with a few exceptions, added nothing to our historical knowledge. Speakers from a distance included the Reverend Rockwell H. Potter, of Hartford, Connecticut, president of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Dr. Frederick C. Waite of Cleveland, Ohio, and Dr. Harold Behneman of San Francisco. The site of the Waiiltapu mission six miles from the city was a mecca for many visitors. The celebration was sponsored by the Walla Walla chamber of commerce. The local newspaper (the Union-Bulletin) published an unusually well edited centennial edition on August 12.—T. C. E.

BEEKMAN ESSAY CONTEST

The Beekman essay contest for 1936 closed March 16, with 125 entries. After consideration of the manuscripts the judges, Nancy Drain Singleton, Harvey G. Starkweather and Richard G. Montgomery, awarded first prize to Thor Miller, Milwaukie Union High School; second prize to La Vern Littleton, The Dalles High School; third prize to Sally McLellan, Sacred Heart Academy, Salem; fourth prize to Margaret O. Berg, Eugene High School. Honorable mention was given to Robert L. Grimm, Lincoln High School, Portland, Donald Sayre, Beaverton High School, Geraldine Rinker, McLoughlin Union High School, Milton, Cavell Abbott, Saint Helens Hall, Portland. The prizes were sixty, fifty, forty and thirty dollars. Those awarded honorable mention received a copy of Carey's General History of Oregon. The contest is sponsored annually by the Oregon Historical Society, and is open to pupils in the schools of Oregon between the ages of fifteen and eighteen years of age. The subject of the essay for this year was “The Discovery of the Columbia River."

MARKERS AND MEMORIALS

Descendants of pioneers of the Waldo Hills district met at the old Geer home, three miles south of Silverton, July 12, 1936, to dedicate a marker at the "riding whip tree,” in memory of Mrs. Timothy Davenport. The ceremony was sponsored by the Chemeketa Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. C. C. Geer, regent, told the story of the tree, which grew from a branch of a cottonwood tree used by Florinda Geer, and planted by her in 1853. Florinda Geer afterwards married Mr. Davenport and became the mother of Homer Davenport, the famous cartoonist. She died at the age of thirty-one, and was buried on the Davenport farm. The fence that marked her grave has disappeared, and the “riding whip tree" now stands as the only monument to her.

The site of the first Catholic mission established at The Dalles, May 16, 1848, by the Reverend L. Fosseau, was marked by a bronze plaque June 21, 1936. The mission was a mile west of the city, near the present county hospital. The Right Reverend Edward J. Kelly, of Idaho, delivered the principal address. M. Z. Donnell read a sketch of the mission. Relatives of Father Mesplie, one of the early day priests of The Dalles, unveiled the tablet. The names of early settlers who were baptised in the mission were read. The ceremony was sponsored by the Wasco County Pioneers' Association, which has been active in placing markers at historic spots in Wasco county.

Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers sponsored the dedication of the bridge crossing Paradise Creek on the Umpqua River highway, July 26, 1936. The bridge was dedicated to the memory of the pioneer stage drivers of that section.

REUNIONS

DESENDANTS AND relatives of David R. and Mary Lewis held a family reunion at Helmick Park, July 26, 1936, Officers for the coming year are: A, R. Lewis, Crabtree, president; Mrs. Wallace Brown, Monmouth, vice president; Mrs. James Lewis, Monmouth, secretary. David and Mary Lewis came to Oregon in 1845 and settled in Polk County where Lewisville is now located.

The 37th annual reunion of descendants of Francis and Elizabeth Perry, pioneers of 1847, was held July 12, 1936, at the George W. Perry farm near Houlton. Officers elected were N. A. Perry, Portland, president; Eona Massey, Portland, secretary; Roy A. Perry, Portland, historian.

A family reunion of descendants of Daniel and Elizabeth Trullinger was held at Union Mills in the Molalla, August 2, 1936. The occasion was also the celebration of the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Trullinger. At the election of officers Ed Trullinger was chosen for honorary president; I. C. Trullinger, acting president; Grace Trullinger Eustice, Yamhill, secretary.

Decsendants of Trueman and Jairus Bonney, pioneers of 1846, met at Silverton August 9, 1936. R. J. Hendricks, Salem, told some interesting facts about the family. Officers elected were: Ralph Bonney, of Powers, president; Curtis Bonney, Klamath Falls, vice president; Etta Bonney Hall, Woodburn, secretary-treasurer.

Nearly one hundred members attended the reunion of descendants of Clinton, Thomas, Albert and Gilmer Kelly at Portland, June 27, 1936. Clinton and Thomas Kelly came to Oregon in 1848, Albert in 1849 and Gilmer in 1852.

Five generations of one family were present at the reunion of descendants of Jacob and Abraham Henkle at Corvallis, June 27, 1936. A picture in the Oregonian, July 5, shows Mrs. Rachel Kitson, the great-great-grandmother, Mrs. R. B. Mason, great-grandmother, Mrs. L. M. Wright, grandmother and Mrs. Nellie Huffman, mother of Gordon Leroy Huffman, great-great-grandson.

Representatives of twenty-seven families were present at the reunion of descendants of Samuel and Robert C. Kinney, August 9, 1936, at Champoeg Park, Dr. Alfred C. Kinney, Astoria, was in charge of the program,

The fifth annual reunion of descendants of Reason B. and Martha Wright Hall took place at Champoeg Park, July 19, 1936. Mr. Hall was a pioneer of 1846 and the founder of the town of Buena Vista.

The Hannah-Arnold clan, descendants of pioneers of 1854, had their ninth annual reunion at the old Arnold homestead near Scio, July 26, 1936. James Arnold was reelected president.

Descendants of Robert and Joseph McLaughlin, pioneers of 1853, met at Linn-Benton Park, near Monroe, July 12, 1936. They elected G. W. McLaughlin, Independence, president; Mrs. John Hiltebrand, Independence, secretary; R. L. McLaughlin, Roseburg, historian.

A reunion of descendants of George Settlemier, pioneer of 1849, was held at Champoeg Park, July 12, 1936. E. E. Settlemier, Woodburn, was elected president; Mrs. C. W. Whittlesey, Portland, secretary. Irene Duley sang a song written by Wiley B. Allen in 1890 in honor of his grandfather, George Settlemier.

The Steward clan held its annual meeting at Mount Tabor Park, Portland, July 26, 1936. The Oregon pioneers who were members of the clan were George Harrison Steward and Robert Mills Steward, who came in 1850. Dr. Lelia M. McMillan, Portland, is collecting material for a Steward genealogy.

The Ferschweiler family had its fourth annual reunion at Saint Louis, Marion County, July 26, 1936. Joe Ferschweiler, Saint Louis, is president and Mrs. John Connard, Senior, Portland, secretary- treasurer.

Six of the ten original members of the Triangle Mountain Club, organized in 1896, had a reunion at Government Camp in July, 1936. Those attending were Frank Ramsey, Walter Rogers, of Portland; Dr. H. S. Brownton, La Grande, Fred W. Whitman, Toppenish, Washington, L. Adams, Oregon City, and N. M. McGowan. The other members of the original club were James Eaton, now dead, J. L. Mitchell, J. Presswood and H. C. Ainsley. The Triangle moraine on the south side of Mount Hood, between White River and Zig Zag glaciers, derived its name from the club.

School life of 1879 was recalled by former students and teachers of the Maple Lane school in the Oregon City district at a reunion on the grounds August 2, 1936. Lyman L. Latourette gave a history of the school.

CHURCH EVENTS

The Providence Baptist Church, between Scio and Crabtree, observed the 83rd anniversary of its founding June 21, 1936, with all day services dedicated to the Reverend Joab Powell, pioneer circuit rider and founder of the church.

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Free Methodist Church in Oregon, services were held at Portland, July 17, 1936. J. H. Brown, the only living charter member, read a paper giving the history of the organization.

The 80th anniversary of the organization of the Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church, near West Stayton, was celebrated July 19, 1936. The church building was erected in 1858, and many of the furnishings now in use date back to that time.

MISCELLANEOUS

An important chapter in the geological history of Oregon was the recent discovery of fossil beds of the pliocene epoch in the Deschutes gorge, nine miles west of Madras. Dr. Ralph W. Chaney, paleobotanist and research associate for the Carnegie Institution, has examined the sediment and found clear impressions of willow, wild cherry, maple and poplar leaves. Since the time of Dr. Condon's work geologists have searched for pliocene fossils and Dr. Chaney said that this is one of the most important discoveries in years.

The decorations on the Astor column on Coxcomb Hill, Astoria, are being restored under the direction of Attilio Pusterla, New York artist who made the original carvings. The column was erected in 1926 by the Great Northern Railway and Vincent Astor. The scroll of historical subjects etched in the column has been almost obliterated on one side from the force of the south west winds. When the design is re-etched Mr. Pusterla will cover the column with a thin coating of fine cement, which will be a permanent protection against the weather.

A varied program offered entertainment at the Territorial Days celebration at Oregon City, August 21-22, 1936. Dedication of markers at historic sites, an exhibition of early day costumes, parades and races were some of the events of the occasion. An especially interesting edition of the Oregon City Enterprise was issued August 20, containing interesting bits of history of Clackamas County.

A historical pageant entitled "The March of Progress," was presented at Tillamook, July 31, August 1 and 2, 1936. The pageant, written by George Natanson, was based on actual historical episodes and depicted dramatic and important events in the pioneer life of Tillamook County. Many of the participants were pioneers and descendants of the characters portrayed.

A document uncovered at Saint Helens in the historical document survey tells the history of the bell that hung in a bell tower in the town of Saint Helens. The bell was purchased by subscription and hung in a fifteen-foot tower. It was used to announce church services, fires and other occasions. To prevent the ringing of the bell by children or other unauthorized persons there was no rope attached and the official bell ringer had to climb the tower and ring it by hand.

That McMinnville was incorporated in 1876, instead of 1882, as recorded on the city seal, was learned when the first charter was discovered by a field worker of the historic records survey. The latter date refers to another charter.

The United States congress approved a bill June 15, 1936 to provide $25,000 for the restoration of McLoughlin House at Oregon City. The Oregon legislature appropriated $5,500 with which the work was started. The present improvements will be finished in October, An additional sum of $25,000 will be sought from the government to buy more ground, build a curator's cottage and a heating plant.

The United States senate at the session June 18, 1936, authorized the striking of medals to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Whitman and Spalding missions.

Mrs. C. C. Geer of Salem is displaying a premium list of the first state fair, held at Oregon City, October, 1861, on the occasion of the diamond jubilee of the fair, September 7-13. The Oregon Historical Society has one of these pamphlets and several others for the sessions during the 1860s.

A complete history of early day transportation in the Pacific northwest is to be undertaken by the Rockefeller Foundation's social science research council. The task has been given to Dr. Oscar O. Winther, graduate of the University of Oregon and now of the faculty of Stanford University. Dr. Winther has just written Express and Stagecoach Days in California, which is reviewed in this issue of the Quarterly.

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

FERRELL, MR. AND MRS. D. H., Portland, August 26, 1936, 60th.
LOVE, MR. AND MRS. JAMES W., La Grande, August 18, 1936, 60th.
MEACHAN, MR. AND MRS. CHAUNCEY, Eugene, July 12, 1936, 65th.

NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS

CULLEN, JOHN W., Portland, June 18, 1936, 98th.
HIATT, MARY, Milton, June 12, 1936, 93rd.
LYONS, ANNIE, Cottage Grove, May 17, 1936. 87th.
THORNBURGH, AMBERS, Forest Grove, July 29, 1936, 104th.

NEWSPAPER NARRATIVES

"WOLF CREEK Tavern Surveys its 79-Year Record," by Rex Tussig, in the Oregonian, July 12, 1936, is a history of the historic inn, built in 1857, which served the stagecoach passengers on the route between Sacramento, California, and Oregon City. It is the only surviving inn on the route in Oregon.

The story of the settling of Rickreall by Nathaniel Ford in 1844 is told by Ben Maxwell in the Oregon Journal, August 2, 1936. Mr. Maxwell also contributes to the same paper an article on Charles Bennett as the discoverer of gold in California.

A book recently published in Seattle purporting to be the diary of Joaquin Miller, is really the work of his brother, James Miller, according to a statement of Juanita Miller, the daughter of Joaquin, printed in the Oregon Journal, August 18, 1936.

A letter to the Oregonian, July 7, 1936, from Lucy Ardell Kimball, Ipswich, Massachusettes, relates some biographical notes about Miss Mary Hodgdon, who was a teacher in the Portland High School in the 1870s.

A biography of John Reed is contained in a series of articles entitled "Kremlin Bound," recollections of Nina Lane Faubion as told to Richard L. Neuberger, in the Oregonian, June 7, 14, 1936. "Walla Walla Pays Tribute to Early Settlers," by Claude M. Gray, in the Oregon Journal, August 9, 1936, is a narrative of the Whitman journey to Oregon and the founding of the mission.

A history of the Portland Rose Society is told in a letter by Mrs. Ella S. Stearns, printed in the Oregonian, June 3, 1936. An Indian legend of a crocodile on the Washington coast, as told by the Clallam chief Lanahim, is printed in the Oregonian, June 17, 1936.

In “The McDonald Odyssey," in the Oregonian, August 23, 1936, M. Leona Nichols recounts the adventurous career of Ranald McDonald, who was born as Astoria, in 1824, and who became the first teacher of English in Japan,

Pictures of the H. W. Corbett home at Fifth Avenue and Taylor Street, Portland, which is to be torn down, are in the Oregon Journal, July 26, 1936.

In the Oregonian, July 19, 1936, Leverett G. Richards describes the Stonehenge replica erected by Samuel Hill in Klickitat County, Washington, as a war memorial.

The first of a series of articles on Simeon G. Reed, by Robert C. Johnson, appears in the Oregon Journal, August 23, 1936. Ernest W. Peterson describes Crater Lake and its environs in the Oregon Journal, August 16, 1936.

The Oregon Journal, July 26, 1936, prints a story by Harry Palmer of the Hogg Pass Railroad project which was to build a road from Yaquina Bay to Ontario in the 1880s.

An article entitled "Portland Lead's Way in Power Development," in the Oregon Journal, July 19, 1936, is a history of the electric industry in Portland.

"Impressions and Observations of the Journal Man," by Fred Lockley, in the Oregon Journal, 1936: May 29, James E. Burdett; May 30, Ernest C. Brown; June 1, Ida Castle Sheak, Sophronia Ritner Grant; June 2, Andrew Jesse Owen, John C. Carson; June 3, 9, 11, C. J. Van Zele; June 4, Frank B. Jones, Lee Winters; June 5, Charles Edward Huntley; June 6, Mrs. J. E. Henkle, Benjamin Hunt; June 7, the Reverend John Sellwood, Hopeland; June 8, Edward B. Graves, Lorinda Bewley; June 15, Alexander D. McDougall, John F. Stevens; June 16, John McCluskey; June 17, Harvey S. Bond, Levi J. Fanning; June 18, Ralph H. Howell, Toledo; June 19, Elk City; June 23, Alpharetta Walker, A. H. Zahniser; June 24, Olive Barker, Dr. Franklin M. Carter; June 26, Mrs. Edward B. Graves, Thomas J. Graves; June 29, July 1, 6, Peter P. Olds; July 3, Thomas G. Kenney; July 7, Hendrick Hudson Goddard; July 9, Rosa Ulrich Kenney; July 12, Inez Crockett Lawrence, Crockett family; July 24, Judah Parker; July 25, W. F. Keady; July 26, August 16, 18, Sumner Fremont Lockwood; July 27, August 6, Isaac Skeeters; August 1, 13, Elijah J. Davidson; August 2, 8, Flora Savage Richardson; August 3, 11, George G. Currin; August 4, Frank Merrill; August 5, Mrs. G. W. Dunn, Peter R. Burnett; August 7, 15, Frank P. Wheeler, Jason Wheeler; August 19, Hattie Starr, George M. Starr; August 20, Hortense Oar Walker, Alfred Oar, Reedsport; August 21, Elizabeth Crawford Smith, Robert H. Crawford; August 22, 25, Nancy Greve, Elisha Bryant, Clatskanie; August 23, W. C. Belknap; August 24, Delia Payne, Ebenezer Hogue, Kerbyville; August 26, Alonzo K. Richardson; August 30, Mrs. S. S. Stearns, Mahlon H. Harlow.