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256
THE SUB-INDIAN AGENT'S COMPANY.
was gained, while others appeared at Elm Grove, the appointed rendezvous twenty miles south-west of Independence, who had come from Illinois and Arkansas, so that by the 14th of May one hundred and twelve persons were assembled,[1] fifty-two being men over eighteen years of age.[2]
White's company was not so favorably circumstanced as those which had preceded it and had travelled under the protection of the American Fur Company. He says that his heart sank when he began to realize what he had undertaken; and that it was not made more buoyant when Sublette assured him that there would be much difficulty in organizing and governing such a large party, and in conducting it successfully such a distance through a wilderness in-
- ↑ It is not to be believed that these emigrants from afar came at the doctor's call. Probably they had already begun to move in the direction of Oregon, and hearing of White's party, joined it for safety. This opinion is sustained by Crawford.
- ↑ Their names are as follows: Thomas Boggs, Gabriel Brown, William Brown, James Brown, Hugh Burns, G. W. Bellamy, Barnam, Winston, Bennett, Vandeman Bennett, Bailey, Bridges, Nathaniel Crocker, Nathan Coombs, Patrick Clark, Alexander Copeland, Medorum Crawford, A. N. Coats, James Coats, John Dearum, John Daubenbiss, Samuel Davis, Allen Davy, John Force, James Force, Foster, Joseph Gibbs, Girtman, Lansford W. Hastings, John Hoffstetter, J. M. Hudspeth, Hardin Jones, Columbia Lancaster, Reuben Lewis, A. L. Lovejoy, S. W. Moss, J. L. Morrison, John McKay, Alexander McKay, Dutch Paul, Walter Pomeroy, J. H. Perry, Dwight Pomeroy, J. R. Robb, T. J. Shadden, Owen Sumner, Andrew Smith, A. D. Smith, Darling Smith, A. Towner, Joel Turnham, David Weston, Elijah White. Of these, 10 had families, as follows; Gabriel Brown, Mr Bennett, James Force, Mr Girtman, Columbia Lancaster, Walter Pomeroy, J. W. Perry, T. J. Shadden, Owen Sumner, and Andrew Smith. But Hastings gives the force of armed men as 80; and Frémont as 64. Crawford says the whole number of emigrants was 105. The largest number given by any authority is 160. Love joy says about 70 were able to stand guard. White's statement that there were 112 persons in the company when it organized, and that this number was augmented on the road until it reached 125, is probably the most reliable, and agrees with the account given in Lee and Frost's Or., 257. McLoughlin, in his Private Papers, MS., 2d ser. 7, puts the number at 137, but he probably includes a party of mountain men who joined the emigrants at Fort Laramie. The authorities on the subject are: White's Ten Years in Or., 144; White's Emigration to Or., MS., 18; Strong's Hist. Or., MS., 33; Hastings' Or. and Cal., 6; Crawford's Missionaries, MS., 20; Lovejoy's Founding of Portland, MS., 4; Bennett's Narrative, in San José Pioneer, May 26 and June 2, 1877. Gray says there were 42 families, and makes the whole number of persons 111, but only names two of them. Hist. Or., 212. The names of many of the adult emigrants must have been forgotten, the register having been lost after the death of the secretary, N. Crocker, soon after reaching Oregon. Mrs Ann Perry, wife of J. W. Perry, died in June 1879. Salem Weekly Farmer, July 4, 1879.
