was worse than that of 1843, for the reason that there had not been time for the country to recover from the draft upon its resources made the year previous. Thanks to the fertility of the soil, and to the good judgment of McLoughlin in encouraging farming, there was food enough for all. though many lived on short rations rather than incur debt. But the great want of the new-comers was clothing. All the goods in the several stores had long been exhausted; even at Vancouver there was no stock on hand except the reserved cargo, which was not opened when the immigration arrived.[1]Clothing was made by putting piece to piece without regard to color or texture; and moccasins, which took the place of boots and shoes, w T ere the almost universal foot-covering. A tannery had been begun in the summer, in the neighborhood of Burnett's farm, but the autumn supply of leather, besides being inadequate, was only half tanned, and had a raw streak in the centre.
This destitution, while there was a year's supply in the warehouses at Vancouver, occasioned complaints on the part of the less reasonable of the immigrants, who were unable to see why they should not receive as many favors from the Hudson's Bay Company as those of the previous year had had, under the same circumstances. McLoughlin had, with his usual sagacity, foreseen that there would be this feeling, and while prepared to defend the company's property from pillage in case of a collision with the immigrants, sought by every means to cultivate a friendly feeling.
- ↑ Minto describes his costume when he went to Vancouver to receive the boat and cargo which he took up the Columbia. His pantaloons were ripped up to the knees; he had no coat, having worn out the one he started with; a blanket obtained at Vancouver was doubled across his shoulders over a string. His feet were nearly bare, and became quite so before he returned from his expedition. Minto's Female Pioneering, MS., 18, 19. Mrs Minto says: 'There was but one bolt of calico in the whole of Oregon that we could hear of, and that was at Astoria. . . The next summer my sister and I gathered a barrel of cranberries and sent them to Oregon City, and got a little blue drilling which made us a covering.' Id., 10. The dearth of goods affected all classes. Parrish says that in 1844 he wore an old coat which he brought from New York in 1839, and pantaloons made of English duffle, 'a kind of coarse cloth similar to our horse-blankets,' with a buckskin vest and moccasins. Id., 20.
