roll he preserved and produced at the Oregon Pioneers' Celebration in June, 1875. I have inspected this roll as published in the "Oregonian," and find it correct, except in the omission of the name of B. B. Redding, who went to California, and included the name of A. L. Lovejoy, who came the year before.
The roll contained 293 names, 267 of whom arrived in Oregon. Of the 26 missing, six died on the way, five turned back on Platte River, and fifteen went to California. He also gives the names of many of the resident male population, and estimates their number at 157. John M. Shively[1] made a complete list of all the emigrants at the crossing of Kansas River, but that list has unfortunately been lost. Judge M. P. Deady, in his address before the Oregon Pioneers in June, 1875, estimated the immigration of 1843, men, women, and children, at nine hundred. My estimate would not be so high. I have always estimated the number arriving in Oregon as not exceeding eight hundred.
When we arrived in Oregon we were poor, and our teams were so much reduced as to be unfit for service until the next spring. Those of us who came by water from Walla Walla left our cattle there for the winter; and those who came by water from the Dalles left their cattle for the winter at that point. Even if our teams had been fit for use when we arrived, they would have been of no benefit to us, as we could not bring them to the Willamette Valley until the spring of 1844. Pork was ten and flour lour cents a pound, and other provisions in proportion. These were high prices considering our scanty means and extra appetites. Had it not been for the generous kindness of the gentlemen in charge of the business of the Hudson's Bay Company, we should have suffered much greater privations. The company furnished many of our immigrants with provisions, clothing, seed, and other necessaries on credit. This was done, in many instances, where the purchasers were known to be of doubtful credit. At that time the company had most of the provisions and merchandise in the country, and the trade with our people was, upon the whole, a decided loss, so many failing to pay for what they purchased. Many of our immigrants were unworthy of the favors they received, and only returned abuse for generosity.
I remember an example, related to me by Captain James Waters, an excellent man, possessed of a kind heart, a truthful tongue, and a very patient disposition. As before stated, some of our immigrants passed from the Dalles to the Cascades on rafts made of
- ↑ John M. Shively is an engineer, and a plain, unassuming man, who was possessed of much greater genuine ability than most people supposed. Justice has never been done him. He was in Washington City in the winter of 1845-'46, and was the originator of the project of a steamship line from New York to this coast by way of Panama.
