ried man, and 640 acres to husband and wife; later this was reduced one-half, and still later again one-half. In the division of the claim the wife had the choice.
As may be supposed there were few single women of marriageable age. During the great Civil War it became a saying that the cradle and the grave were robbed to supply soldiers, and certainly the nursery was robbed for wives during the period the "Donation Act" was in force. Marriages of girls under fifteen years of age were common. I witnessed one near Salem where the bride was only thirteen years old and the groom more than three times that age. These early marriages were almost all contracted that the brides might get their "claims."
On Puget Sound the scarcity of women was a serious matter. It affected the social, industrial and moral condition of the several communities. It was a subject of frequent discussion and a matter of earnest regret.
Charles Prosch, then editor of the Puget Sound Herald, published at Steilacoom, and now enjoying a hearty and respected old age in Seattle, appears to have been the first to take up the subject for serious discussion. As early as October 22, 1858, an editorial headed "A Good Wife" appeared, and, after paying her a glowing tribute by way of preparing his bachelor friends for what was to follow, he said:
"Complaint has been made by several esteemed unmarried friends of the great dearth of marriageable females in our vicinity, and very truly. Many who are now wretched for want of comfortable homes, with 'heaven's last best gift' presiding therein, would lose no time in allying themselves with the fair daughters of Eve if they would but deign to favor us with their presence. There is probably no community in the Union of a like number of inhabitants, in which so large a proportion are bachelors. We have no spinsters.
The young men here seeking life partners are every way fitted to assume the incidental responsibilities. They already, in many instances, have comfortable homes, which only lack the presence of females to render them in the highest degree attractive. There are probably not less than fifty bachelors in
