RKCOLI.I : i -ii.s OF AN OLD PIONEER. 173 on their part, tin- parties ultimately came to an agreement. Hut in many cases the new immigrants had nothing to give in exchange, and we had to sell 1o them on credit. I remember that a new immigrant purchased a place in my neighborhood one fall, and in the succeeding month of June came to my house and asked if I had any wheat in my gar- ner. I told him I had. hut I was eompelled to purchase some clothing for my family, and my wheat was the only tiling I had with which I could pay for the articles we required; that I could not see how we could do without, or how else to obtain them. He said his wife and children were without anything to eat. and that he had a good Crowing crop, and would give me three bushels after harvest for every bushel I would let him have now. I could not withstand such an ap- peal. and said I would furnish him with the wheat, and would <.nly require the same quantity after harvest. But the state of discontent on the part of the new immi- grants was temporary, and only laste^l during the winter. In the spring, when the thick clouds cleared away, and the _ r rass ;md flowers sprang up beneath the kindling rays of a bright Oregon sun. their spirits revived with reviving nature; by the succeeding fall they had themselves become old set- tleis. and fort 1 a part of us. their views and feelings in the meantime having undergone a total change. It was interesting to observe the influence of new circum- stances upon human character. Among the men who went to Oregon the year I did. some were idle, worthless young men. too i.y to work at home, and too genteel to steal ; while some others were gamblers, and others were reputed thieves. I'.ut when they arrived in Oregon they were compelled to work or starve. It was a dire necessity. There were there no able relatives or indulgent friends upon whom the idle could quarter themselves, and there was little or nothing for the rogues to steal; and. if they could steal, there was no ready way by which they could escape into another commu- nity, and they could not conceal themselves in Oregon. I never s.iu so tim- a population, as a whole community, as 1
