Happy as was the original dedication of this house, with its clustering, charming memories of today, it was in it that Dr. McLoughlin suffered from despoiling hands, from the rapacity of some of those he had befriended, and some of those whose greed of gain outweighed all other considerations, even reli- gious pretensions. It was here he saw his fortune disappear, his hopes frustrated, his life wrecked, and where finally his great heart broke. It was here he suffered martyrdom. It was here he died . I shall not go into these details. They are matters of history. He was deprived of the ownership of this house by the United States Government under the Oregon donation land law, through the machinations of conspirators, men, some of whom, enjoyed a little prosperity and public prominence, whose memories survive mostly through their unworthy actions toward him. That it was restored to his heirs by the State of Oregon, is a matter of state pride to every true Oregonian. It was an act which appeals to the right feel- ing of every lover of justice and humanity. It was an official acknowledgment of the injustice done to Dr. McLoughlin, and a recognition of his services in succoring the early immigrants and of what he had done for Oregon and what Oregon owed to him. It is to be regretted that the dark days of his last years were not brightened by this act of justice. His memory has now come into its own.
It is proper that this house should stand here in perpetual memory of its original builder and owner—a man who stands supreme as the first, the greatest, of Oregon's citizens. It is the one house in Oregon which typifies the old and binds together the old and the new — the days of heroic Oregon and the days of the greater Oregon of today. Its preservation and its removal to the present site represents something of earnest and heartfelt endeavors, something of romantic interest, something of patriotism, something of higher feelings in the appreciation and determination that the house of Oregon's great humanitarian should be preserved and protected, not only for those of today but for those of the past, whom he
