The Souvenir of Western Women/Eliza Spalding Warren
Eliza Spalding Warren
Sketch of the Second White Child Born in the Oregon Country
I was born at Lapwai November 15, 1837. Here my father and mother, Rev. and Mrs. H. H. Spalding, had established a mission in 1836, the year in which they crossed the plains in company with Dr. and Mrs. Whitman and W. H. Gray. The mission was among the Nez Perce Indians. In my childhood there was not a white person within a hundred miles of us. I can well remember the deep interest father and mother shared in teaching and otherwise helping the Indians. How often do I recall the days when we lived among them, and how safe we felt notwithstanding our helplessness.
When I was 9 years old my parents sent me to Dr. Whitman's mission to attend school. As father did not have the time to go with me, I was sent that long distance through the Indian country in the care of an Indian woman. When night came, no thought of danger, no fears; we would camp just like the Indians—our horses tethered near by on the grass. That confidence my father and mother had in the Indians no doubt was the key to their success as teachers and guides.
When we had occasion to take trips, we traveled as the Indians did, on horseback with pack horses; we camped where night overtook us; crossed the rivers in canoes and swam our horses. Things, however, changed as other influences came among the Indians.
The frontier has a great charm for me. Now in these advanced years of my life I have settled in a little home on the beautiful Lake Chelan, near the great snow-capped mountains, and here I hope to spend my remaining days.
IRVINGTON
Is the select suburb of Portland. Two electric car lines every fifteen minutes until 12 o'clock midnight. Any one intending to build should examine this beautiful location before selecting a site. C. H. Prescott, trustee, 22-23 Chamber of Commerce.