"Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer," so that we have his
opinion of Dr. McLoughlin in 1843 contemporaneous with the events I
speak of, and also his mature reflections thirty-seven years after that.
On page 142 of this book Mr. Burnett says: "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 four 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. Many of our immigrants
were unworthy of the favors they received, and only returned abuse for
generosity."
Captain J. C. Fremont, afterwards Major-General, in the United States
Army, was at Fort Vancouver when the immigrants of 1843 were arriving.
On page 191 of the Report of his Second Exploring Expedition, he says:
"I found many American emigrants at the fort; others had already
crossed the river into their land of promise--the Walahmette Valley.
Others were daily arriving; and all of them had been furnished with
shelter, so far as it could be afforded by the buildings connected with
the establishment. Necessary clothing and provisions [the latter to be
afterwards returned in kind from the produce of their labor] were also
furnished. This friendly assistance was of very great value to the
emigrants, whose families were otherwise exposed to much suffering in
the winter rains which had now commenced, at the same time that they
were in want of all the common necessaries of life."
_Immigration of 1844._
The immigration of 1844 was composed of about fourteen hundred persons.
They suffered many hardships and many lost all, or a part of, their
cattle, clothing, and goods. Most of these immigrants arrived late in
the season. Snow began to fall before all arrived at their destinations.
Boats were supplied free, and provisions, cattle, and seed-wheat were
furnished them on credit by Dr. McLoughlin, as he had the immigrants of
1843. The supplies in Oregon had been nearly exhausted by the
immigration of 1843, although Dr. McLoughlin had urged the raising of
grain and other supplies in anticipation of the coming of the
immigration of 1844. The available supply of clothing at Fort Vancouver
had been practically exhausted before the arrival of the immigration of
1844.
John Minto, who is still living in Oregon, was one of the immigrants of
1844. In his address presenting to the State of Oregon the portrait of
Dr. John McLoughlin, which now hangs in the Senate Chamber, he said: "To
the assistance given to the Immigrants of 1843, as described by Col.
Nesmith, I can add as an eyewitness, that those of 1844 received the
loan of boats in which to descend the Columbia River from The Dalles
(there being no road across the Cascades [mountains]); the hungry were
fed, the sick cared for and nursed, and, not the least, was the fact
that many of the employees of the Hudson's Bay Company followed the good
Doctor in their treatment of the Americans. Especially was this the case
in the settlement of retired Canadians who almost worshipped him."
Joseph Watt, the well-known enterprising pioneer of 1844, who largely
assisted in starting the first woolen mill in Oregon, in 1857, in his
"Recollections of Dr. John McLoughlin," published in the _Transactions_
of the Oregon Pioneer Association of 1886 said (pages 24 and 25): "On
the 13th of November, 1844, a company of immigrants landed at Fort
Vancouver, brought there on a bateau commanded by Joseph Hess, an
immigrant of '43. The boat belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company. Mr.
Hess was entrusted with the boat for the purpose of bringing immigrants
down the river. We had eaten the last of our provisions at our last
camp, and were told by Hess that we could get plenty at the fort, with
or without money;--that the old Doctor never turned people away hungry.
This made us feel quite comfortable, for there was not a dollar among
us. As near as I can remember the company consisted of sixteen men, five
women and four children.... We were the first to arrive.... We soon
found the Doctor in a small room he called his office.... He spoke of
our being so late, and feared there would be considerable suffering
before they could all be taken down the river, but should do all in his
power until they reached their destination.
"We then made known to him our wants. We were all out of provisions.
There was a small table in one corner of the room, at which he took a
seat, and directed us to stand in a line--(there being so many of us the
line reached nearly around the room)--and then told us the year before,
and in fact previous years, he had furnished the people with all the
provisions and clothing they wanted, but lately had established a
trading house at Oregon City, where we could get supplies; but for
immediate necessity he would supply provisions at the fort. Several of
our party broke in, saying: 'Doctor, I have no money to pay you, and I
don't know when or how I can pay you.' 'Tut, tut, never mind that; you
can't suffer,' said the Doctor. He then commenced at the head man
saying, 'Your name, if you please; how many in the family, and what do
you desire?' Upon receiving an answer, the Doctor wrote an order,
directing him where to go to have it filled; then called up the next
man, and so on until we were all supplied. He told us the account of
each man would be sent to Oregon City, and when we took a claim, and
raised wheat, we could settle the account by delivering wheat at that
place. Some few who came after us got clothing. Such was the case with
every boat load, and all those who came by land down the trail. If he
had said 'We have these supplies to sell for cash down,' I think we
would have suffered.... When we started to Oregon, we were all
prejudiced against the Hudson's Bay Company, and Dr. McLoughlin, being
Chief Factor of the Company for Oregon, came in for a double share of
that feeling. I think a great deal of this was caused by the reports of
missionaries and adverse traders, imbuing us with a feeling that it was
our mission to bring this country under the jurisdiction of the stars
and stripes. But when we found him anxious to assist us, nervous at our
situation in being so late, and doing so much without charge,--letting
us have of his store, and waiting without interest, until we could make
a farm and pay him from the surplus products of such farm, the prejudice
heretofore existing began to be rapidly allayed. We did not know that
every dollar's worth of provisions, etc., he gave us, all advice and
assistance in every shape was against the positive orders of the
Hudson's Bay Company.... In this connection I am sorry to say that
thousands of dollars virtually loaned by him to settlers at different
times in those early days, was never paid, as an examination of his
books and papers will amply testify."
_Immigration of 1845._
The immigration of 1845 numbered about three thousand persons. Many of
them suffered more than the preceding immigrations. They also were
assisted by Dr. McLoughlin as he had the immigrants of 1843 and 1844.
For this he was charged with disloyalty by one of the British spies then
at Vancouver. Stephen Staats was one of the immigrants of 1845. In his
address before the Oregon Pioneer Association, in 1877, he said: "We
reached Oregon City in thirteen days (overland) from The Dalles (two of
which we were without food), and on our arrival, those of us in advance
were kindly and hospitably received by old Dr. McLoughlin. He
immediately furnished us with provisions, without money and without
price, and extended to us favors which we were ever ready to
reciprocate. I am not one of those who wish to cast reflections on the
character of Dr. McLoughlin, or wish to impute to him anything wanting
in the kindest feeling towards the immigrants of 1845. For well do I
know, that but for him, many would have been more embarrassed in making
provision for the coming winter's necessities than they were. And I have
yet to see the immigrant of 1845, who, when speaking of the 'Old Man
Doctor,' does not speak in high commendation of his actions towards the
immigrants of that year." The wise, humane, and paternal foresight of
Dr. McLoughlin was of great assistance to the immigrants of 1845. In the
McLoughlin Document he says: "When the immigration of 1842 came, we had
enough of breadstuffs in the country for one year, but as the immigrants
reported that next season there would be a great immigration, it was
evident, if there was not a proportionate increase of seed sown in 1843
and 1844, there would be a famine in the country in 1845, which would
lead to trouble, as those that had families, to save them from
starvation, would be obliged to have recourse to violence to get food
for them. To avert this I freely supplied the immigrants of 1843 and
1844 with the necessary articles to open farms, and by these means
avoided the evils. In short I afforded every assistance to the
immigrants so long as they required it, and by management I kept peace
in the country, and in some cases had to put up with a great deal."
_The Quality of the Early Immigrants._
The early immigrants to Oregon were not mendicants nor tramps. It is
true some of them were of a roving disposition; probably a few were of
the improvident class. Most of them were forceful, strong men and women,
physically and mentally; strong also in their Americanism, and filled
with the racial instinct to follow the western course of Empire. They
came to Oregon as home-builders. Many of them had their lineage from the
pioneers who first settled the Atlantic Coast, particularly the southern
part of it. Descendants of these pioneers had crossed the mountains and
were the hardy and courageous pioneers of Kentucky and Tennessee in the
early, perilous, and heroic days of Daniel Boone, John Sevier, George
Rogers Clark, and James Robertson. The ancestors of some of these Oregon
immigrants had taken part in the great war of the American Revolution on
the Atlantic Coast, and had then assisted in upbuilding civilization in
the Middle West. These forefathers had won the Middle West. These
immigrants came to win Oregon. The grandfathers and fathers of some of
them had taken part in the war of 1812, and in the later Indian wars. A
few of these immigrants were veterans of the war of 1812 and of these
Indian wars. There were immigrants who had taken active part in the
troubles with the Mormons and had assisted in driving them out of
Western Missouri. It was of this stock that parts of Missouri, and
especially the western part of that state, had been then largely
peopled, and many of these Oregon immigrants had settled there
temporarily before coming to Oregon. A great majority of the immigrants
to Oregon from 1843 to 1846, inclusive, and of some of the later
immigrants, were from the Southern States. They, and their ancestors for
many generations, had been born and brought up in the South. Most of
them had the good qualities and were of the high type of American
citizenship characteristic of the white people of the South. They were
mostly plain people, but they and their ancestry were of good class.
Theirs was an inheritance of indomitable will, high courage, and noble
purposes. Their ancestors had conquered, settled, and upbuilded the
country from the seaboards of Virginia and the Carolinas to the
Mississippi River.[24] Oregon was another land to conquer, to settle,
and to upbuild. There were also in these early immigrations a number of
men and women, descendants of the sturdy peoples who settled in New
England, and in other Northern States. There were a few men who were
attracted to Oregon by the love of adventure incident to the journey and
to the settlement of a new country. There were also a few men, born
outside of the United States, who allied themselves with the Americans,
and became identified with the Americans in Oregon, and subsequently
were admitted as citizens of the United States.
The places these immigrants left to come to Oregon, although some of
these places were comparatively new, were mostly over-supplied with
unsold agricultural products--unsalable for want of markets. The early
books and pamphlets on Oregon and the stirring speeches of Oregon
enthusiasts, who had never been to Oregon, pictured Oregon as the
traditional land of plenty and of "milk and honey." There was, too, an
abiding faith in the future, a certain improvidence born of strong
manhood and womanhood. They were filled with confidence in their ability
to conquer all troubles and overcome all difficulties. They did not
think of failure--they intended to succeed. Then, too, the journey was
longer and more arduous than they had anticipated. Their greatest
dangers and troubles were after they had entered the Oregon Country and
reached the Columbia River. All east of that river, with its hardships,
was comfortable compared with the troubles and dangers to come. They did
not come seeking, nor did they seek charity or alms. The true, honest,
brave-hearted immigrants wished to pay for what they obtained, and did
as soon as they were able to do so. They were met by conditions which
they could not, or did not, foresee. Dr. John McLoughlin, with his
great, manly prescience, appreciated all this. He sold provisions and
clothing to those who could pay; equally, he sold on credit, to those
who could not, without references, without collaterals. He understood
the quality of most of these pioneers--he was unfortunately in error as
to some of them. It was not charity on the part of Dr. McLoughlin, it
was the exercise of that great quality, which he possessed in an
extraordinary degree--humanity.
I regret to say that a few of these early immigrants, at times, without
cause, were rude to Dr. McLoughlin and abusive of his Company, and of
his Country. Some of these did not care--others had been prejudiced by
false information, which they had read or heard before they left their
homes, or on the way to Oregon. Some, I still more regret to say,
accepted the credit extended to them by Dr. McLoughlin, and never paid.
But the payment to the Hudson's Bay Company of these bad debts was
assumed by Dr. McLoughlin. The aggregate amount is not definitely known,
for Dr. McLoughlin suffered, in many ways, in silence. But it was a very
large sum. Those who paid in full could not requite his kindness to
them.
The real Oregon pioneers are these overland immigrants who came to
Oregon prior to 1847. The immigrants of 1846 were a long way on their
journey to Oregon when the Boundary Treaty was made. They left on their
journey early in May, 1846. This treaty was signed at Washington, June
15, 1846. The proclamation by the President of the Treaty and of its
ratification by the two countries is dated August 5, 1846. The
immigrants of 1846 did not know that the Treaty had been made, signed,
or confirmed until after their arrival in Oregon. The news that the
Treaty had been signed came by a sailing vessel, and did not reach
Oregon until November, 1846.[25] The distance traveled by the immigrants
to Oregon, from the rendezvous at Independence, Missouri, to Oregon
City, was about two thousand miles. The usual time in making this
journey was between five and six months. Ox-teams were used almost
exclusively. It was thought that the use of horses for teams was
impracticable. It was feared there would be insufficient food for such
horses, on the way, as the numbers would be large. It would be necessary
to keep these horses shod for pulling the heavily loaded wagons. Many
horses were brought which were used for riding, rounding-up cattle, and
in hunting. There were practical difficulties in caring for, and feeding
horses at night. Horses had to be "staked" at night, cattle would graze
at large. Horses were liable to be stampeded and be lost or be stolen by
the Indians. Oxen were much cheaper than horses. It would require at
least four horses to a wagon. It was desirable to have cows to furnish
milk on the way, especially for the children. Good cattle were scarce in
Oregon and it was desirable to take cows and bulls for breeding
purposes, and other cattle for beef. Many of these immigrants brought
cattle with them in addition to their ox-teams. These cattle and
ox-teams could not travel as fast as horses and the speed of the latter
necessarily would be kept to that of the ox-teams. Should oxen be lost
or die, their places could be taken by cattle or even by cows. This was
not infrequently done.
These early immigrants all came to, or started for Oregon, overland, in
the time of joint-occupancy. They were not encouraged, helped, nor
protected by the Government in coming to Oregon. There were no United
States troops in the Oregon Country, or near the immigrant trail prior
to 1849. The Cayuse Indian war of 1847-8 was carried on by the Oregon
Provisional Government alone, without assistance from the United States
Government. This war was fought wholly by volunteers from the Willamette
Valley. The coming of these early immigrants assisted to hold Oregon for
the United States, and greatly contributed to the settlement of the
Oregon Question. They relied on themselves but they believed that their
Country would protect its own in Oregon. Their rights and courage could
not be ignored. There was no one man who saved Oregon. If any persons
saved Oregon, they were these immigrants from 1843 to and including
1846. There is not a true American who does not take pride in the daring
of these pioneers and in what they accomplished in coming to Oregon.
Whatever some of them may have lacked, in certain qualities, and in
spite of the bad treatment, by some of them, of Dr. McLoughlin, the
patriotism and courage of most of them were of the highest types. This
great movement of immigrants to Oregon from 1843 to 1846, inclusive, may
not, even now, be thoroughly understood nor explained but it is fully
appreciated. With all its dangers and hardships, with all its mystery
and simplicity, and its commonplaces, it stands today one of the most
daring colonizing movements for, and the most remarkable, interesting,
and romantic story of the settlement and upbuilding of any part of the
continents of the two Americas.
It must be borne in mind that all these aids by Dr. McLoughlin to the
immigrants of 1843, and succeeding years, were after some of the
Methodist missionaries had attempted to take his land claim, and
succeeded in part. The history of these transactions I shall presently
relate. And did the secular department of the Methodist Mission assist
these early pioneers in any way similar to what was done by Dr.
McLoughlin? If so, I have found no trace nor record of it. Undoubtedly
Methodist missionaries, individually, did many kindly acts to destitute
immigrants. Had Dr. McLoughlin acted with the supineness of the
Methodist Mission toward the immigrants of 1843, 1844, and 1845, and
especially that of 1843, the consequences would have been terrible.
Leaving out the probability of massacres by the Indians, many immigrants
would have died from starvation, exposure and lack of clothing along the
Columbia River, or after their arrival in the Willamette Valley. It is
true Fort Vancouver might have been captured and destroyed. That would
have given no permanent relief. That would probably have been the
beginning of a war between the United States and Great Britain. Even
without a war the settlement of Oregon would have been delayed for many
years. And all of the Oregon Country north of the Columbia River might
have been lost to the United States.
Sir George Simpson, the Governor in Chief of the Hudson's Bay Company,
severely criticized Dr. McLoughlin for his assistance to the immigrants.
There was an acrimonious correspondence between them on the subject. As
I am informed, it was in this correspondence, which I have not seen,
that Dr. McLoughlin had written the Hudson's Bay Company that he had
furnished these supplies to the immigrants, saying that, as a man of
common humanity, it was not possible for him to do otherwise than as he
did; that he had only done what anyone truly a man would have done. That
it was then insisted by Governor Simpson that Dr. McLoughlin should no
longer assist any needy immigrants, or help any other immigrants. To
this Dr. McLoughlin made the noble reply, "Gentlemen, if such is your
order, I will serve you no longer." This reply was made by Dr.
McLoughlin--the only question is as to the exact time and place it was
made.
_The Resignation of Dr. John McLoughlin._
In 1845 Dr. McLoughlin sent in his resignation to the Hudson's Bay
Company. Its rules required one year's notice before an officer could
resign. His resignation took effect before the immigration of 1846
arrived. As this address relates to Dr. McLoughlin, and only
incidentally to the Oregon Pioneers, I shall not go into details about
the immigrations succeeding that of 1845. Dr. McLoughlin kept a store
and lived at Oregon City after his resignation. To the immigrants of
1846 and after, and to others, as long as he was in business there, he
continued, as far as he was able, the same hospitality and the same good
and humane treatment he had exercised when Chief Factor at Fort
Vancouver. The Barlow road was built in 1846 and the immigrants of that
year and succeeding years could bring their wagons by that road from The
Dalles, over the Cascade Mountains, to Oregon City. By common consent of
all good, honest pioneers, he had been named "The Good Doctor," and "The
Good Old Doctor," and he was known by these names to the time of his
death. They also came to call him the "Father of Oregon." Dr.
McLoughlin's resignation from the Hudson's Bay Company became necessary
to maintain his self-respect.
I have spoken of Capt. Park and Lieut. Peel, British officers, who
brought the letters of Admiral Seymour and Captain Gordon to Dr.
McLoughlin in 1845. They were also sent as spies. They were succeeded by
two more spies, Capt. Warre and Lieut. Vavasour, both of the British
army. The two latter stayed at Fort Vancouver and elsewhere in Oregon
for some time. In their report Warre and Vavasour charged, mainly, that
the policy pursued by Dr. McLoughlin and the Hudson's Bay Company, at
the different forts in the Oregon Country, had tended to the
introduction of American settlers into the country until they
outnumbered the British. To prove this position, they instanced the
assistance rendered the different immigrations, one of which (1845) was
arriving while they were at Vancouver. They charged that goods had been
sold to the American settlers at cheaper rates than to British subjects;
that Dr. McLoughlin and the Company had suffered themselves to join the
Provisional Government "without any reserve except the mere form of the
oath;" that their lands had been invaded, and themselves insulted, until
they required the protection of the British government "against the very
people to the introduction of whom they had been more than accessory."
There was more in this report of like import.