We were within a couple hundred miles of the Willamette valley, when a small party decided to go ahead. They were on horseback all except little Billy Russel and his old Mother. It happened that one of their oxen had just died, so their wagon had been abandoned. It was left standing beside the road. I remember how desolate and forlorn it looked. I spent a great deal of time being sorry for things and I was particularly sorry for little Billy Russel or his old Mother. They were going on and would be there ahead of the rest of us. I was in a hurry too. No doubt I envied them, but I do not remember about that. His mother was old, it seemed to me that she was quite the oldest thing in the world. She looked it and even as I think of her now across the eighty years that lie between, I am sure she must have been a hundred, maybe more, though people said that she was only ninety. Billy must have been old too, but he was very small and beside his mother, he seemed quite a boy, at least I thought of him as such. After nearly six months on the trail, the load in billy's wagon was pitifully light. I do not know what he loaded on the back of the one old travel thinned ox, but I remember that he topped it all with a huge feather bed and lashed it crisscross over the top. The rope sunk deep into the feathers, making a sort of nest, as it were. Into this nest, he settled the little old woman, who was ninety.I watched them as they went, billy walking beside the gaunt ox to urge him on as the need arose. The trail wound in and out along a gentle grade. I could see them for a long ways before a last turning carried then finally out of sight and they were gone, little Billy Russel and the old ox with ninety years and all that ninety years had accumulated on his back, a faded old sun bonnet bobbing in rhythm with the motion of the ox, an old shawl, red and black, pinned corner wise over the bent shoulders. The morning sun shone on them and glorified the picture, it was a picture of the spirit of 1843 that I have carried for eighty years in my memory, and time has not dimmed it. A tightness comes to my throat as I think of it now for like the patriarch Mosses that courageous follower of the sun was not destined to reach the "Promised land" She died almost within sight of it and was buried on the trail. Walt Davies Monmouth, OR

I found 2 of the 3 members of the Olds Wortman & King department store (Portland's first department store to take up an entire city block). Hardy C. WORTMAN was b. Jan 1859 in OR...he m. Mary E. ?? and they had Everett b. Dec 1893 and Helen b. Nov 1896 in Portland. This Hardy C(hristian) WORTMAN was the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Ann (STUMBO) WERTMAN. It looks like they must have come to Oregon in 1852 as one son was b. in Iowa in 1851 and the next child was born in Oregon in 1853. More information on this family available on the LDS site, www.familysearch.org The 2nd name in the group is Jerry OLDS, b. Nov 1852 in Oregon...so, he too was an 'early-comer'. Sorry I could not find anything on the KING...maybe someone else will. Doneva my entire genealogy database, 45,000+ names http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=donevanell (be sure entire URL fits in your Address bar) --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax

Listers: "Stature rates 'Mother Symbol' status" about Tabitha Moffatt Brown is now one of my web pages. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cchouk/brown/Tabitha.htm For those who do not know her, the widow Tabitha Brown crossed the Oregon Trail in 1846 at the age of 66; and she is just one of my Oregon Trail Families: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cchouk/oregon_trail/ Enjoy! Good hunting, Cecil Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret., AG6I PO Box 530833 San Diego CA 92153 res San Diego CA 92154-3654 mailto:cchouk@cox.net ANDERSON-BLAKELY-EGGERS-FORD-HOUK-KIMSEY-MONTGOMERY-RULAFORD-SIMPSON Searchable GEDCOM: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk See also: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~donhouk My Web pages menu: http://members.cox.net/cchouk/

Listers - If you go to Stephenie Flora's wonderful website at: oregonpioneers.com/ortrail.htm and click on the year 1845 you can find the list of all who came in 1845, including the Chambers - Sara & Louvisa (King) as well as the entire King family. They came as a group from Ohio - Nahum and Sarepta (the parents) and many of the children's families settled in what is now named for them - Kings Valley in Benton County. Also, the book, Terrible Trail: The Meek Cutoff, 1845, by Keith Clark and Lowell Tiller, tells the story of the families who came together on that particular trail. I also might mention that each year this King Family has a reunion on the Saturday following Father's Day at the Kings Valley school in Kings Valley. This year's event is set for Saturday, June 22nd. Anyone who descends through the eleven King children is more than welcome - in fact, encouraged - to attend. If you would like more information about the reunion, please contact me at my e-mail, MStang5165@aol.com Sincerely, Mimi Stang, President King Family Association

Is there any chance these KING's who came across in 1845 are any relation to the KING's of the old department store, Olds, Wortman and King? It is now the Galleria in downtown Portland. Doneva my entire genealogy database, 45,000+ names http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=donevanell (be sure entire URL fits in your Address bar) --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax

Listers: Rowland Chambers, his wife and two children crossed the Oregon Trail in 1845. Sarah died making the trip. Rowland married Sarah's sister Lovisa in 1846. She also crossed in 1845. My Oregon Trail Families web page is growing. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cchouk/oregon_trail/ 1 Rowland Chambers b: 12 MAR 1813 d: 6 JAN 1870 + Sarah King b: 25 JUL 1823 d: 3 SEP 1845 2 James Chambers b: ABT. 7 JUL 1842 2 Margaret Chambers b: 7 SEP 1844 + Lovisa King b: 2 MAR 1828 Good hunting, Cecil Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret., AG6I PO Box 530833 San Diego CA 92153 res San Diego CA 92154-3654 mailto:cchouk@cox.net ANDERSON-BLAKELY-EGGERS-FORD-HOUK-KIMSEY-MONTGOMERY-RULAFORD-SIMPSON Searchable GEDCOM: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk See also: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~donhouk My Web pages menu: http://members.cox.net/cchouk/

Listers: I have discovered another 1846 Oregon Trail traveler in my tree, and this one has a picture! Tabitha Moffatt Brown http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cchouk/oregon_trail/TMB2.jpg This 66 year old widow made the trek with some of her children and brother-in-law John Brown. I don't have the names listed yet, but use http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cchouk/oregon_trail/ to view the entire list of families; some with pictures. Cecil Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret., AG6I PO Box 530833 San Diego CA 92153 res San Diego CA 92154-3654 mailto:cchouk@cox.net ANDERSON-BLAKELY-EGGERS-FORD-HOUK-KIMSEY-MONTGOMERY-RULAFORD-SIMPSON Searchable GEDCOM: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk See also: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~donhouk My Web pages menu: http://members.cox.net/cchouk/

National Archives releases 1930 census figures April 1, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Archives on Monday lifted confidentiality restrictions on personal records from the 1930 census, yielding a treasure chest of genealogical information for historians and family researchers. Dozens of people took advantage of the opportunity, lining up at the archives' headquarters for a chance to see copies of handwritten 1930 census forms and read the gave. "It's a real high. You get into this and you just get hooked," June Hall, of Baltimore, said Monday as she scrolled through microfilm copies of census forms. After a half-hour of research, she found the record for the house she was born in -- her grandmother's home along what was then a dirt road in Potomac, Maryland. The release came as a 72-year-old prohibition on public release of the 1930 census records expired, allowing people to view information that went beyond the dry statistics typically available after the once-a-decade head count. Historians billed it as the largest release of genealogical data by the federal government. Some questions looked familiar: What is your name? What is your sex? Are you single or married? Others are a sign of the times, such as the question that asked, "Does this household have a radio set?" "It is probably the single most important record release at the federal level in the first decade of the 21st century," said Curt Witcher, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, president of the National Genealogical Society. The 1930 census date of April 1 came just over five months after the October 1929 stock market crash that plunged the country into depression. One question asked whether someone had worked the previous day; another asks to give what "class of worker" you are. "It is at this pivotal point of history, poised between two tumultuous but very different decades, that enumerators of the 1930 census captured a statistical snapshot of our nation," said John Carlin, archivist of the United States. No forms were mailed. All homes were visited by a census taker, who read off a series of 32 questions and recorded responses by hand. Original 1930 forms were destroyed in the 1940s, but not before copies were saved on 2,667 rolls of microfilm. That microfilm is being made available to the public for research at the National Archives' headquarters in Washington, as well as 13 other archives offices around the country. Historians recommend that novice researchers gather as much background as possible on their relatives before visiting the archives. Name indices are incomplete for many states, so family members may have to be researched through addresses. -- oooO Oooo || || +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ { Current publications available at: } http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=rosess { http://stores.half.com/rosesss } { Rose Terry @>,--'--- _ RMTerry@prodigy.net } +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~000~~~~~( )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ ( @ @ ) || \ / || ||| || 0ooo Give your children these two things - One is roots, the other, wings.

1860 census results of the first people living in �Sandy, Oregon Territory��(later to become, Troutdale, OR.) Many of the people below filed and received DLC�s. Because most people don�t know Troutdale was called Sandy in 1860, a lot of these people have been lost in family research. Please let me know if you can tell me anything about these heads of households or their families. They are Troutdale�s pioneers. Most came across 1850 or later. None were on the 1850 census living in Oregon. (Or, if they were, I missed them.) Doneva Shepard Allen, Ephraim Appleton, Peter Arnold, Christ. Baker, Morris Ballard, Wm. Barker, Hiram Becraft, J.W. Bridgeman, Wm. Buxton, David F. Bybee, Wm Campbell, George Casey, John Clark, David Coger, John Crosby, Edwin Crowley, Dennis Culley, Thos. Douglass, John F. Douglass, John Dufur, A.J. Durgin, Pearcy Duvall, Francis Duvall, Nicholas Files, J.C. Fisher, Adam Fletcher, Charles Fletcher, Wm. Forrester, Patrick Golder, Wm. A. Hall, E.M. Hall, Wm. Hamilton, George Harlow, John Hawkins, Squire Hicklin, F.G. Holtgrieve, Henry Hosford, C.O. Hubbard, John Hulery, John M. Jewel, James Jewel, John F. Johns, Deborah Johnson, Wm Jones, Wm.R. Leach, E. Legg, Wm. L. Llewellyn, John Long, Geo. M. Lyons, Christopher Manley, Walter Martin, John Martin, Peter McBride, John McEntire, Henry McMillan, Milton Mitchell, Wm. C. Morgan, David Morgan, L.W. Norris, John O�Donohue, Geo. Parker, John M. Payne, Wm. H. Powell, David Powell, Jackson Powell, John Pullen, Andrew Pullen, G.W. Quimby, C.L. Ramsay, F.K. Royal, Chas Runnels, Geo. W. Sandford, R. Seelye, Abner Seelye, Seth Seelye, Temple Simpson, Wm. Stalliard, T.K. Stott, James M. Sunderland, Benj. Sullivan, Daniel Sullivan, Timothy Sullivan, Thomas Swift, Henry Talbot, D. Taylor, Alanson Taylor, Willard Taylor, Willard (father, son?) Taylor, William M Toohill, John Wallace, Levi Wheeler, Albert Whitaker, Anthony Whittle, John Wilkes, W.J. Williams, Jno. A. Wilmot, Rich. Wilmot, Robt. P. Wilson, James L. Wilson, John S. Woodsum, Geo. Zimmerman, Jacob my entire genealogy database, 45,000+ names http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=donevanell (be sure entire URL fits in your Address bar) --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax

It was very interesting to see mention made of the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 in southern Utah. I have been interested in the story since I first heard of it a few years ago. Capt. Alexander Fancher, the leader of the ill-fated wagon train, stopped off in Miller County, MO in the early 1840s before moving his family on south to Carroll County, AR. Miller County is where I was born, reared, and now live. Since the Fanchers lived here in the years between the census of 1840 and 1850, there is no record of there being here other than in family histories writtten by Fancher descendants. It is said that Capt. Alexander Fancher and his wife had two children born while living in Miller County, so it is likely they may have been among the older children that were killed in the massacre. Today, there are Fancher families still living in Richwoods township, in southern Miller County, and they are descended from the same ancestral lineages as Captain Fancher.......Thanks for giving the address for the Fancher website where more info can be found online. Peg Hake, St. Elizabeth, MO ====================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: "Elizabeth" <lizabeth@over-land.com> To: <OREGON-TRAIL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 8:58 PM Subject: Re: Massacare of Wagon train in Salt Lake City area > Hi > > It was the Mormons, who then blamed it upon the Indians. It was called the > "Mountain Meadows Massacre." It occurred in September, 1857. Approximately > 120 emigrants to California were massacred. > > Use a search engine to find out more information. Lots of websites about > it, including several of descendents of those massacred. This one by a > family member: http://members.aol.com/tnf49/mm.html > > I think that just recently (within the last 2 or 3 years) the Mormon church > did acknowledge their part in this. Read websites for more information. > Not being a Mormon, not sure about that info. > > Elizabeth > > Visit the Overland Trail > http://www.over-land.com > > > >

I recently, at a Lenten Bible Study, heard it mentioned that the Indians and the Mormons wiped out a wagon train as it was passing through Salt Lake City, Utah. Does anyone know anything about that? When did it happen if it did? Ivan

Hi It was the Mormons, who then blamed it upon the Indians. It was called the "Mountain Meadows Massacre." It occurred in September, 1857. Approximately 120 emigrants to California were massacred. Use a search engine to find out more information. Lots of websites about it, including several of descendents of those massacred. This one by a family member: http://members.aol.com/tnf49/mm.html I think that just recently (within the last 2 or 3 years) the Mormon church did acknowledge their part in this. Read websites for more information. Not being a Mormon, not sure about that info. Elizabeth Visit the Overland Trail http://www.over-land.com

Ivan: That really did happen. I suggest you check some of the link pages to find the story. Or you could ask your local LSD Church about it. Cecil Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret., AG6I PO Box 530833 San Diego CA 92153 res San Diego CA 92154-3654 mailto:cchouk@cox.net ANDERSON-BLAKELY-EGGERS-FORD-HOUK-KIMSEY-MONTGOMERY-RULAFORD-SIMPSON Searchable GEDCOM: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk See also: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~donhouk My Web pages menu: http://members.cox.net/cchouk/ ----- Original Message ----- From: <IDL64@aol.com> To: <OREGON-TRAIL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 5:53 PM Subject: Massacare of Wagon train in Salt Lake City area > > > I recently, at a Lenten Bible Study, heard it mentioned that the > Indians and the Mormons wiped out a wagon train as it was passing through > Salt Lake City, Utah. > > Does anyone know anything about that? When did it happen if it did? > > Ivan >

Well, I finally figured out the problem... To subscribe you must use: OLDWEST-COWBOYS-INDIANSCOUTS-L-request@rootsweb.com or OLDWEST-COWBOYS-INDIANSCOUTS-D-request@rootsweb.com I was missing a word in there somewhere.... thought to pass this along to all in case I wasn't the only one! :) Rose Terry @>,--'--- OREGON-TRAIL Mail list mom Marilyn Demas wrote: > > Thanks! This sounds like a real great idea if they get it up and > working! > Appreciatively, > marilyn > > Rose Terry wrote: > > > It's an 'off' day for both of us. Subscribing to this list isn't > > working for me.... > > > > I'll try again in a few days, let me know if anything works for you > > too > > then. > > > > The archives might not be available because subscription to this > > list > > isn't working yet... probably no messages yet. > > > > Rose Terry @>,--'--- > > OREGON TRAIL Mail list mom > > > > Marilyn Demas wrote: > > > > > > Hi Rose, > > > I went to this site and wanted to check the archives but was told > > that > > > the archives for this list is not available; is this correct, or > > are > > > we having an off day? > > > marilyn > > > > > > Rose Terry wrote: > > > > > > > OLDWEST-COWBOYS-INDIANSCOUTS. A mailing list for anyone with a > > > > genealogical interest in the Old West, cowboys, indian scouts > > and > > > > anything pertaining to them. Discussion of migration patterns, > > > > immigration, historical sketches, settlements, web sites, etc. > > is > > > > encouraged. Additional information can be found on the OLDWEST, > > > > COWBOYS & INDIAN SCOUTS Mail List Home page at > > > > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~irish > > > > ose/oldwest-c-is-l.htm. > > > > To subscribe send "subscribe" to oldwest-cowboys- > > > > indianscouts-l-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode) or oldwest- > > > > cowboys-indianscouts-d-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode). > > > > > > > > -- > > > > oooO Oooo > > > > || || > > > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ > > > > { Current publications available > > > > at: } > > > > http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw > > > > cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=rosess > > > > { > > > > http://stores.half.com/rosesss } > > > > { Rose Terry @>,--'--- _ > > > > RMTerry@prodigy.net } > > > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~000~~~~~( > > > > )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ > > > > ( @ @ ) || > > > > \ / || > > > > ||| || > > > > 0ooo > > > > Give your children these two things - One is roots, the other, > > > > wings. > > > > -- > > oooO Oooo > > || || > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ > > { Current publications available > > at: } > > http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw > > cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=rosess > > { > > http://stores.half.com/rosesss } > > { Rose Terry @>,--'--- _ > > RMTerry@prodigy.net } > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~000~~~~~( > > )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ > > ( @ @ ) || > > \ / || > > ||| || > > 0ooo > > Give your children these two things - One is roots, the other, > > wings. -- oooO Oooo || || +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ { Current publications available at: } http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=rosess { http://stores.half.com/rosesss } { Rose Terry @>,--'--- _ RMTerry@prodigy.net } +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~000~~~~~( )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+ ( @ @ ) || \ / || ||| || 0ooo Give your children these two things - One is roots, the other, wings.

Hi listers: March 27, 2002, was a good/bad day for me. Good in that the bronchitis I've been living with for the past few weeks is all but gone. Bad in that Uncle Miltie died at 2:45 PM as I was coming home from the Navy Hospital, San Diego. Goodby Mr.TV! Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret., AG6I PO Box 530833 San Diego CA 92153 res San Diego CA 92154-3654 NEW EMAIL ADDRESS mailto:cchouk@cox.net ANDERSON-BLAKELY-EGGERS-FORD-HOUK-KIMSEY-MONTGOMERY-RULAFORD-SIMPSON Searchable GEDCOM: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk See also: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~donhouk My Web pages menu: http://members.cox.net/cchouk/

This is a trascribed letter written by Mary Frances Scott, wife of Amos Cook, to her daughters regarding the ancestry of their father, his birthplace and date, and the circumstances of his migration from his father's home to Oregon. It was part of the information I received in a large packet of information about Amos Scott. Posted FYI. Transcription of a letter from Mary Frances Scott Cook Portland, Ore., Sept. 8, 1907 For my dear daughters, It has been on my mind for sometime that you all will appreciate finding some written statement of your father’s parentage, his birth place, the year he was born, etc. Of his parentage I know only that they were descendants of Puritanical ancestry. His father’s name (I believe Thomas) Thomas Cook and his mother’s maiden name was Lucy Pease. They were married in 1815 in Somerset County, Maine, and to them were born 3 sons and 3 daughters. Your father, Amos Cook was the eldest son and he was born, in the above county and state near the town of Norridgewock, 30 miles from the city of Augusta. His birth was on the 8th of January 1817, AD. When he was 20 years of age, he concluded to leave the parental home and try what he could for himself as far west as the state of Illinois. After a rather uneventful trip, he arrived at the Peoria, Ill., where he soon found employment though the same was not very lucrative. (In the meantime, he met a young man who was 2 yr. his senior, his name being Francis Fletcher. They found a lasting friendship that remained unbroken till death claimed the friend in Oct. 1871. After remaining in Peoria 1 years, your father in company with 6 other young men concluded (this was the spring of 1839) to form a company and come with pack animals to Ore. They made their plans and started April 1st of 1839. They encountered many hardships on their journey but being young, sturdy and strong they were fully equal to cope with any trouble that lurked from the then unfrequented road. They met many tribes of Indians, some of whom were hostile, though the majority were friendly and the travelers escaped without having any sever trouble with any of them. Great herds of buffalo were often seen and many times the party subsisted for days on the flesh of them. Friendly Indians taught our young men the art of jerking the meat so it would keep and be packed on their animals and many times it served as a very potable and nourishing lunch when other food was not attainable. Mountain sheep, sage hens and other game were often in evidence and the travelers would for a change in diet sample one or the other as occasion offered. Time sped on and at last they reached Green River. It was then late in the autumn, heavy snow had fallen and the weather was intensely cold. Their animals were jaded and their sack of provisions almost exhausted. The men concluded that it was unwise (under existing conditions) to then proceed on their journey so they called a "halt" and decided to try to make preparations for the long cold winter. They found a place, a small valley in the mountains just named, that was called Brown’s Hole, an old mountaineer told them the name. The party then made their plans for their winter quarters, plenty of small timber abounded not far from camp and the decided that they could manage to keep warm and comfortable. Buffalo meat was then their entire food. They would often dip a slice of the steak in gall (of the animal in question) to give it a "relish" and would then roast it on sticks in a hot blaze, then they’d serve it when it was well heated through and (as they explained it) "just when the red juice would follow the knife." Salt was not in evidence, though they learned to not think of that being lacking. Their pack animas fared quite well on the various kinds of herbage with which the locality abounded. The party remained in the little retreat for many months till they felt sure the snow in the mountains would not interfere with their journey. Then they proceeded westward without any unusual hindrance. They were in good health and in fine spirits, though nothing of special note interfered with their journey and they found themselves at the Dalles Fort Dalles as it was then called. After camping there for a few days they again packed their mules and started across the Cascade mountains. Oregon City was their goal (Portland being at that time a dense forest), reaching their destination on April 1840 AD. They were in Oregon City but a short time. Though while there, they met Dr. John McLoughlin. He told them that he would furnish them with seed wheat just as soon as they could get ready to sow the same. And also would wait till after harvest for payment. So the two friends went up to Yamhill Co. and took up land and went to farming on a small scale. They concluded as they’d have to wait till Autumn be fore they could get any returns from their land, one of them had to hire out and in that way could do more in helping make the living than if he remained at home. Mr. Fletcher declared the he would much rather go away to work than to remain at home along. Your father decided that he could stay so the friend went out to Marion Co. and succeeded in hiring out to a Frenchman. He would come home on horseback at intervals throughout the summer and stay over Sunday. Aside from these little visits your father saw but two white men for a period of months. His diet for that time consisted of boiled wheat (borrowed from Dr. McLoughlin) and now and then some wild game. Friendly Indians often came to his abode and he would divide his food with them. In the late autumn the friend came home. They then hired the use of a flat boat and went to Fort Vancouver (the nearest trading post) for their winter provisions. They started on the Yamhill river (from near the old town of Lafayette). The H. Bay Co. kept large supplies of staples in payment for which they would exchange pork, wheat and potatoes. There was but very little money then and of course our pioneers were very careful in their expenditures. I’ve often heard them speak of one particular trip they made to Fort Vancouver in the late autumn when they traded for a large barrel of molasses. The two men ate every vestige of the same before the next spring. A land law was passed (I’m not quite sure of the year, though it was near 1850) in which a married couple could "Take up and hold" 600 & 409 acres. They were required to live on and cultivate the same continually for 4 years. The two men had, before that time, lived together on a large tract of land. Though in the meantime Mr. Fletcher married. Then he and his wife could hold a whole section and seemed to be essential that the land be divided. As your father was unmarried, he was entitled to only one half section. He then offered Mr. Fletcher $1500 for choice of his port of the land. The offer was accepted. My dear children all know that the old house where you all were born was their father’s share; it being the home where your mother went as a bride, Aug. 16th the year of 1853. MFC (end of letter) Be well & God bless, Kate Beaugrand Cook Minnesota List Adm. (for ROELOFSON-L@rootsweb.com) kbcook@cfaith.com or kbcook@mn.rr.com ><> God bless America! <><

This is from a newspaper clipping from Medford about my Great Uncle who I never met. He was married to my grandmothers sister, Martha Dodge. From 1878 to 1880 Mr. Tice drove stage from Rock Point to Leven's station, a 45 mile drive on the old stage route in southern Oregon. One dark night in march, 1879, he lost a six horse team by spring flood waters in Cow creek. When the horses entered the whirlpool, Mr. Tice kept a cool head and saved the express box and its contents. he was later transferred to the Siskiyou mountains and drove to Cole station above Hilt, Ca. Men were paid with gold coin, as there were no checks and little paper money. The drivers in Ca. received $50. board and lodging, and those in Oregon $55. There were 200 horses used in the stage division from Roseburg to Redding. Twenty five hostlers cared for the horses and stages. I presume the money was for a month in those days, but am not sure. In another article it says when he was 20 he began driving passenger stage from Yreka, Ca. north. His record run was 45 miles in four and one half hours. This was from an article from there marriage of 53 years. It said in spite of all the hardships realized on the old stage line, Mr. Tice is still hale and hearty, has all his teeth, a jolly smile which is also a characteristic of his wife. He was 72 at that time. He died in 1935. Any one that has gone into Oregon from Yreka, over the Siskiyou mountains knows that is quite a drive, but I think the stage route may have followed the canyons more, but don't know. Would be interesting to find out. Now you go into Ashland. Louise Valine My line I am researching is Jennings, Dodge, Dilley, Garwood. Would like to hear from any of these folks.

Posted FYI: From: The Oregonian (2/5/1895) Amos Cook Amos Cook, one of Oregon's earliest pioneers, who had lived in Yamhill County since 1840, died at his home near Lafayette on Sunday night, February 3, at eleven-thirty o'clock. He was born in Washington County, Maine, January 8, 1816. Like so many other young men of New England, he pushed out for the west, and in 1838, was at Peoria, Illinois. In the early winter of that year, the Reverend Jason Lee, who had just returned across the plains from Oregon, delivered a lecture on Oregon at Peoria. The lecture attracted the attention of a number of young men who, having no ties, and without other means or resources than their own adventurous spirits, resolved to go to Oregon. They were able to get together but a very slender outfit and were late in starting, but finally got off in May, 1838, and proceeded to Independence, on the Missouri River. Before starting, they proceeded to the door of the courthouse at Peoria, and having pledged themselves, never to desert each other, they unfurled a flag on which was inscribed, "Oregon or the Grave," and declared their intention, upon reaching the Columbia river, to take possession of the most eligible points and make settlements. Of this party, Amos Cook has been the last survivor. The party, however, did not hold together. At some distance out on the plains, there was a separation. Sidney Smith, while drawing his rifle out from under a pile of packsaddles, accidentally discharged it, wounding himself badly, and this occasioned delay. The part with which Cook remained got no farther than Green River, in Wyoming, that year. It passed the winter at the place known as Brown's Hold, on that stream, and lived on buffalo meat. Buffalo were plenty throughout the winter, and the gall bladder of the animal furnished a piquant sauce for the meat. Early in the following spring the party came on and, passing down the Columbia River, reached Vancouver in May, 1840. Just as they reached Vancouver, the vessel bearing the Reverend Josiah L. Parrish and his family arrived from the Atlantic via Honolulu; and thus an overland party and a sea party of Americans met in this remote country, fifty-fife years ago. Amos Cook and Francis Fletcher were close friends a! nd remained together. Cook, at this time was a youth of twenty-four; Fletcher was slightly older. Together they went to Yamhill and settled down as farmers. They were men of thrift and energy, and became prosperous. Each mined his own affairs, never seeking political place. Sidney Smith, another of the party, also settled in Yamhill County. After some years, Cook went into mercantile business at Lafayette, erected some important buildings, and became known as an active and enterprising man. Subsequently he returned to his farm, and in 1853, married Mary Frances Scott, who with four daughters, survives him. There were no American settlers in Yamhill before Cook and Fletcher went there. We now recall but two persons surviving in Oregon who came before them, namely the widow of the Reverent Elkanah Walker, of Washington County, who came in 1838, and the Reverent J. S. Griffin, also of Washington County, who came in 1839. Amos Cook was a substantial and worthy man, a typical pioneer, a man of great energy and steadfastness, strictly honorable, of calculating industry and always thrifty and prosperous. HE was one of the earnest, though unobtrusive men, to whom Oregon owed much at the beginning. He came with the earliest migration, with that "first low wash of waves," to the country, where now rolls this ever-increasing human sea. He did all his work well, as he saw it or knew it, and though he made no parade of it, yet, in its results, it will abide as a permanent force in the life of Oregon. His body will be buried to-day in the Scott burial ground, near Forest Grove. (end) Be well & God bless, Kate Beaugrand Cook Minnesota List Adm. (for ROELOFSON-L@rootsweb.com) kbcook@cfaith.com or kbcook@mn.rr.com ><> God bless America! <><

I received the following in a packet of information I sent for regarding the family of Amos Cook. The following is one of 2 articles printed in the Oregon Daily Journal (3/21 & 3/22/1925). I am posting them in 2 separate emails FYI: Impressions and Observations of the Journal Man, by Fred Lockley (3/22/25) As sequel to the story of Mrs. Cook, told yesterday, Mr. Lockley today tells the story of the Peoria part, with acknowledgment to Mrs. Cook, whose husband was a member of that remarkable band of young men who were first of all to resolve to go to Oregon to become actual settlers upon the soil. Mrs. Mary Frances Scott Cook was born May 19, 1833, in Tazewell county, Illinois, nine miles from Peoria. I visited her recently at the home of her daughter, Mrs. F. P. Young, at No. 329 East Sixth street north. Mrs. Cook's husband, Amos Cook, was the first permanent white settler in Yamhill county. He died at his home in Lafayette, February 3, 1895. Amos Cook was born in Washington county, Maine, January 8, 1816. As a young man he struck out for what was then the Far West, but is now termed the Middle West. He happened to be at Peoria, Ill., in the fall and winter of 1838 and there heard a lecture by Rev. Jason Lee on what he and his fellow missionaries were doing and planning in far-off Oregon, at that time considered a foreign mission field. Lee told of his trip overland to Oregon and of his return trip from the Willamette valley. His description of Oregon fired the enthusiasm of a number of young men, who decided to cross the plains to Oregon. Several meetings were held and finally 19 pledged themselves. They met at the door of the courthouse early in May, 1839, to bid farewell to their friends and acquaintances. They pledged themselves to be true comrades and never to desert one another. On their flag was the motto, "Oregon or the Grave." This was the first part of actual settlers to start for Oregon. Othe! rs who had preceded them went as traders, trappers, explorers or missionaries. These came with the avowed intention of taking possession of good sites along the Columbia river, to engage in farming, stockraising and catching, curing and shipping salmon. Differences of opinion arose on the way westward, so the part split into smaller parties. Owen Garrett, Tom Pickett and Moore turned back at the Osage river and returned to Peoria. J. Q. Jordan, Chauncey Wood and Prichet turned back at Bent's Fort on the Arkansas river, and instead of returning to Peoria went to New Mexico. Obadiah A. Oakley and Joe Wood went as far as Fort St. Vrain, on the South Platte, and decided to go back to Illinois. Charley Yates pulled out from the same point for New Mexico. Robert Moore and James Trask decided to go back to Peoria. At Bent's Fort, T. J. Farnham, Sidney Smith and William Blair decided to go ahead of the others. This left eight of the original Peoria party to proceed together from Brent's Fort, but they, again, split into two parties. The "Peoria party" had started from Peoria with a team and wagon, to carry their supplies and with some loose horses. They planned to travel afoot. At Independence, Mo., they had sold their team and wagon and had bought pack saddles and pack horses. They had lived on the tongues of buffalo calves, for the most part, as the plains were dark with buffalo herds. The original party was reduced to five men -- Amos Cook, Francis Fletcher, Joseph Holman, Ralph L. Kilbourne, and Robert Shortess. Shortess decided to press on to Fort Hall with Joe Meek, so that the part was now reduced to four. These four decided to winter at Brown's Hole, a park-like rendezvous for trappers and mountain men on the western border of Colorado. They reached Brown's Hole in September, finding there a number of trappers and a large number of Shoshone Indians. They built a cabin to winter in. Going back to Bear river, they killed a number of buffaloes and jerked the meat for a winter provision. They put in the winter mending broken guns for the Indians and making saddles to trade for beaver skins and supplies. In February 1840, they decided to press on to Fort Hall. They were advised to take supplies for two or three weeks, which they did, as they expected to make good time. They started with Robert Newell, later prominent in Oregon affairs but at that time a mountain man and trapper. Instead of two or three weeks, they were two months on the way on account of heavy snow in the mountains and constant storms. Their horses had to live on the bark and limbs of cottonwood trees. They themselves ate what they could. Their provisions gone, they ate a dog, then for three days fasted. They then ran across an old buffalo bull, which they killed. When they reached Fort Hall they filled up on dried salmon and parched corn and thought it luxurious fare. They went out some distance from Fort Hall and camped a few weeks to let their horses recuperate on the young grass on the creeks. They went to Fort Boise with some fur traders and from there to Fort Walla Walla, and thence by the north side of the trail to a point on the Columbia river opposite the Dalles. Crossing the Columbia, they took the Indian trail on the Oregon side for Fort Vancouver. They recrossed to Fort Vancouver just as the Lausanne was discharging the "Great Reinforcement" of missionaries for Jason Lee's Methodist mission in the Willamette valley. Dr. McLoughlin hospitably took the Peoria in and exchanged suits of English make for their beaver pelts. Robert Shortess was the first member of the Peoria party to reach Oregon. Shortess was born in Ohio and was well educated. He served as judge of Clatsop county under the provisional government. He died near Astoria, May 4, 1878. Robert Newell, who had served as guide to the four Peoria men from Brown's Hole to Fort Hall, has the honor of bringing the first wagons from Fort Hall to Fort Walla Walla. He and Joe Meek and Caleb Wilkins took the wagons as far as Fort Walla Walla and the next year Robert Newell took them down the Columbia by boat to the Willamette valley. He was a member of the legislature of the provisional government and a director of the Oregon Printing association, which published the Oregon Spectator at Oregon City, the first newspaper published west of the Rocky mountains. He was born in Ohio, March 30, 1807 and died at Lewiston, Idaho in the fall of 1869. Joseph Holman settled at Salem and did much to advance the religious, educational and commercial interests of that community. Sidney Smith settled in Yamhill county and worked at first for Ewing Young. Of the 19 men who started from Peoria, the following reached Oregon: Thomas J. Farnham, Robert Shortess, Sidney Smith, William Blair, Francis Fletcher, Joseph Holman, Ralph L. Kilbourne, and Amos Cook. Kilbourne was one of the party that build the Star of Oregon. He went on to California where he died. Francis Fletcher and Amos Cook took adjoining donation land claims in Yamhill county. Amos Cook was the last survivor of the Peoria party. He and Mary Frances Scott were married August 16, 1853. They had six children -- Edith, their firstborn; Lillian, who married W. P. Olds; Agnes, who married Judge Bradshaw of The Dalles; Lewis Lincoln Scott, who died in childhood; Maud, who married F. P. Young; and Pearl. Mrs. Cook was one of 15 children, one of whom, her brother Harvey, was the first graduate of Tualatin academy at Forest Grove and some years later became the editor of the Oregonian. (end of article) Be well & God bless, Kate Beaugrand Cook Minnesota List Adm. (for ROELOFSON-L@rootsweb.com) kbcook@cfaith.com or kbcook@mn.rr.com ><> God bless America! <><

I received the following in a packet of information I sent for regarding the family of Amos Cook. The following is one of 2 articles printed in the Oregon Daily Journal (3/21 & 3/22/1925). I am posting them in 2 separate emails FYI: Impressions & Observations of the Journal Man, by Fred Lockley (2/31/25) The story of the migration of the Scott family, destined to attain great distinction and honor in Oregon, is here recorded by Mr. Lockley as told him by a member of the family who recalls vividly the pains and perils of the long journey in 1852. The story will be concluded in this space tomorrow. "We came to Oregon in 1852," said Mrs. Mary Frances Scott Cook, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. F. G. Young. "My father, John Tucker Scott, was born February 18, 1809, 18 miles from where Abraham Lincoln was born and six days prior to his birth. When father was 15 he went with his parents to Illinois. He was 43 when we started to Oregon, in 1852. My Mothers's maiden name was Ann Roelofson. I was born May 19, 1833, not far from Peoria, in Tazewell county, Illinois. I was the second child and the eldest daughter in a family of 15. "My father was captain of our train of 27 wagons. My mother died of cholera on June 20, about two days' travel, by ox-team, this side of Fort Laramie, or about 30 miles. We buried her wrapped in a blanket in a shallow grave by the side of the road. Father and the others heaped stones over the grave so that the coyotes and other animals might not disturb it. My brother Willie died in the Blue mountains in what is now called Baker county. "We came by way of the Barlow road. That statement means a good deal to a pioneer of Oregon, for he know what a rough and difficult road it was. After the death of my mother, I had to serve as the mother of the family. We settled at Lafayette. Father ran a hotel there, owned by Amos Cook, called the Temperance house. Among our boarders I remember best Judge M. P. Deady, Judge Bolse and David Logan. Lafayette was the county seat, and these men came there on legal business. Father ran the hotel till his girls married. Not being able then to get good help, he went out of the hotel business. My sister Jennie was the first married. We always called her Jennie, though her name was Abigail Jane Scott. She married Mr. Duniway, August 1, 1853. I was married two weeks later to Amos Cook, who came to Oregon in 1840. We were married August 16, 1853, by Rev. Neely Johnson. I moved to my husband's farm, which he had taken up in 1841, and lived there 35 years. "My husband came to Oregon in the part with Francis Fletcher. They arrived in the spring of 1840. They procured seed wheat of Dr. McLoughlin; also a barrel of molasses. They used boiled wheat in place of bread, and ate molasses on it. In those days you did not have to leave your place to kill a deer, game was so abundant. My husband put in six months or so working at the Methodist Mission, near Wheatland, while his partner ran both of the places. "They had a pretty hard trip across the plains. We also experienced some hardships crossing. At Fort Hall my shoes had become completely worn out, so I went barefoot. Our cattle were worn and thin. There was a large family of us, so we older children walked. My feet became cracked. It was impossible to walk without occasionally stepping on the spines of the prickly pear, and when they broke off in your feet they had to fester out. By the time we came to Laurel hill our food was exhausted. For two days all any of us had to eat was salal berries. You will find if you try it that salal berries are not very strengthening to walk on or to work on. After our two days' diet of salal berries, we met a man who had some moldy flour. He let us have some of it and we camped right there and baked bread. Some relatives came out from French Prairie to meet us with two yoke of oxen and plenty of flour and meat. I don't have to tell you how glad we were to see them. I carried m! y sister, who was 5 years old, through the Grand Ronde valley. "We had left our home, at Groveland, Ill., early in April, 1852. In our immediate party were my father, John Tucker Scott; my mother, myself, my sisters, Abigail Jane, and Margaret Ann, my brother Harvey, my sisters, Catherine Amanda and Harriet Louise, my brother, John Henry, my sister Sarah Maria and my brother, William Niell." It will be interesting to take a look at the Scott party as they left their home. They started with five wagons. The provision was drawn by five yoke of Oxen. John and Robert Dickson were the drives. The camp equipage wagon was drawn by three yoke of oxen. Levi Caffee and Robert King were the drivers. What was called the family wagon also had three yoke of oxen, with Mitchell and Burns as drivers. What was known as "Mother's Wagon" was drawn by two yoke of oxen. John Tucker Scott, Harvey Scott and John Henry Scott took turns driving it. What was know as the miscellaneous wagon had three yoke of oxen, John Goudy and Fisk serving as drivers. They started from Illinois with 42 oxen, three cows, two horses and one pony. The three cows died on the plains, one of the horses was drowned in Snake river, another wandered off in the Cascades. Only seven of the 42 oxen with which they started survived the trip. Several additional yoke were bough on the way and two yoke wer! e sent by Neill Johnson to Tygh valley to help bring the Scott family through. The distance the Scott family traveled from their Illinois home to French Prairie was 2790 miles. They started from Illinois with abundant stores of bacon, flour, cornmeal, rice, hardtack, coffee and brown sugar. Within a few months they were reduced to eating salal berries and bread made of moldy flour. Let me quote from the diary kept by Abigail Scott (Duniway) while crossing the plains. On Friday, September 24, 1852 she writes: "The road ascends toward the main ridge of the Cascade mountains and is extremely rough and difficult." That day they passed the Big Deadening, Hungry Hollow, the Little Deadening and Devil's Half Acre. They traveled up Barlow creek, the going being very rough. On the next day, Saturday, September 25, they crossed the summit of the Cascades, going down Laurel hill to Zigzag river, where they camped. Laurel hill was two miles in length, nearly perpendicular. They descended by felling heavy trees and tying behind their wagons. The next day,! they made but four miles, as some of their oxen escaped and had to be hunted for, one wagon's kingbolt broke and had to be replaced and a wagon tongue broke and had to be mended. On Thursday, September 30, they traveled eight miles, reaching Oregon City. In her diary, Abigail Scott Duniway says of Oregon City: " We found it to be a long, narrow town, situated in a canyon on the Willamette river. It is half as large as Pekin, Ill, but is a hard-locking place." On Friday, October 1, they finished their long and toilsome journey, reaching the home of Neill Johnson on French Prairie. (end of article, part 1) Be well & God bless, Kate Beaugrand Cook Minnesota List Adm. (for ROELOFSON-L@rootsweb.com) kbcook@cfaith.com or kbcook@mn.rr.com ><> God bless America! <><