Kate Mulhall A romance of the Oregon Trail
under the wheels of the wagon and was rendered helpless during the
remainder of the journey. At Green River, Mr. Sager died leaving an
invalid wife, a crippled daughter and six children, the youngest a
baby only a few weeks old.
In the party was an unmarried German doctor of a benevolent
disposition who, seeing the straits to which the family was reduced,
volunteered to drive and care for the oxen and assist the
unfortunates to their destination. Mrs. Shaw, a kind hearted woman
of the train, took the infant in charge. At Fort Bridger the greater
part of the property brought that far by the emigrants, among them
the Sagers, had to be abandoned, making their lot still harder, for
henceforth they must travel in a cart.
Notwithstanding all that could be done to alleviate the sufferings of
the ill and weak mother, she could no longer endure the hardships of
the journey; and gave up her spirit in the wild and forbidding region
of the Snake River. Delirious at the time, she called upon her dead
husband to take good care of their little ones.
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Mr. Shaw went to the Whitman Mission to see if Dr. and Mrs. Whitman
could be prevailed upon to assume the care and custody of the
orphans. Though prompted by their natural inclinations to do so, the
Whitmans hesitated to assume the additional responsibility.
While in this uncertain frame of mind, the two-wheeled vehicle with
its cargo of six ragged and travel-stained children appeared upon the
scene. It was utterly impossible for those kind-hearted people to
resist that appeal. When the question of the infant came up, the
Doctor could not see how it could be managed; but Mrs. Whitman turned
to him and said, "I would like to have the baby most of all."
The arrival of the cart load of orphans at Waiilatpu presented a
sight worthy of the brush of some great artist to transfer it to
canvas, for such a combination of circumstances seldom occurs in real
life. All that then remained of their once complete outfit was in
the foreground; and the emaciated, nearly exhausted oxen dropped down
to rest as soon as they were unyoked. John, the oldest boy, was
seated in the front end of the cart, his ragged garments covered with
a heavy coating of grey dust from the sagebrush plains, while his
woe-begone countenance and tear-stained cheeks clearly indicated his
supreme anguish.
Francis, the younger boy, was leaning on one wheel of the cart, his
head resting on his arm and sobbing audibly. On the near side, the
three little girls were huddled together bareheaded and barefooted,
looking at the boys and then at the house, dreading whatever might
happen. Close to the oxen stood the German doctor with his whip in
hand and kindly eyes viewing the scene with suppressed emotion.
The baby member of the family was in the care and custody of Mrs.
Shaw, whose husband somewhat thoughtlessly asked Mrs. Whitman if she
had any children of her own. Stopping at the threshold, the good
woman pointed to the little grave on the side of a small mound easily
seen from that point, and replied, "The only child {283} I ever had
sleeps yonder." In the tone of her voice and the expression of her
face there was unspeakable sadness. Only a few years later John and
Francis were brutally murdered at the same Mission House by
infuriated Indians, and all the girls taken into captivity. That
family certainly was tried in the crucible; and never in my
experience have I found a parallel to it.
* * *
Up to the present time fully nine-tenths of the emigrants going to
the Oregon Country have settled in the Willamette Valley--a very
large and fertile valley, probably seventy or eighty miles long by
some ten or twelve in width. It is flanked on either side by ranges
of heavily timbered hills, and traversed by the large Willamette
River, which is fed by numerous streams issuing from the adjacent
mountains on its course northward to join the mighty Columbia. The
climate is remarkably mild and entirely free from extremes of
temperature; and its very fertile soil produces small grains such as
wheat, oats and barley, in great abundance. Vegetables of every kind
grown in the temperate zone do remarkably well, while fruits such as
apples, pears, plums and cherries are not only raised in great
quantities, but are generally superior to the same varieties in the
Atlantic States. Fish and game are also quite plentiful. Since the
discovery of gold in California, that region has been an excellent
market for everything raised at fancy prices; if this condition
continues, the Oregon farmers will soon be more prosperous than the
California gold miners.
There is also a vast region north of the Columbia, heavily timbered
but interspersed here and there with numerous fertile valleys, which
in recent years have been receiving many immigrants who claim to see
a great future ahead. Even in the eastern portion of the territory,
which is still occupied almost exclusively by Indians, shrewd men see
possibilities of large settlements springing up within the next few
years.
It is a wonderful country to which you are going, and you will
probably never have cause to regret the decision.
[1] As this narrative was told in the early 1850s, "half a century
ago" refers to the period shortly after 1800.--E.M.
[2] Companion of Capt. Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis & Clark
Expedition of 1804-6; 1st Lieut. U.S.A., Jan. 31, 1806 (resigned Feb.
27, 1807); appointed Brig.-Gen. of Militia by Thomas Jefferson, March
13, 1807; Governor of Missouri Territory 1813-21, and afterward,
including the time of the visit of these Indians, Superintendent of
Indian Affairs at St. Louis until his death in 1838. Brother of Gen.
George Rogers Clark.
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THE WORK BEGUN AND CARRIED ON FOR TWO DECADES BY EZRA MEEKER TO BE
CONTINUED ON A LARGER SCALE BY THE OREGON TRAIL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION,
INC. OBJECTS: PLAN: MEMBERSHIPS:
More than twenty years have elapsed since the author started, January
29, 1906, on a return trip over the Oregon Trail, which he had
traversed with an ox-team when just past 21 years of age, accompanied
by a brave young wife and a babe, nearly fifty-four years before.
The first journey was in search of a home in the Oregon Country, of
which he has now been a resident for over seventy-three years; and
the second one to rescue from impending oblivion the memories of the
Pioneers by rediscovering the Trail they followed, and erecting
permanent monuments to honor their heroic achievements.
A third trip was made with the ox-team in 1910 to continue and
enlarge the effort; a fourth one with an automobile in 1915 to enlist
the co-operation of the motoring public in the great work, and
finally a fifth by aeroplane in October, 1924, when he looked down
from the air at a speed of 100 miles per hour upon the route
previously followed at an average of about two miles an hour by a
migration of at least three hundred thousand, of whom not less than
twenty thousand gave up their lives on the way. Although a total of
nearly two hundred monuments and markers have been {285} placed along
or nearby the old tracks, the plan as a whole is still incomplete;
and the desirability of carrying it forward beyond the limitations of
a single life, unquestionable.
On January 9, 1926, the OREGON TRAIL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, INC. was
organized under the laws of the State of New York, for the following
specific purposes:
1. To search out, identify, suitably and permanently mark the line
of the Oregon Trail, in so far as possible at this time, with or
without visible marks of the old tracks.
2. To erect suitable monuments or memorials on or nearby the sites
of historical forts, trading posts or other important landmarks along
the Trail, such as Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, Fort Hall, Fort
Bridger and others of distinct historical interest.
3. To restore the Whitman Mission in the County of Walla Walla,
State of Washington, as the same existed at the date of the Massacre,
November 29, 1847; to establish, or promote the establishment of, a
park or other memorial to appropriately commemorate the sacrifice of
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, and the other victims of that historic
tragedy; also to identify other localities where massacres are known
to have taken place, and to suitably mark them.
4. To promote, encourage or portray in moving pictures, vividly
recording the historic scenes on the great emigration over the Oregon
Trail, with a reproduction of the characteristic scenery along the
route, for use in the schools of the Nation, teaching exact and
truthful history by such methods.
5. To collect and preserve written accounts, objects of interest and
other things pertaining to the history of the winning of the Pacific
Northwest; to deposit same with the historical societies, preferably
in the States where found, or to designate a Museum or {286} museums
to preserve such records, relics or objects of interest as may be
donated or otherwise acquired; and erect a suitable memorial to the
Pioneers, most appropriately in the City of Washington.
Membership consists of two classes--Annual and Life. Any citizen of
the United States, of adult age, shall be eligible for membership by
the payment, annually, of two dollars ($2); or for a Life Membership
by one payment of fifty dollars ($50). No assessment of members
shall be made; nor shall membership involve any financial obligations
beyond the stated fees or dues to the Corporation.
The considerable number of men and women who have already become
identified with the organization are devoting their time and money to
perpetuate the memory of the Pioneers, all but a few of whom have
gone to their reward, and to preserve the history of the great
overland migration which was the principal factor in advancing the
northwestern boundary of the United States to the Pacific Coast.
Work will be started in the field as soon as sufficient funds are
secured to enable it to be carried forward on the high standard
outlined. Success in accomplishing these objects depends upon public
confidence and support; and the reader of this volume is invited to
become a member.
OREGON TRAIL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, INC.
Ezra Meeker, Rev. David G. Wylie, D.D., LL.D.
President Secretary
18 Old Slip, New York City
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WORKS BY EZRA MEEKER
LOVED BEFORE SEEN (1874), a Story of Pioneer Life.
WASHINGTON TERRITORY WEST OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS (1870), a
descriptive pamphlet, out of print and rare; as high as $100 has been
paid for single copies.
FARM AND HOME, an editorial series of 52 numbers, 1884-6; newspaper
publication only.
HOP CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES (1883); rare and out of print.
PIONEER REMINISCENCES OF PUGET SOUND, AND THE TRAGEDY OF LESCHI
(1905); 550 pages in two volumes under one cover, silk cloth binding,
$15.00.
SHORT STORIES FOR CHILDREN, each with a moral.
THE LOST TRAIL (1911-12-15), a booklet of 32 pages, of which several
editions totaling a hundred thousand copies, have been issued.
THE OREGON TRAIL, VENTURES AND ADVENTURES, revised and republished
under title of THE BUSY LIFE OF EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS (1916); 400 pages,
$1.65, postpaid.
FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS IN WASHINGTON (1915); 400 pages, $5.00
postpaid.
KATE MULHALL, a Romance of the Oregon Trail (1926); this volume, $2
postpaid, with the usual discounts to the trade.
In active preparation (1926): A CENTURY OF BUSY LIFE--the biography,
varied experiences as pioneer, farmer, author and traveler, including
four years in Europe, and the "homespun" philosophy of Ezra Meeker,