wish to add to the burdens of the long-suffering public. I believe my sister has the most of my writings, but they shall never be published while I am alive."
In an obituary editorial, presumably written by Harvey W. Scott, the Oregonian for June 18, 1899, described the vacant place he left in Oregon letters:
The death of Sam. L. Simpson leaves Oregon no poet of merit or reputation. Singular it is that so much of poetic inspiration, as we have in the splendors of nature and in the romantic suggestions of pioneer life, should have found so few tongues. Men of intellect we have in plenty, as our professional and business life bears witness; but the world of artistic interests finds here few recruits or none at all. It has long been hoped that there might rise, among us, a mind combining enthusiasm for Oregon and its history with the insight of literary art and the gift of dramatic portrayal, and that these powers might be devoted to preservation, in the forms of historic or romantic fiction, the tone, color, sentiment and spirit of the older Oregon, now passing away. Thus far this hope has been vain. The atmosphere which produces the artistic mind is wanting here, as in every new country where practical affairs claim all the energies of life. The writer who shall voice the romance of Oregon must come, if at all, at a later time.
Wm. W. Fidler of Grants Pass, under date of February 20, 1900, wrote the following letter, which was published in the March number of the Pacific Monthly for that year:
To Editor Pacific Monthly—
Since the death of Oregon's gifted poet, S. L. Simpson, I notice a revival of interest in his charming poesy. To help it along, I enclose some specimens that I believe have never been in print. During the winter of 1 879, I had the honor and pleasure of entertaining our "poet laureate" at my bachelor quarters on Williams creek, Josephine county, and
