Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/608

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of the Oregon historical collection at the University of Oregon. His donation of early newspaper files was the first important gift to that collection."

The book referred to was Brown's Political History of Oregon, 1892. This, which he sold himself, a volume here and a volume there, to get back the cost of printing it, is now one of the hardest of Oregon books to buy, having been listed at prices as high as $62.50 in 1922. It is now practically unobtainable. His other published work was the Salem Directory for 1871, also very rare and priced by a Portland book dealer at $37.50. It contains a history of Salem. In addition to these two printed histories, he left the thick and heavily documented manuscript of the book mentioned on the Indian wars, enough to make two large volumes; and he left the manuscript of his autobiography in the Bancroft Library at Berkeley. This i s referred to in Bancroft's History o f Oregon

"James Henry Brown, an immigrant of 1847, and author of several manuscripts in my collection, in his Autobiography, MS., 20-5, a work from which I am able to gather much excellent information."

Since he called himself J. Henry Brown, people did not always get it straight what the J. stood for. Harvey W. Scott filled it out as John Henry Brown and Bancroft as James Henry Brown. It was Joseph Henry Brown.

An Expensive White Squaw

From Autobiography, Ms.

The first night we camped upon the Umatilla river a young Cayuse chief came to our camp and took a great fancy to one of my aunts, a handsome young lady of 1 8 years o f age, and said he wanted to buy her. Her mother, who sup posed i t was only a joke, said he might have her in the morning for 150 horses, and he said he would give it. The next morning he and about a dozen other Indians drove at least 250 head of Cayuse ponies up near the camp and came i n to claim his "white Squaw", as he called her. He was told that white people did not sell their women, and i t was only a joke. At this his companions commenced to laugh at him, and he became very angry and insisted upon taking her away, saying he would give the whole band. The joke now began to assume a very serious aspect, but most of the men