the age of 70, the following statement was published in regard to his historical work: "Judge Evans wrote numerous papers on historical subjects, all of which showed an intimate knowledge of the state's history. A number of years ago he wrote a history of the Northwest, which had a large sale. A few years ago, he wrote a condensed history, which was designed, it is understood, as a text book for schools in the Northwest. He left numerous manuscripts and a large amount of data on historical subjects which will be almost invaluabe to future historians. " He never lived in what is now Oregon but he was indeed thoroughly familiar with the old Oregon Country from prominent identification with its events for nearly half a century of its early period. In 1851, at the age of 23, he came from Philadelphia to Olympia as collector of customs of the Puget Sound District. He began the practice of law at Olympia in 1853. He served in the Indian war of 1855-56, was clerk of Thurston County in 1856, and was appointed secretary of the territory by President Lincoln, acting as governor much of the year from 1865 to 1866. He continued to be active in public affairs until the late 80's. His History of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon and Washington was published in Portland in 1889, in two large volumes bound in red leather and red cloth, and is the best illustrated of all the Oregon histories. He had considerable assistance, including some from Judge Carey, but it was largely his work. With Edmond S. Meany he wrote State of Washington: A Brief History of the Discovery, Settlement and Organization of Washington, the Evergreen State, 1893. He was also author of half a dozen pamphlets, including two that had reference to Oregon: Oration, July 4th, 1865, 16 pages, Portland Committee on Investigations, 1865; Historical Review of the Oregon Question, 1871.
Early Travel Between Jacksonville and Portland
From History of the Pacific Northwest, 1889
On the 15th day of September, 1860, the first daily mail, carried by four-horse coaches, arrived in Portland, Oregon, from Sacramento, California. This was the inauguration of a new era upon the Pacific Coast, and especially for Southern Oregon. Before this time the mail came semi-occasionally; and persons desiring to travel the route from Jacksonville to Portland were compelled to make the trip on horse or mule back, making an average of twenty miles a day. The stopping places were well known; and each day's drive
