Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/95

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Writings of the Missionaries
73

know the story of Victor Trevitt, how he was here in the early days among the Indians, how his sympathies were always with them . . . , and how when he died he expressed a wish to be buried on Mimuluse Island, the great burying place of the race he loved." Victor Trevitt crossed the plains in 1851, worked for a while on the Oregon Statesman at Oregon City, and moved to The Dalles about 1854. He died in San Francisco in 1883 at the age of 56. "His remains were brought to The Dalles...., for commitment on Memaloose Island.... Trevitt's eccentric request, which he often expressed to his intimate friends and which they carried out after his death, was this:"

I have but one desire after I die, to be laid away on Memaloose Island with the Indians. They are more honest than the whites, and live up to the light they have. In the resurrection I will take my chances with the Indians.