Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/421

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Washington Activities in History.
415

of its members have done a large amount, individually, of historical work, as a body the Society has accomplished little outside of erecting several monuments. Four of these have been put up under its auspices, but the credit of securing the funds for their construction and erection belongs almost solely to Prof. E. S. Meany, who occupies the historical chair at the State University, and is also secretary of the historical society. He devotes his vacations and time not taken up in educational work to traveling all over the Northwest, and securing by means of pen and camera an immense amount of original material, particularly regarding the Indians of the Columbia basin, of Puget Sound, and along the rugged shores of the Pacific from Shoalwater Bay to Fuca Straits.

The first monument was set up at Friendly Cove,Nootka Sound, on the spot where Vancouver and Quadra met in August, 1792, to negotiate or carry out some of the details of the treaty of October 28, 1790, between Spain and Great Britain.

The second occasion was in October, 1904, when two monuments were erected on San Juan Island to mark the places of the military camps during the period of joint occupation, prior to the award of that archipelago to the United States.

At Nespelum, in Okanogan County, this State, June 20, 1905, a fourth memorial tablet was set up to mark the last resting place of the famous Indian Warrior, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces.

Efforts are now making for the union of the two societies, with rooms at the State University. If this good work shall be accomplished the new body will undoubtedly be able to obtain substantial recognition from the state legislature, so that with the aid of the professors of the university and the students coming from all parts of the