Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 37/Letters of Charles Stevens

by Charles Stevens

LETTERS OF CHARLES STEVENS

Edited by E. RUTH ROCKWOOD

The library Association of Portland has recently come into possession of a series of letters from Charles Stevens, a pioneer of 1852, to friends in Illinois. They were written on his journey across the plains and in the early days of his residence in Oregon, and are of considerable interest for the descriptions of the country and for the light they throw upon the conditions in those early days.

Charles Stevens was of English ancestry. The first of the name to come to America was John^[1] (1605-1662) who arrived in the Confidence in 1638, and was one of the founders of Andover, Massachusetts. He had a son, Deacon Timothy (1641- 1708) who went to Roxbury, Massachusetts. The third in the line of descent was the Reverend Timothy (1666-1726), the first of the name to graduate from Harvard College, and who was the first minister of the first Congregational church at Glastonburg, Connecticut. He is given by Mr. Stevens as the ancestor who first came to America. Charles was born in Glastonbury,^[2] in 1813. His description of his birthplace sounds like the typical New England home, “the House shaded by the old apple-trees in front, the Corn House and Barn behind it, the brook that crossed the road north of it, the Gate by the corner through which we drove to the back yard, the chimney with the No. 1777 cut deep in the brick near the top.” He went to Pennsylvania, where, at Frankfort, on June 13, 1837, he married Ann Hopkinson, who was born in Afterton, England, December 18, 1814,^[3] and died at Astoria, October 26, 1887. He must have gone to Illinois soon after their marriage, as the first letter in the series is dated at Troy Grove, La Salle Co., Ill., Aug. 13, 1837, and in it he makes arrangements for his wife to come to Illinois and tries to prepare her for the frontier conditions she will find there. They seem to have lived in several places, finally settling in Princeton. He was a tailor and worked at his trade there, but was evidently becoming restless, and felt that the confinement was injuring his health. As early as 1846 he was getting interested in Oregon, as in the second letter, written from Princeton, October 15, he says: "Oh, I wish I was in Oregon ... I have not been out much lately, so I have got hold of no Oregon news. I heard yesterday that there was a man in this country that came from there last spring. If I can see him at any time I shall do so and learn from his mouth about the country. If you have any news from there, that I have not seen, just send it over this way.” By 1851 he was making definite plans to go, and in 1852 he started, reaching Oregon October 26 of that year. The family settled first in Milwaukie, then went to Portland for a short time, and finally to the country at the mouth of the Columbia. After living at Chinook and on Shoalwater Bay for a time, they went to Astoria and he took up a claim in 1854, a few miles east of that place, which he sold in the 1870s. Some of the time he ran a boarding house, sometimes worked at his trade, and at various periods held the offices of justice of the peace, county school superintendent, port inspector, county justice and deputy clerk.

Gaston, in his History of Oregon, says that he had nine children, seven of whom came to Oregon with him. Two had died earlier. Those coming to Oregon were:

Irving,^[4] born about 1837; died 1885; Birney,^[5] drowned 1868; Esther,^[6] born about 1841, married Hiram Brown, died 1901; Frances E.,^[7] married first George Warren who died in 1875; she married second, Isaac W. Case. She died May 18, 1882; Mary E.,^[8] born 1846, married 1872, G. W. Raymond. She died in Dec. 1930; Aurelia L.,^[9] married Capt. H. A. Matthews; Benjamin Franklin,^[10], born Jan. 3, 1851; died 1932. Charles Stevens died Jan. 2, 1900.^[11]

There are seventy-four letters in the collection, nearly all written by Charles Stevens himself, but a few by Frances Warren. Almost every letter is of interest for his descriptions of the country and of the economic conditions, as well as for his comments on events.

Twelve miles east of Oskaloosa, Iowa. 2d. May,/52

Brother Levi

It is the sabbath, and we have camped for the day. The morning was verry windy, and rainy, and verry cold, but it has now cleared up, and is much warmer ... The day that we left Princeton,^[12] there was a good many people at the house to see us start, and to help us start, and they felt so bad, that they could not help showing it, by putting small things into their pockets, to remember us by ...

We left Princeton about 3 o'clock P.M. as near as we can make out now and the worst road that we have had in all our journey, was within five miles of Princeton . . . After leaving Muscatine, we went to Fredonia, at the junction of the Iowa & Cedar rivers, then to Columbus City, thence to Washington, thence Lancaster, and our next place will be Oskaloosa, or (Oskaoosa) as it is on a guide-board here. We have passed through some beautiful country, and some that is verry poor, though as a general thing, it is better watered, and better timbered than Illinois. The prairia in this part of the State is very rolling and thinly settled. It is a most impossible to get any thing for our teams. Corn is worth 50 cts. Oats 25 or 30. Oats in the sheaf 15[?] cts pr doz. and hay is out of the question. We brot hay with us to this place, from about 12 miles back, and we have little hopes of getting any more, but the grass is up in the sloughs, so that the cattle can fill themselves, after a while with that. About 11 O'clock A.M. last thursday, we were overtaken by Mr. Kinsman, the man I had the cattle of. We expect he will go to Oregon with us. He drives one team and helps take care of them, which is a great help to me. I had begun to think of stoping at the Bluffs, for I did not expect to have money enough to get me there, for it had cost me more than half the money that I took from Princeton. We think we have taken the shortest and best road, for we are half way or more to the Bluffs now.

The journey has been verry hard on me for my feet have been blistered and galled and soaked, and pinched all up, besides having the rheumatism in my right knee, but I am getting over it all, I think. We are all well, and we get along much better than I expected we should, we have met with no accident, any more than loosing my hatchet, hammer, and 2 or 3 bags.

Bagley has not come up with us yet, they went by New Boston, but we expect to meet them at Oskaloosa, tomorrow, we think [they] have taken a diferent road for that place ...

We are in Oscaloosa, it is the largest town we have been in since we left the Mississippi. Our company has not yet come up, and we think of starting for the Bluffs without them.

All well.

Very respectfully yours, Charles Stevens.

Kanesville^[13] eight miles north of Council Bluffs

21st May 1852.

Brother Levi,

I said in my last that I would wright at the Bluffs, but I came verry near missing of it. We came here on thursday the 19th and found our company all here, who passed us only one week before, and got here only one day and a half before us. I believe it is the intention of Bagley^[14] & Mercer^[15] to go on a head of us, contrary to his own proposal before he started from there, or Princeton. But we can make up a company as large as we pleas, I think, for there is a large number that are going with oxen, that intended to go in his (Baglies) company, and there is quite a large number that wishes to join us besides.

This place is one of the places you had better think. It is the place that the Mormons started, and is filled with them now, yet I should think that the largest part of them are going to Salt Lake, this spring. There is only now an then a farm in all thies parts that has had an inch of ground turned up for a new crop, and about one third of the Houses in town are for sale, the place is in a ravine, or at the lower end of one, with a high, very high roling country. The bottoms on the Missouri, I should think were from two to four miles wide, and the bluffs on the east side are verry high, and in the distance look like the craggy peaks of the New England mountains, yet I have not seen a stone of any kind in any of them.

In the day time the town perfectly filled with teams, fitting out making up companies, loading up, and preparing to cross the river. I have been told that the ferries were four weeks behind, we had our passage engaged for this morning but it has rained all day and all we have done is to load up. I have not seen or heard of any of the Troy Grove^[16] people ...

We crossed the Des Moines 10 miles below the fort, and should have crossed some distance below at Red Rock had the road been fit to travel, and feed to be had. Our cattle have lived on grass a most of the time since crossing this river. We passed the big town of Montgomery,^[17] which was laid out for the capital of Iowa some 4 years since. There is not a lot, or street but is distinctly marked out with stakes but guess there it not a house within 5 miles of it ....

When within 28 miles of this place one of the Whitmarsh bois took the team from Mr. Davises Wagon, which stood on a little knowl a little a head, and one side of my small wagon, and while I was after a bucket of water, this wagon started back down the knowl, and turned against my wagon, and upset it with Ann, Aurelia & Franklin in it, broke the forward ex. and hind boulster. I got a good seasoned hickory stick and by 9 O'clock next morning we had a new one in. This is the only accident that we have met with, since we started. We have all been verry well, with the exception of Ann, she got jared some when turned over, which is more I believe than I ever could say while in Princeton.

Flour is worth $12 pr bbl. Bacon 15, Sugar 9, Cheese 25 &c. Tin cans that will hold 20 or 25 gallons of water they sell for $5. and in Princeton they sell for $.250.[?] The fraight on my things and my part of the expences was about $17. I got Flour for 1.90 Bacon 10cts[?] Sugar 5. Meal 1 pr lb... This is the 22nd. We intend to cross the river to day if possible, though it is raining. There is a little better prospect of Baglies going with now, ...

Very rispectfully Yours

Charles Stevens

Portland, Oregon Teritory 31 Oct. 1852

Brother Levi & Sister Emma Kelsey & the Girls

We arived in this place on tuesday the 26th inst ... I have sent no letter east since I left Ft. Laramie, and to give you the particulars of our journey to this place would be an almost endless job, so I will just glance at it and let it pass. We kept on the north side of the platt all of the way. It was at only a few miles from the Ft. where we commenced climing the Black Hills. The roads in some places were very bad, being very hilly, and the hills very steep and full of stone and rock. About 50 or 60 miles from the Ft. I broke the hind ex out of my little wagon. We fixed it up, and when we got to the last camping place on the Platt I put in a new one, and I brot it on as far as Ft. Boysse.

We crossed the South Pass on the 24 of July. The Wind River Mountains ly to the north & west, with patches of snow on their tops, otherwise no one would suppose there was any mountains within a hundred miles. The larger portion of the company did not know when we passed the ridge, neither should I, had I not kept a close watch. From this place the roads are more sandy, and less hilly, and here we begin to feel the want of water, however, we worked it so that we had no place more than 22 miles or there abouts that we had to go without water for our stock. In going from Sandy to Green River we kept the left hand road, or the old road, and had water a plenty. The Bear River Mountains I think are the steepest pitch of any on the road, and they are about the hardest on cattles feet. Mr Kinsman left me on Green River and went to Salt Lake with Lewis & Samuel Whitmarsh and some other, the rest of the way Irving & I drove our teems.

The Soda Springs are quite a curosity, but you have heard and read enough about them, all of the water in that reageon is more or less effected or has this acid tast. We went on from here to Ft. Hall, many of us and I think all of us expecting to get some provisions, but there was nothing but a little flour, at $15 pr hundred.

About the Fort, and a few miles down Snake River we found very good feed for our cattle, an article greatly needed, for they had been very much pinched, most of the way from Ft. Laramie. Twenty two miles below the Ft. we come to the American falls, Here the river first shows its real character, for here it passes down the rocks and between the rocks, roaring so as to be heard for a number of miles. And here I would say that this river runs from these falls to the Cascades in one bed of solid Basaltic Rock, in many places, and in fact, amost of the way, they rise I should think, some six hundred to two thousand feet above the water, there being but a very few places where it can be visited. The worst of our road was from about the American Falls. All the way on, south of the Snake, the road runs over this basaltic rock, and a kind of volcanic ashes, or decomposed rock, which is nothing but dust,^[18] and it is from 3 to 6 inches deep all of the way, enough to sufocate man and beast. We crosed the Snake at Salmon Falls to the north side and back again at Fort Boysse. Were I coming again I think I should keep on the south side, though there is less water than on the north side. At Salmon Falls one of my big oxen gave out and I sold him for $12. his mate, belonging to Kinsman, was taken lame on big Sandy and he sold him, so it left me with an od ox, this one was taken lame on Green River, and never got over it. Here we got the first taste of Salmon, and you had better think we feasted. We get them of the Indians, you can trade amost any thing for them but money, that they wont have, they will weigh from 10. to 25 pounds, before they are dressed, and I got one at John Days River that I should think would weigh 40 or 45 pounds. My Bacon gave out just the other side of Ft. Hall, my Flour about 50 or 60 miles the other side of Ft. Boysse, the first I got, cost 10 cents pr pound, at the Fort I got about 25 lbs for $2.00 at the Grand Ronde it cost me $5 for 10 pounds. Here we met with a man from this place Mr. Hiram Smith^[19] who gave me about 30 lbs. of beef. Beef was worth 20 to 25 cts pr pound. Here one of my cows gave out and I left her with him to doctor, and to bring down with his, but I have since heard that she was dead— In crossing the Blue Mountains I lost the other in the thick timber and falling snow. I have heard since that a man had found 9 or ten head there and I am in hopes she is among them. The second night we staid on the Umatilla, the Indians stole one of Kinsmans steers, so I was left with only s head of cattle, these brought me to the Dalles, where I was obliged to sell out every thing to get money to get through with. My team was so reduced at Ft. Boysse that I was under the necessity of leaving one wagon. I got my large one carried over the river for the little one, my other brot $ 10 only, because the tire was so very thin on the wheels, and I only got $25 pr head for my cattle.

We fell in company with a Mr Brown, from Iowa about 35 miles the other side of the Grand Ronde who helped us a conciderable, by letting us have flour and he loaned me $25, had it not been for this and the people in this and other places in the vally, we should have starved to death. As it was we got so redused that some could but just walk, but Mr. Whitcome^[20] of Milwaukie gave me about 10 lbs of flour, and then we got about 20 lbs more 10 miles the other side of the Dalles, which lasted us, until we had the means of buying.

When we arived at the Dalles we were worn out, tiered out, starved out, and amost ready to give out. But the reason why we fell short of provisions I will tell you some other time, there was hundreds that was in a much worse condition than we were. When we came to the Dalles, Ann & Franklin were quite unwell, and we were obliged to take an open boat to the Cascades, we were out one night which made them still worse, and when we left the falls for this place she was not really able to walk to the boat . . . I have said nothing of our company. When we were on Big Sandy Mr Davis married a grass widow from Poria County. Her fathers name was Collins. Davis and his wife went to work to get the property belonging to the estate into her own hands, (for Mr. Collins died on the Platt,) but the other members of the family found out what he was about, and raised such a fuss that he left them and us too, and I have seen nothing of him since though he did not leave us untill we had got some 150 miles down Snake River. We passed him however where we come on to Boysse River, but he was in his grave, having died some 3 or 4 days before. A great many died with the Cholera on the Snake, from Salmon Falls to this side of the river at Ft. Boyse and with the diarrhoea all the way to this place, and many of the emegrants have died since they have arived here. When I was in the states I could learn but little or nothing about this end of the road, but let me tell you Levi that the other end of the road is not to be compared with this, for in the first place, there is not one tenth part the feed for stock, not so much water, a thousand times more dusty and hilly, and dryer for we had but one little rain from Bear River Mountains to the Blue Mountains which gives our cattle the hollow horn,^[21] and hundreds of them die before any one knows there is any thing out of the way with them. The water from Bear River all the way with the exception of two places this side of Ft. Hall a few miles is very good, especially some hot springs on the road, which are hot enough, one is 196 degrees on the Malheur River, and others we passed that were scalding hot.

But we are here, in Portland, we came down the river because we were to late to cross the Cascades, many had tried it, but had to return, and the snow began to fall on the Blue Mountains while we were there. The rainy season has fairly commenced yet it is not so but that we can get about very well. The weather is warm, the grass is springing up and many things look like early spring in the States. Last evening I went into the market and saw radishes, and green Peas. I have not been able to get into any kind of business yet, tailoring is not worth anything, but a carpenter can get work enough at four or five dollars pr day, day labourers get $2.50 to $3. pr day, and $2 for choping cord wood.

Boarding is a very good business and we have a chance of going into that if Ann get well enough to go to Milwaukie to keep it, and I can get the means to fit it up. Our intention now is, to work at this, (that is boarding and all other business that we can do) this winter, and in the time look at the country, and get me a place and in the spring, go on to it. Portland is as large or larger than La Salle, and has more welth in one corner of it than La Salle ever will have.

I have seen more gold, yes I do not think I should say too much if I should say that I have seen double the weight of gold every day since we have been here than I ever saw in any day in silver and copper together in the states. Every thing is very high. For instance Flour is $12 pr hundred, Potatoes $2. and $2.50 pr bush. Beef from 10 to 16 cts pr pound, fresh pork 20 cts pickeled hams 35 cts, Butter 75 cts pr pound Onions 10 cts pr pound, Eggs 75 cts pr doz. and $1.00. Large Wash Tubs $5.00. Zink.

Milwaukie Oregon Teritory 9th Nov /52

Dear Mother

... It was very late when we crossed the Missouri River being the 22 & 23 of days of May, and it was the 24 before we left for the plains. We passed Fort Laramie at the time I sent your letter. We were then about 975 miles from Princeton, and about 525 from the Missouri River, and we were 298 miles from the South Pass, yet we were nearly as long in going from Fort Laramie as we were in going from the Missouri to the Fort. There had been a great many teams along the road, and they had eaten up nearly all of the little feed there was, and we were compelled to go from a few rods to two or three miles for feed, and we were obliged to rest our teams two and three days at a time, for a number of times. In passing up the platt and Sweetwater we pass a great deal of beautiful scenery. The necked Granite Rocks thrown up in lofty ridges upon each side, and especially the Devils Gap, is one of the great wonders in nature. Here the Sweet Water runs through the end of a mountain of Granite and the walls on each side are something like four hundred feet high and not more than 30 or 40 feet apart, and are nearby, and I believe on the south side are quite perpendicular. The road here runs betwene two lofty ridges of almost solid granit with but here and there a tree, or even any thing for a blade of grass to to take root in. It must be remembered that these rocks, all through this section of country are entirely naked. In New England the mountains are covered with Pine the Ceder and the Oack, but you can hardly find timber of any kind enough for one good farm betwene the Missouri River and the Blue Mountains. Perhaps there is nothing that the emegrant is so much disappointed in, as he is in the amount of tim- ber. Even after we cross the Rocky Mountains, there is no timber to be found but wild sage which is a little shrub, that grows all over the face of the country some of it not more than four or five inches high, while in other places it will reach the hight of 5 or 8 feet, and in the wood part, very much resembles some old thick bark, is very stiff, and bad to walk among, and gives out a very strong oder. It is to be found all the way from 60 or 70 miles east of Fort Laramie to the Grande Ronde, and a little in midle Oregon or betwene the Blue & Cascade Mountains, and is the principle feuel for the emegrants. We have a great deal of bad or poison water at different places all the way from Loup Fork to Bear River, much of it so bad that if cattle get to it, it is amost shure death. The largest part of these are along the Sweet Water. Some of the Springs, known as the Soda Springs are of this nature. These Springs are a great curiosity, being on the bank, or near the bank of a small mountain stream that runs into Bear River within a short distance of this place. The water is rather warm and has a sour tast. Some of the springs are on the tops of mounds, made by the water forming a rocky crust, one above the other, until the rock exceeds the hight of the fountain, then the water ceases to flow from them, or bursts out in some new place. In all of these springs there is a constant emission of acid gass which makes many of them present the appearance of the boiling of a pott. There is two of these springs, not more than 3 or 4 feet from the creek be- fore mentioned, the water of which looks like red paint, and boils as though there was the hotest kind of a fire under them, though they are no warmer than any of the rest. The water from most of the springs is good to use, though not very pleasant. While traveling up the Platte, we had frequent showers some of them light and some rather hard. One I wish to notice, though we were not in the hardest of it. It came on us just as we were about camping on the 17th of June. The wind blew, and the rain and hail fell very fast but we knew nothing of the worst [of] it until the next noon. The next day was very warm and pleasant, and while we were bating at noon, two men came up to me, (that had traveled along under the bluffs, instead of the road) and handed me some hail stones about the size of small hickery nuts. They said they picked them up about a mile back, and were at the time they picked them up about the size of a hens egg. They fell the night before and lay in the hot sun all the fore part of the day, so you can judge of their size when they fell. But we were not troubled with any kind of showers after we crossed the mountains betwene Bear River & Snake River, untill we reached the Blue mountains, here we had a plenty of rain and snow. When we leave these mountains we go into the Umatilla vally, instead of the Wallawalla, as they used to. Here the Indians are very welthy. They rais Cattle, Horses, Corn, Pottatos, etc. which they will furnish to emegrants at enormes prices. I sa[w] two droves of Horses of some 3 or 4 hundred each, of the handsomest that I ever see in my life, that belonged to one man. But they will steal all the Cattle & Horses they can get hold of. After leaving the Blue Mountains for two or three days we came in sight of some of the high peaks of the Cascade range. these were Mount Renier Mount Hood & Mount St. Hellen, all covered with snow, being some 16 or 1800 feet high. Mount Hood looks exactly like the picture of the Egyptian Pyramids.

But we are now in what is called Oregon, in the Willamet vally and on the bank of the river of that name, the country that I have so long wanted to see. It is now the 26th being one month today since we landed in Portland. We staid there just two weeks, and moved up here, without money, and depending on others for help. The girls did 3 or 4 dollars worth of washing while we were there and Irving speculated a little in Oranges,^[22] which helped us along a little. The country is so full of people wanting employment that it is hard for any to get any thing to do, and wages have fallen a conciderable since we came. Flour is now worth $15 pr hundred pounds, and potatos $2.50 pr bushel. Ann & the girls take in washing and make pies to sell, we get 25 cts for washing large things 121/2 cts for small, we have done about $.50 worth this week. It has rained a most every day since we have been here, and in consequence of that and the want of the dimes, I have not been to look at the country.

Mr. Whitcomb the man that started this place is about starting a town on Shole Water Bay north of the mouth of the Columbia, and he wants me to go there and make my claim. But I am more inclined to go up this river, or out east of Oregon Citty, to the Indian Reserve. This is a rich fertile part, and is said to be a splendid stock country, and Wheat also. I have a little work at the old trade to do, and when I get that done, if I have any money to use in traveling, I intend to start out.

I wish Emma was here with about 10 or 12 cows, she could make more money than any two farmers in La Salle County. I have heard of a number of women clearing 6 and 8 hundred dollars a year. Butter is worth one dollar pr pound, and Cheese 50 cts ...

Affectionately Yours

CHARLES STEVENS

Milwaukie 27th Dec. 1852

Brother Levi & Sister Emma

...... We are yet in Milwaukie and have not yet determined on any place to settle, but now think we shall go to Pugets Sound or on to the Chehaly^[23] River, or as it is on the maps Chickeeles River. This River runs into Grays Harbor about 40 miles north of the mouth of the Columbia. But before I go any farther I would say that I have not yet been to look at the country. I have not had the means to pay expences, it has been very wet ever since we have been here. The rivers have been so high that it was a most impossible to get about, the Willamette has been clear up so that it has done some damage in its course, then two weeks ago yesterday it commenced snowing and it has snowed every day but one since, and the snow was from two or three feet deep all through the country, and last night it began to rain, so the snow is now fast going off, and we expect it will rais the streams wors than ever. A great many cattle have died and no doubt there will many more die before spring, unless the snow goes off and stays off.^[24]

If you hear any statements, or see any, about the mild winter this winter you can just tell them for me that they are infernal liars. Everybody says that this winter is an exception for the oldest settlers say that they never see so hard a winter before. The cold came on very gradual and appears to be going off the same way, we have no heavy winds here or at least have not had since we have been here, and it has not been cold enough to freeze the Willamette over above Portland yet, but the Columbia is frozen over (I have been told) six inches thick. We have felt the cold as much this winter as we used to in the Houses in Illinois, but the reason is, there is but a very few houses that are even sealed on the inside, and the wind can blow through anywhere...

I have made up the cloth that you were kind enough to give us, for the boys & me, and have done a little work besides, and have a Coat and Vest now to make. I have done a little out door work but it has been so wet that we could do but little at it. I am now engaged to teach singing in this place at $5 pr evening. I was told that I ought to have $10. but five will help us very much. We have been baking for a Grocery since we have been here, and board the man that keeps it, at $4.50 cts pr week. Ann is quite unwell and has been for the last week or more. This place is one of the greatest ague^[25] holes in the whole teritory. There is the river on the west and two Mill Ponds on the south side and two on the north side of it, besides a small stream,^[26] large enough for a tanery, that comes in from the east into the north part of the town. This stream comes from a spring that is only a few steps from Mr. Whitcombs door.

But the country is what you wish to know the most about. Of course I can say but little from my own knowledge, but I have worked as hard as I could to get information and what I send you will be from persons that I think can be relied upon. From about Salem, along up near the head of the Willamette there is a portions of Prairai that is not taken up, but I suppose it is impossible to get Prairai and Timber together, and I am told that a farm in one of these prairais is worth but little for there is no water on them. The farms that are now made, are either on the river or back under the hills, at the latter places there is wood & water a plenty, but the water soon sinks into the sand, and does not make its appearance again untill it gets near the river, so I have been told by people that have been through the vally for the purpos of making a location. But there is a great many good claims, that is owned by single men that are anxious to sell out, and will part with them for about what they have cost

In my first letter I told you all that I could about Pugets Sound. What I said then was as near the truth as I can get at it according to the information that I have received since. I spoke of a Mr. Brown in my other letter that had gon up there to look for himself. He has since returned and I saw him since in Portland, he said that he liked the country better than he expected and made him a claim about ¾ of a mile from Olimpa. But there was a man in the shop yesterday (today is the 28th) from Wisconsin by the name of Fox that came through this year for the purpos of looking at the country. He arived in Oregon Citty the 15th of August, and has been traveling over the country ever since. He says that he does not like the country as well as he expected, but he says if there was not a claim in the Willamette vally now, he should go to Pugets Sound, in prefferance to this vally, or if he could get the falls on this river for milling, and that is the thing that he is after. He said that on the Chehalee river which is 30 miles south of the south point of the sound that there is a plenty of claims to be had with timber prairia and water, and if he wanted a farm he should go there.

Vessels can run up this river some 30 or 40 miles, and flat boats something over 50. The timber he sais is good, there being more Cedar than about here. He said that a man offered to show him 50 prairias betwene him and the mouth of the river with from one to ten sections in them. But he is intending to settle on the Island in the Sound and to put him up a mill there, some 120 miles north of Olimpa to run by the tide water. He sais that the Sound has a plenty of Clams Oisters, Codfish Mackerell, and we know that all these waters are full of Salmon. He said an old Main fisherman showed him a place where he could go and earn $20 every day fishing, that there is five sea captains from the State of Main settled in there this fall to go into the business, and that one man has paid out a number of thousands of Dollars, $4200 to be ready in the spring for the business and that there was some 4 or 5 vessels loaded with fish sailed from there this last fall, that there was ten vessels in there when he was there, and in his opinion, (and I have heard a great many others say the saim) that it would be the greatest business place in Oregon. He sais if he mooves his family out here, there will be some 10 or 12 families come besides. If they come, he thinks they will leave the old road at the Agency on the Umatilla, cross the Cascades near Mount Ranier to the sound, the distance being but a very little more than to the Dalles, and it is said to be a better road.^[27] It has been surveyed.

Mr Whitcomb wants us to go to Shole Water Bay, it is but 8 or 10 miles north of the Columbia, but I cannot learn that the country is worth much only by those that are interested, and I place but little confidence in what they say. This mans story about Pugets Sound I think is correct, for it does not clash with what others have told me about it. He sais he has two mills in Wisconsin and a plenty of land, and can do very well there, If the weather will admit, and I can get away, I shall go up there and see for myself.

Jan 3d /53 .... The snow has all gon an the Willamette is higher than ever. The Lot Whitcomb,^[28] Steamer in coming from Oregon Citty new years day, was driven against the rocks in the river, about half a mile above this place and stove her in, smashed one wheel, and ran down ½ a mile below this found she was about to sink, and run ashore, and sunk there She will be fitted up when the water falls enough. It continues to rain a most all of the time. There has been some Cholera in Portland this fall. The late emegrants, or the poor people in Portland are about to starve, so we are told ...

Esther returned yesterday from Portland, she attend a New Years ball, she had a present of a brest pin, that cost $6. & a pr of dancing shoes, and she had an invitation left here to attend a dancing school in this place before she got home. .....

Affectionately Yours

Charles Stevens

Milwaukie 3d Jan 1853

Brother Levi & Sister Emma

Today I forwarded your letter, or rather, I put it into the Post Office, but I rather think it has not gon. Since sending that, I have thought of keeping a journal of everything that will be in the least interesting to you or assist you in making up a correct opinion about this country. It may be as the people say it is, the worst season that they have ever known, but if it is, if I live, I shall know it too. It rained a most of the time the first, second & third days of this month, and Id give a chew of the weed to know of a day for the last six weeks that it has not either rained or snowed more or less. To day is has rained a most all day, yet we have halled up two or three loads of Wood. Jan. 4 Morning pleasant, and warm, appeared very much like spring. Went with Shoudy^[29] on the river to ketch saw-logs, got 6, river still rising, last night apart of Oregon and Lynn Citties went down the river,^[30] water never known to be so high before, commenced raining about 4 O'clock P.M. and at 9 P.M. was still putting into it.

Jan. 5.Wind blew tolerable fresh as we would say in the states all night and through the day, accompanied with heavy showers of rain, wind from the south, water rose in the river since dark last night up to dark to night, about 18 inches, the Flouring Mill floor had about 2 inches of water on it this morning, and it is yet rising. Buildings torn apart, come floating down the river, Bridges washed from their places, with every other kind of property that happens to be in its way. Got soaking wet in trying to save our logs and geting a few more with some lumber. It is now about 9 P.M. and it is still raining. Jan. 6. Rained all the fore part of the day, the afterpart has been very pleasant. The river is some 3 feet higher than it was ever known before. Mr Dolands^[31] Store is surrounded with water, but it is said to be falling in Oregon Citty. The water runs smooth over the falls so that they intend bringing a Steam Boat over them. Bub^[32] is two years old today ...

Jan. 7.The morning was rainy and continued to fall gently through the day. Irving & myself went up the river in search of logs, found a large iron bound cask, sunk the boat in trying [to] load it in, was obliged to tow it down to town, after getting it to the house we tapd it and found it to be filled with Madara Wine. River fell 3 or 4 inches. In the evening it broke away and looked a little more pleasant weather.

Jan. 8.Morning was very pleasant. Wind blew harder in the night than we have known it, since we have been in Oregon. Got 5 of our logs together and pined them . 4 had floted down the race to the mill, two we could not get so as to pin, got a lot of lumber from up the river. The river has fallen about 2 feet, and is continuing to fall fast. The Eagle^[33] went down to night. The day has been one of the pleasentest we have seen in Oregon, having had but about 15 minutes mist to day. Ann is better and done a little work today. Frances had a present of a pr of Shoes.

Jan. 9.Was the Sabbath, Morning rainy, and cloudy all day. Had a singing school in the afternoon. In the evening Mr. Coe, Mr. Packard, Mr. McWilliams, Mr. Bailey & Mr. Shoudy visited us. Had a talk on the slavery question etc. Water fell about 18 inches in 24 hours. Current to swift for boats to run up yet,

Jan. 10... In the afternoon got the rest of our logs up and pined them with the others. Think of taking them to Portland, as they will bring a better price there. Paid one dollar for half bush Potatoes & 25 cts for a Cabbage head. Jan. 11. Sent notice of my Wine Cask to the Oregon Times.^[34] Jan. 12... The river continues to fall, but not low enough for the mills to run yet. Costs $7 to have the notice of the wine put in the paper twice.

Jan. 13... Got our logs to the mill and sold them for a little over $20.

Jan. 14.Another fine day, paid at the rate of $2.50 pr bushel for Potatoes, & 18 cts pr pound for Beef. Flour is $24.00 pr hundred. The river continues to fall and the Eagle & Multnoma,^[35] Steam Boats have commenced their regular trips.

Jan. 16... I believe Levi that I have never given you a discription of those parts of the country that I have seen, and perhaps now is as good a time as I shall have. The Cascade Mountains is an object of interest to you and others, as any part of the country, so far as curiosity goes. Three of the highest peaks can be seen, by the emegrants while on the Umatilla, about 150 or 60 miles from them. These are Ranier on the north, St. Hellen next to Mount Hood on the south, all covered with snow. These are betwene 16 and 18 thousand feet high. The Dalles are at the foot on the east side, and some 25 or 30 miles north east of Mount Hood. The Columbia of course haves to pass through a gap in these mountains, being nearly perpendicular on each side in many places. As you approach the Cascade, the mountains on the north present one of the grandest, and most unaccountable appearances, of any on the whole rout. Some half of a mile or perhaps a little more, the mountain rises many thousand feet, the ridge runing north and south, covered with pine or fir trees, and at this very point has the appearance of haveing been broken off suddenly and as even as man could possibly have wished. The ridge upon the south side comes nearer, or clear up to the river, where the water rolls and tumbles over the broken rocks below. Now Mount St. Hellen & Mount Hood are said to be volcanoes, (I have seen no signs of it thou), and the Indians say that there used to be a natural bridge over the river at the Cascades, but these two mountains got into a fight and threw it down, and it appears to me that the appearance of the mountain does in some way justify the story. These Mountains continue west for some 20 miles, near the mouth of Sandy river. Sandy is 17 miles from Portland by land but I forget how much my water. On the north bank of the Cascade there is a few houses, one large two story, with a store. At the foot of the falls, about 5 miles below, is another town, or rather two towns, about half a mile apart, one has some half dozen houses or shops, the other one house, though a large one, and a log building, used for a store when we were there. This latter place, was the pleasentest of any in those parts, it being open, and level for about half a mile back, where it met the timber, and in a short distance back, the mountains. Place yourself on the bank of the river at this place, and at this season of the year, and I doubt very much whether you can see the sun all day, for the mountains on the other side are rite up and down, and comes close to the river. At every place down the river where a clame can be made, you will find it ocupied, and some of them very pleasant ones, but a large part of them are made in the timber, and so are most that I have seen in this vally. We passed Vancouver in the night, and come up this river a few miles before it was light. But from what I saw of it, I should think east side of the river was all tolerable good land to cultivate, and some places were really pleasant, being on the bank of the river, (the Willamette) and open, or prairia with just trees enough on it to make it a very desirable place for a residence. A short distance back is a low ridge which runs up the river as far as I have been. I believe there is few or no rocks on this side of the river. The soil is of a dark loam with a little sand, and in some places, some gravel. On the west side of the river, there is a high ridge runing paralel with the stream covered with heavy timber, and in many places comes to the river. Portland is on that side, and was laid out in the thick heavy timber, there being none too much room for a town betwene the mountain and river. There is a few claims on that side but they are of but little value, compaired with thes on this side. Opposite to this place, is the best house in the Territory, occupied by the Indian Agent, Doct Dart.^[36] This place was laid out in the timber, and the streets now are full of stump that once supported trees that would measure from one to six or eight feet in diameter, and from one to two hundred feet high, and I know not but more than that.

West of this high ridge on the opposite side of the river is what is called the Quality^[37] Plains, and it is said to be a most delightful country, and all settled up. We are told that there is a large quantity of wheat on the ground in those parts, and looks the very best. ....

All people that wish to get land for coming must come this year. Tell Taylor that he must come this year if he wants land under the law. I think I shall start for Pugets Sound in about 4 weeks, if the weather will admit. I intend going to the Dalls in the fall with provision if I can possibly get there. Tell all to come with mules, and then they can cross the mountains and it will save their teams and from 50 to one hundred dollars.

Respects to all

Charles Stevens

(To be continued)

1. Virkus, Compendium of American Genealogy, IV, 143, 769.
2. Gaston, History of Oregon, II, 1051, says that he was born in Pennsylvania, but his own letter of March 7, 1895, says Glastonbury.
3. Oregonian, October 29, 1887. Gaston says she was born in 1827 and died in 1882, but the Oregonian article was written at the time of her death and seemingly is more reliable.
4. Oregonian, May 30, 1885.
5. Gaston, already cited, II, 1052.
6. Oregonian, May 1, 1901.
7. Oregonian, May 20, 1882.
8. Oregonian, December 14, 1930.
9. Gaston, already cited, II, 1052.
10. Oregonian, July 14, 1932. There seem to be different dates given for his birth, but in the letter dated January 3, 1853, his father says: “Bub is two years old today.”
11. Oregonian, January 3, 1900.
12. A town in Bureau County, Illinois. The immigration of 1852 included a rather large party from this place, several of whom were identified with the beginnings and growth of Seattle. Among them were Daniel Bagley and his son, Clarence B. Bagley, Dexter Horton, Thomas Mercer, William H. Shoudy, John Pike and Aaron Mercer, and their families; Bagley, History of Seattle, II, 711.
13. In 1846 the Mormons were driven from Nauvoo, Illinois, and started on their journey west. "About the end of June, 1846, the first column arrived on the banks of the Missouri ... This spot, now known by the name of Council Bluffs, was christened Kanesville by the Mormons; Larned, History for Ready Reference, 5890.
14. The Reverend Daniel Bagley, a Methodist minister who had lived in Princeton for ten years, and in 1852 was sent as a missionary to Oregon. With his family he left Princeton April 20, 1852, reaching Salem September 21. In 1860 he went to Seattle. There he was prominent in church work and also in building up the University of Washington; Bagley, II, 710-13.
15. Thomas and Aaron Mercer were in the Princeton party. Thomas Mercer was one of the founders of Seattle and is frequently mentioned in these letters. He was born in Ohio in 1813 and went to Princeton in 1832. Upon his arrival in Oregon, he went to Salem and in the following spring went to Seattle; Bagley, II, 701 ff.
16. Mr. Stevens had lived in Troy Grove, Illinois, before going to Princeton, as had also several members of the Princeton party.
17. No record has been found in regard to a town called Montgomery being considered for the capital of Iowa. A letter from Miss Ruth A. Gallaher, librarian of the State Historical Society of Iowa, says: "We have no record of any town by that name with any claim to be the capital. Is it possible that the man meant Monroe or Monroe City? This town was platted in Jasper County in 1847, on land purchased by the state for a capital, but the site was rejected by the legislature less than a year later. This site was about twenty-five miles east of the present capital, Des Moines. If this location agrees with the position of the emigrants at that time, it may be the place meant. The dates are right for it." The location of Monroe would also agree with the route Mr. Stevens gives.
18. Pioneer narratives frequently speak of the discomfort due to the dust. A recent book says "So heavily traveled were the trails as they passed through the desert valley of the Snake, that the wheels of the wagons, as they cut deep into the dry volcanic ash that forms a rich soil, sent up great volumes of dust that was later carried away by the west wind; and the Old Oregon Trail in many places was a depression four or five feet deep;" C. S. Walgamott, Six Decades Back, 127.
19. Hiram Smith came to Oregon from Dansville, Ohio, in 1845, but returned to the states the following year, and came out again in 1851. He was in the mercantile business in Portland, but it was not profitable. He drove out on the plains with provisions to meet incoming emigrant trains, and disposed of whatever goods he could at reasonable prices, but cash was lacking in many cases and it was unprofitable also. He died in San Francisco, January 17, 1870; Bancroft, History of Oregon, I, 527.
20. Lot Whitcomb, one of the founders of Milwaukie, in 1847, died there March 31, 1857; Scott, History of the Oregon Country, II, 282. Ezra Meeker, in his Ventures and Adventures, (p. 66), quotes from a pioneer diary of the period: "Here we met Mr. Lot Whitcomb, direct from Oregon ... He has provisions, but none to sell, but gives to all he finds in want, and who are unable to buy."
21. Debility in cattle, popularly attributed to hollowness of their horns.
22. Mrs. Harriet Nesmith McArthur recalls that as children in the 1850s they sometimes had oranges as a special treat when they were brought in on some of the boats. Mrs. McArthur especially remembers the quantities of oranges brought to the ship at Panama when they were on their way east in 1861, when her father, J. W. Nesmith, was on his way to Washington to assume his duties as senator from Oregon. At this time (1853) the steamer Columbia was running regularly from Portland to San Francisco, connecting with steamers to Panama. (Advertisements in Oregonian, December, 1852).
23. Chehalis River.
24. "The storm has prevented the arrival of the mail from Salem, and consequently we are without the proceedings of the legislature this week. 'Our sufferings is intolerable'."
    "The Columbia river is so much blocked with ice that navigation is almost entirely prevented;" Oregonian, December 25, 1852.
25. Malaria "appears to have been introduced over one hundred years ago, to have been an important factor in the decimation of the Indian tribes at that time, and since to have remained endemic to at least the Willamette Valley, in Oregon ... Many living residents of Oregon recall considerable ague, particularly in the Willamette Valley, after 1850;" H. H. Stage and C. M. Gjullin, "Anophelines and Malaria in the Pacific Northwest," reprinted from Northwest Science, September, 1935.
26. Probably Johnson Creek.
27. Probably the Naches Pass road. Lieutenant Arnold completed the military road across the mountains in 1854 and 1855. It had been commenced by immigrants in 1853; W. H. Gilstrap, in Washington Historical Society, Publications, II, 217.
28. The Lot Whitcomb was launched on Christmas day, 1850, at Milwaukie, the second steamer to be built in Oregon, the first being the Columbia. The steamer was not seriously damaged by this accident and began running again February 3, 1851; Lewis & Dryden, Marine History, 29; Oregonian, February 5, 1853.
29. Probably the William H. Shoudy who was in the party from Princeton, who settled in Seattle; Bagley, II, 711.
30. "The upper Willamette and its tributaries have never been known to be as high as they have been for the last week, and the loss of property has undoubtedly been very great."
    "At Oregon City several buildings have been washed away, and it is reported that two saw mills and one flouring mill have been destroyed. Linn City has also sustained considerable injury, by the destruction of several buildings;" Oregonian, January 8, 1853.
31. Probably William P. Doland, who came to Oregon from New Jersey in 1850 and settled in Milwaukie. In the flood of 1852 his flouring mills were partially destroyed. He died in Portland, June 16, 1882; Oregonian, June 19, 1882.
32. Benjamin Franklin Stevens.
33. "The steamer Eagle, or as she was always called, the Little Eagle, was an iron propeller of about ten tons burden, brought up from San Francisco by Capt. William Irving ... She ran between Portland and Oregon City in 1852, in command of Capt. W. B. Wells and Capt. Richard Williams, who coined money with her carrying passengers between the two cities at the rate of $5 a head;" Lewis & Dryden, 38.
34. In May, 1851. John Orvis Waterman and William Davis Carter moved the plant of the Western Star of Milwaukie to Portland, and changed the name to the Oregon Weekly Times.
35. The steamer Multnomah "was built in the east and sent out in sections, and was called the barrel boat' because she was constructed with stave-like timber. She landed at Oregon City in June, 1851, and after remaining a short time on the upper river, was withdrawn in May, 1852, and taken around the falls to run between Portland and Oregon City. In the fall she was put on the Portland and Cascade route in command of Capt. Fauntleroy. In 1853 she was again placed on the Oregon City run in charge of Capt. Richard Hoyt, Sr. The next year Capt. Hoyt bought her and put her on the Astoria route, where she carried the mail;" Lewis & Dryden, 34.
36. In accordance with the act of June 3, 1850, authorizing the appointment of commissioners to treat with the tribes west of the Cascade Range, Anson Dart, of Wisconsin, was appointed as superintendent of Indian affairs for the territory; Carey, History of Oregon, 564.
37. Tualatin.