Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/212

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192 Fred Lockley West. First I lived on Clatsop Plains till 1849, then on the Lewis & Clark River, then at Yreka, California, then at Forest Grove, then east of the mountains on Eagle Creek for seven years. From there I went to the Cow- litz River where I ran a stock ranch for ten or twelve years. Then I took a homestead on Elk Creek near Sea- side. There were lots of big bands of elk there when I took up my homestead. My homestead was two miles back from the ocean and was covered with a heavy growth of spruce. I lived on it five years and sold it for $2,000, but I found out afterwards that the company that bought it said there was at least $10,000 worth of spruce on it. From my homestead near Seaside, I moved to Tigardsville, where I farmed on a 40-acre place for about five years. My wife died in 1911. I sold my place at Tigardsville and came to live in Portland. I will be 93 on my next birthday, and for the last year or two I have been taking things a little easy, for I have worked pretty hard for 75 years and I feel that I am entitled to ease up a little now."