in 1846, and the latter part of the way by the Applegate route, by the Umpqua Valley into the Willamette. This proved very severe, and Mrs. Brown was compelled to come alone over the Cascades with the old captain, whom she expected might die of exhaustion at any moment. For several nights she camped alone in the mountains, or "worse than alone," as she said, not daring to sleep, but to watch by the fire to keep the wild animals away and take care of her charge.
Once arrived at Salem she was entirely destitute, not having even a cent left; but one day, placing her hand in an old glove, she felt a coin. It proved to be a picayune. The glove suggested an idea. With the picayune she bought three buckskin needles, and with a dress bought deerskins of the Indians and made men's gloves. Selling these she invested the proceeds in more materials, and was soon doing a good business making and selling these articles. Becoming acquainted she was invited by some of the missionary families to their homes. She paid a visit first to W. W. Raymond's, in the spring of 1847, on Clatsop Plains, and afterwards to Rev. Harvey Clark's, at West Tualatin or Forest Grove. One day, riding with Mr. Clark and noticing the fine situation where the Pacific University campus now is, she said that this was the place for a school. Mr. Clark readily fell in with the idea, but feared that there would be no one to conduct the necessary boarding department. Mrs. Brown offered to do this herself, and opened a home for pupils of all ages, herself acting as teacher until others were found.
Mr. Clark, who had come to Oregon as an independent missionary, and was one of the most benevolent and generous of men, both in sentiment and action, had already with his wife, conducted a school on the East Tualatin Plain, in the neighborhood of the settlement of
