And now, before narrating any of the events of his life in the Willamette Valley, let us note the estimate put upon this man by some of his co-temporaries, including that statesman of the pioneers, Hon. Jesse Applegate, who after the fall of 1843 became one of his intimate acquaintances. In a manu- script in the Bancroft Collection, Mr. Applegate says:
"Though Newell came to the mountains from the State of Ohio in his youth, he brought with him to his wild life some of the fruits of early culture, which he always retained. Though brave among the bravest he never made a reckless display of that quality, and in battlefields as in councils, his conduct was always marked by prudence and good sense. Though fond of mirth and jollity and the life of social re- unions, he never degenerated from the behavior and instincts of a gentleman. Though his love of country amounted to a passion and his mountain life was spent in opposition and rivalry to the Hudson's Bay Company, he never permitted his prejudices to blind his judgment, or by word or act to do injustice to an adversary. Of undoubted truth and honor, he was the unquestioned leader and adviser of men of his class, both British and American, and enjoyed to a great extent the confidence of all parties in the country. His influence in the early days was therefore great, and both in public and private affairs, he was frequently called upon to exert it. It is enough to say in his praise that it was always exerted for good."
Mr. F. X. Matthieu says of him:
"Newell was head and shoulders above all the other moun- tain men in his knowledge of government, and in the knowl- edge of the methods necessary to be employed in organizing a government; in fact he was something of a statesman."
And Dr. W. F. Tolmie, that scholar and gentleman of the legislature of the Provisional Government, in a letter in 1883 to Senator Nesmith, speaks of having been "intimate with that shrewd, amusing Robert Newell of Champoeg," and inquires affectionately about him.
John Minto says, "Bob Newell was a man of honor and as a citizen deserved the trust he received and carried with self respect."
