OREGON EMIGRATING COMPANIES 225
united whole, his title was usually, captain, but in the larger companies, where a division for administrative or other reasons was effected, he was frequently called colonel 90 or general, 91 while the division commanders were then designated captains 92 or sub-captains 93 as the case might be. Besides these, there were, as subordinate officers, lieutenants, 94 quartermasters, 95 orderly sergeants, 96 sergeants, 97 corporals, 98 secretaries, 99 treas- urers, 100 and pilots or guides. 101 These last, as already noted, were sometimes elected and sometimes appointed. The func- tions of the superior officers were in some cases vague and ill defined 102 but as a rule the by-laws which were adopted pretty clearly fixed their duties and powers. In general, they determined, with the advice of the pilot, the course to be taken each day, 103 decided on the site for camp 104 and the disposition of the emigrants and their effects during the night, maintained order and discipline, and presided over the meetings of the company. The lesser officers, lieutenants, sergeants, corporals, etc., attended to the details of administration. 105 The secretary or orderly sergeant took a careful census of individuals and property at the start and kept careful records of the progress
90 Communication in New Orleans Picayune, Aug. 16, 1843, copied from Iowa Territorial Gazette and reprinted in Or eg. Hist. Quart., II, 191.
91 Minto, Reminiscences, Or eg. Hist. Quart., II, 135. Ibid, Address, O. P. A. Transactions, 1876, p. 39. Ibid., Robert Wilson Morrison, O. P. A. Transactions, 1894, p. 56.
92 Minto, Reminiscences, Or eg. Hist. Quart., II, 135. Ibid., Address, O. P. A. Transactions, 1876, p. 39. Diary of E. E. Parrish, O. P. A. Transactions, 1888, p. 95. Nesmith, Diary of the Emigration of 1843, Oreg. Hist. Quart., VII, 331. Cf. Oreg. Hist. Quart., II, 191.
93 J- Q- Thornton, Address, O. P. A. Transactions, 1877, p. 40.
94 Minto, Reminiscences, Oreg. Hist. Quart., II, 152. Diary of E. E. Parrish, O. P. A. Transactions, 1888, p. 95.
95 Bryant, What I Saw in California, p. 43.
96 Burnett, Recollections and Opinions, Oreg. Hist. Quart., IV, 68. Cf. Oreg. Hist. Quart., II, 191.
97 Minto, Reminiscences, Oreg. Hist. Quart., II, 152. Ibid., Antecedents, Oreg. Hist. Quart., V, 40. Diary of E. E. Parrish, O. P. A. Transactions, 1888, p. 05. Cf. Oreg. Hist. Quart., Ill, 392.
98 Ibid.
99 Constitution, Savannah Oregon Emigrating Company, <5. i oo Ibid.
101 See note 1 10.
102 Cf. Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies (Thwaites), p. 198.
103 Ibid.
104 Ibid. Cf. also Farnham, Travels (Thwaites), p. 60.
105 Bryant, What I Saw in California, p. 33.
