# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 2/Political History of Oregon from 1865 to 1876

See also: Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 2/Political History of Oregon from 1853 to 1865
POLITICAL HISTORY OF OREGON FROM 1865 TO 1876.
By Wm. D. Fenton.
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United States March 4, 1865, chosen as president the second time, and receiving two hundred and twelve electoral votes out of the total two hundred and thirty-three cast. At that time only twenty-four states voted: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, representing eighty-one electoral votes not participating. The election occurred November 8, 1864, and the electoral votes were counted February 8, 1865. Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and Andrew Johnson of Tennessee were the republican candidates for president and vice president, although Mr. Johnson was a democrat; and George B. McClellan of New Jersey and George H. Pendleton of Ohio were the democratic candidates. The republicans polled two million two hundred and sixteen thousand and sixty-seven votes, and the democrats one million eight hundred and eight ​thousand seven hundred and twenty-five. The states carried for McClellan were New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky, and all the others voting, including Oregon, voted for Lincoln. In Oregon, Lincoln received a total vote of nine thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight; McClellan eight thousand four hundred and fifty-seven, a majority of one thousand four hundred and thirty-one in behalf of the republican electors. The thirty-ninth congress which, if convened, would have begun the first Monday in March, 1865, was made up as follows: Senate, ten democrats, forty-two republicans; total, fifty-two; house, forty-six democrats, one hundred and fifty-four republicans; total, one hundred and ninety-one. The main issue of the election had been the vigorous prosecution of the war and the indorsement of the administration in its war measures. Addison C. Gibbs was then Governor of Oregon, and on January 12, 1865, issued a call for a regiment of cavalry "to aid in the enforcement of the laws, to suppress insurrection and invasion, and to chastise hostile Indians in this military district.The call was issued at the request of Ma. -Gen. Irwin McDowell, then commanding the department of the Pacific. The regiment was to be called "First Cavalry Oregon Volunteers," and to consist of twelve companies, seven of the old regiment to be recruited to the minimum strength required, and five new companies to be raised. The state provided by law for payment of a bounty of $150 in state interest-bearing bonds, payable in gold, to each volunteer mustered in for three years, in addition to the bounty authorized by the United States of $100 for each volunteer enlisted for one year; $200 for each enlisted for two years; $300 for each enlisted for three years; one third payable at date of muster. Neither drafted men nor substitutes were entitled to the bounties, and, in addition, each man was to be paid $16 ​per month, and to receive clothing, equipments, rations, medicines, medical attendance, and other allowances furnished by the government. First sergeants of cavalry were to be paid $24; sergeants, $20; corporals, $18; buglers, $16 per month. Each company mustered in was required to have not less than eighty-two enlisted men, and not to exceed one hundred and one. Horses were to be furnished by the government also. The close of the war approached, and orders were received to suspend recruiting, and only one hundred and eighty men had enlisted at the time. Oregon had already placed in the field the first regiment of infantry in obedience to a requisition of Major-General McDowell, made October 20, 1864, and this had been recruited in less than thirty days. Lieut. Charles Lafollett, of Polk County, was the first to present a full company ready to muster, enlisted in about a week in Polk and Benton Counties, known as Company A, of which he became captain. George B. Currey was commissioned colonel.
In addition to this military force furnished to the United States, the state had eleven thousand five hundred and ninety-four men enrolled as militia in the twenty counties in winch the state was then divided, varying in number from thirty-five in Tillamook, and sixty-eight each in Columbia and Curry, to one thousand three hundred and forty-two in Linn, one thuosand two hundred and sixty-four in Marion, one thousand three hundred and twenty-three in Wasco, nine hundred and twenty-five in Baker, and nine hundred and eighteen in Multnomah. These men were never called into active service, although an available force at any time.
The counties in the state in 1865 were Baker, Benton, Coos, Columbia, Clackamas, Clatsop, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Umatilla, Washington, Wasco, and ​Yamhill. On September 1, 1864, the assessed value of the property in the state was $22,188,513. Estimated population, ninety thousand; and the assessment of Multnomah slightly exceeded $4,000,000.
On March 4, 1865, George H. Williams succeeded Benjamin F. Harding as United States senator, Williams having been elected at the third legislative session, which convened at Salem, September 12, 1864, and adjourned October 22, 1864. Judge Williams was at that time forty-one years of age; a man of careful training, well equipped by education and experience to perform the great duties then pressing upon him. He had been admitted to the bar in his native state, New York, in 1844; and going that year to Iowa was elected in 1847 judge of the first judicial district of that state; was chosen a presidential elector for Franklin Pierce as a democrat in 1852, and by President Pierce in 1853 was appointed chief justice of the Territory of Oregon, which office he filled with great ability. He was reappointed by President Buchanan, but resigned in 1858. His associates on the bench was Cyrus Olney and Matthew P. Deady, and for a short time O. B. McFadden was an associate justice. Joseph G. Wilson was clerk of this court, and its official reporter, then a young man when first appointed of twenty-six years of age. Judge Williams, when appointed chief justice, was only thirty -four years old. He was elected and served as a member of the constitutional convention, representing Marion County, and is one of the framers of the existing state constitution. His term as United States senator expired March 3, 1871, and while in the senate he served on the committee on judiciary, claims and private land claims, finance and reconstruction. He helped to frame and pass the resolution proposing the Fourteenth Amendment; was a member of the Joint High Commission for the settlement ​of the Alabama Claims; was attorney-general of the United States in the cabinet of President Grant, and while such was in 1874 nominated for chief justice of the supreme court of the United States to succeed Salmon P. Chase. At his own request and because of bitter political opposition, his nomination was withdrawn. Since then he has held no office, and for nearly a quarter of a century has continuously followed the practice of his profession in this state. No man has made a deeper impression upon the times, or contributed more to the state's history than Judge Williams, and in his old age no man is more highly regarded—a great figure in the life of his state and the nation.
At this time also James W. Nesmith was a senator from Oregon, elected in 1860, as a union or war democrat, taking his seat March 4, 1861, his term expiring March 3, 1867. Colonel Nesmith was in his forty-first year when elected, and was a warm supporter of President Lincoln, and urged the vigorous prosecution of the war. He was a member of the senate committee on military affairs, and no man wielded greater influence in the conduct of the war in so far as the same depended on the action of congress. He supported McClellan for president in 1864 as a democrat, and after the death of Lincoln became an ardent friend and defender of Andrew Johnson in his bitter quarrel with the republicans in congress. A man of great plainness of speech and of the keenest satire, he made warm friends and bitter enemies. He opposed the reconstruction policy of the republicans, and thus came in contest with his colleague Judge Williams. President Johnson nominated Senator Nesmith to be minister to Austria, but a republican senate refused to confirm, and when Judge Williams was nominated by President Grant as chief justice, the opposition and influence of Nesmith, although not a member of the senate, ​induced the voluntary withdrawal of his name by Judge Williams. It is much to be regretted that the nomination of Senator Nesmith as minister to Austria should have been defeated, and that a sort of political reprisal should have overtaken the nomination of Judge Williams as chief justice. The services of both men were needed by the country, and both names would have honored the great offices designated. The bitterness of those days changed the career of two of Oregon's greatest men, and it is not too much to say that the country shares the regret which Oregon has deeply felt for many years. Senator Nesmith was chosen in 1873 a member of the forty-third congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Joseph G. Wilson, who was elected in June, 1872, but died in July, 1873, before he took his seat. Colonel Nesmith served out his term, and then retired to private life. He was a candidate for United States senator in 1876, but Governor L. F. Grover was chosen over Nesmith and Slater by less than a majority of all the democratic members of the legislature. Nesmith had an actual majority, but enough refused to go into the party caucus to leave those who did participate, in a small minority, and when once the vote in caucus was taken, these friends of Nesmith thus outvoted felt bound to submit, and support the caucus nominee. The refusal of these Nesmith men to participate in the party caucus defeated him for United States senator. Senator Nesmith was a man of the people, mingled freely with all classes, a loyal friend and patriotic man, and one of the most forcible speakers the state has produced. He enjoys the enviable distinction of being the only democrat in the senate who voted for the resolution proposing the Thirteenth Amendment, which constitutionally established the abolition of slavery, and which resolution passed congress February 1, 1865. This act alone is a passport to fame. He now lies buried ​at his farm at Derry, Polk County, Oregon. His death occurred there June 17, 1885.
The third legislative assembly had held its regular session, convening September 12, 1864, but the necessity that the Thirteenth Amendment should be ratified by three fourths of the states at as early a time as possible induced Secretary Seward to request Governor Gibbs to call a special session to ratify the same. This he did, and, pursuant to his proclamation, the legislature, then consisting of a house of thirty-eight members, and a senate of eighteen members, convened in its first special session on Decembers, 1865. I. R. Moores was speaker of the house, and John H. Mitchell president of the senate. On the same day Senator James M. Pyle, of Wasco, introduced Senate Joint Resolution No. 1, ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment, and on motion of T. R. Cornelius, Senator from Washington, Columbia, Clatsop, and Tillamook, it was made the special order for 10 o'clock Wednesday, December 6, 1865. The resolution passed the senate on that day by a vote of thirteen in its favor, three against, and two absent. The negative votes were cast by C. E. Chrisman, of Lane; C. M. Caldwell, of Josephine; and Bartlett Curl, of Linn; and those absent were D. W. Ballard, of Linn, and H. W. Eddy, of Clackamas. In the house the democratic minority opposed a vote on the resolution upon the ground that the legislature had not been chosen upon the issue, and Lafayette Lane on Friday, December 8, 1865, offered a resolution to adjourn sine die that day, the motion being tabled by a vote of twenty-eight; he, Thomas F. Beall of Jackson, Isaac Cox of Josephine, and James D. Fay of Jackson offered a long protest against the proclamation of the governor convening the special session and the further sitting of the house, the main ground of which protest was that the issue had not been voted on, but the real basis ​therefor was opposition to the ratification. Lane at that time represented Umatilla County and was twenty-three years old. On Friday evening, December 8, 1865, the house amended the verbiage of the resolution and passed the same by a vote of thirty in its favor and four against—the negative votes being cast by Beall, Cox, Fay, and Lane. The senate refused to concur in this amendment or to appoint conferees, and on December 11, 1865, the house reconsidered the same, and passed the resolution as it came from the senate by the same vote. On December 11, 1865, the secretary of state, Samuel E. May, was instructed to telegraph Secretary Seward that the legislature had that day ratified the amendment. The legislature adjourned December 19, 1865.
At this distance it seems impossible to understand the degree of feeling that existed at the time when this great amendment to the federal constitution, recognizing and in a sense making legal that which the fortunes of war had settled, was under discussion. At this same special session a memorial to congress was adopted praying that Walla Walla County, Washington, might be incorporated in the State of Oregon, so that the boundaries of the state might conform to those embraced by the constitution as adopted, making Snake River to the mouth of the Owyhee River the northeastern boundary line, as specified in Article XVI.
James H. D. Henderson, the candidate of the union party, elected to congress in 1864 over James K. Kelly, democrat, took his seat March 4, 1865, serving on the committees on Pacific railroads, mines and mining, and Indian affairs, and as a member of the special committee appointed to consider appropriate resolutions and services in memory of the death of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Henderson died at Eugene in October, 1885, at the advanced age of seventy-five years, respected by his ​lows and honored by his state. He was born at Salem, Livingstone County, Kentucky, July 23, 1810, and came to Oregon in 1853.
The governor of the state at this time, Addison C. Gibbs, was an important figure in the affairs of the state, and had been such for many years. He had defeated for the office of governor Aaron E. Wait, his democratic opponent, and had taken the oath of office September 10, 1862. He was the second governor of the state, and the first republican who had been elected to the executive office in either state or territorial government. At the time of his election he was only thirty-seven years old, but had some experience in public affairs, and was the first representative to the territorial legislature from the County of Umpqua, now Douglas, in 1852; he was a member of the house, representing Multnomah, in 1860. His term as governor expired September 1, 1866, and at the legislative session of 1866 he was the caucus nominee of his party for United States senator, but was defeated. The legislature elected Henry W. Corbett, after a prolonged contest between Governor Gibbs and John H. Mitchell. He was appointed United States attorney for the district of Oregon by President Grant in 1872, and served until removed in 1873. He died in London in January, 1887, at the age of sixty-two. As the war governor of Oregon he did not fail in his intelligent support of Lincoln and his administration. Samuel E. May was Secretary of State during his term; E. N. Cooke, State Treasurer; and for the first two years of the term Harvey Gordon was state printer, and for the last two years ending September 10, 1866, Henry L. Pittock filled that office. The justices of the supreme court from 1865 to 1876 were as follows: Paine Page Prim, Chief Justice; Erasmus D. Shattuck, Reuben P. Boise, Riley Evans Stratton, and Joseph G. Wilson, ​Associate Justices from 1864 to 1866. Erasmus D. Shattuck, Chief Justice; Paine P. Prim, Reuben P. Boise, Riley E. Stratton, Joseph G. Wilson, and Alonzo A. Skinner, Associate Justices from 1866 to 1868. Reuben P. Boise, Chief Justice; Paine P. Prim, Joseph G. Wilson, William W. Upton, and John Kelsay, Associate Justices from 1868 to 1870. Paine P. Prim, Chief Justice; Reuben P. Boise, Andrew J. Thayer, William W. Upton, B. Whitten, and L. L. McArthur, Associate Justices from 1870 to 1872. William W. Upton, Chief Justice; Paine P. Prim, Andrew J. Thayer, B. F. Bonham, L. F. Mosher, and L. L. McArthur, Associate Justices from 1872 to 1874. B. F. Bonham, Chief Justice; Paine P. Prim, L. L. McArthur, E. D. Shattuck, and John Burnett, Associate Justices from 1874 to 1876. From 1862 to 1870 Judge Prim was the only democrat upon the bench, although Judge Shattuck later affiliated with and became a member of the democratic party. From 1874 to 1876 there was no republican on the bench of the circuit or supreme court in Oregon. Joseph G. Wilson was clerk and reporter from 1853 to 1862, and reporter thereafter up to 1874, and as such reported the first, second, and third Oregon Reports. Lucien Heath became clerk of the supreme court in 1862, was succeeded by Richard Williams in 1864, who was succeeded by C. G. Curl in 1870. C. B. Bellinger succeeded Wilson as reporter and Curl as clerk in 1874, and as such reported volumes four, five, six, seven, and eight, Oregon Reports, and remained clerk until 1880.
Sylvester C. Simpson, a democrat, was appointed the first superintendent of public instruction by Governor Grover under an act of the legislature, which took effect January 29, 1873, and held this office until September 14, 1874, to be succeeded by L. L. Rowland, elected that year as a republican, to serve four years. W. A. ​Pherson was chosen state printer to succeed Mr. Pittock at the general election in 1866, and held the office from September 10, 1866, to September 10, 1870. Thomas Patterson was elected his successor in 1870, and resigned June 20, 1872, to be succeeded by Eugene Semple, appointed by Governor Grover, and who as such appointee held until September 14, 1874. Mart V. Brown, elected in 1874, took office September 14, 1874, and filled the office until September 9, 1878. The first three state printers named, Gordon, Pittock, and McPherson, were republicans, and the last three were democrats. Samuel E. May was re-elected secretary of state in 1866, and was succeeded September 10, 1870, by S. F. Chad wick, democrat, who was elected in June, 1870, and re-elected in 1874, serving two terms and until September 2, 1878. George L. Woods, republican, elected governor in June, 1866, was inaugurated September 14, 1866. Governor Grover was re-elected in 1874, and served until February 1, 1877, when he resigned to take the office of United States senator, to which he had been elected by the legislature in September, 1876. D. Fleischner, a democrat, succeeded E. N. Cooke, republican, as state treasurer September 12, 1870. Cooke had held two terms. A. H. Brown, democrat, was elected in 1874, took oath of office September 14, 1874, and served until September, 1878.
The state librarians during the period were: P. L. Willis, July 5, 1864, to October 19, 1866, first appointed by Governor Gibbs and elected by the legislature his own successor; P. H. Hatch, October 19, 1866, to October 26, 1870, elected by the legislature; George J. Ryan, October 26, 1870, to May 20, 1871, elected by the legislature; Sylvester C. Simpson, May 20, 1871, to September 13, 1872, appointed by Governor Grover; John B. McLaiue, September 13, 1872, to October 27, 1874, elected by the legislature; A. F. Wagner, October 27, 1874, to October ​23, 1876, elected by the legislature. Willis, Hatch, and Wagner were republicans; Ryan, Simpson, and McLaine were democrats.
The presidents of the senate during the period were: John H. Mitchell, republican, of Multnomah, elected September 12, 1864, third regular and first special session, December 5, 1865; T. R. Cornelius, republican, of Washington, elected September 10, 1866, fourth regular session; B. F. Burch, democrat, of Polk, elected September 13, 1868, fifth regular session; James D. Fay, democrat, of Jackson, elected September 12, 1870, and September 10, 1872, sixth and seventh regular sessions; R. B. Cochran, democrat, of Lane, elected September 14, 1874, eighth regular session; John Whiteaker, democrat, of Lane, elected September 11, 1876, ninth regular session. The speakers of the house during the period were:
I. R. Moores, republican, of Marion, elected September 12, 1864, third regular and first special session, December 5, 1865; F. A. Chenowith, republican, of Benton, elected September 11, 1866, fourth regular session; John Whiteaker, democrat, of Lane, elected September 4, 1868, fifth regular session; Benjamin Hay den, democrat, of Polk, elected September 12, 1870, sixth regular session; Rufus Mallory, republican, of Marion, elected September 9, 1872, seventh regular session; J. C. Drain, republican, of Douglas, elected September 14, 1874, eighth regular session; J. K. Weatherford, democrat, of Linn, elected September 11, 1876, ninth regular session.
United States senators during the period were: Benjamin F. Harding, democrat, September 11, 1862, to March 3, 1865; James W. Nesmith, democrat, March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1867; George H.Williams, republican, March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1871; Henry W. Corbett, republican, March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1873; James K. Kelly, democrat, March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1877; John ​H. Mitchell, republican, March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1879, first term.
The congressmen were: John R. McBride, republican, March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1865; J. H. D. Henderson, republican, March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1867; Rufus Mallory, republican, March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1869; Joseph S. Smith, democrat, March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1871; James H. Slater, democrat, March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1873; Joseph G. Wilson, republican, elected June, 1874, but died before taking his seat; James W. Nesmith, democrat, March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1875; George A. LaDow, democrat, elected June, 1874, but died before taking his seat; L. F. Lane; democrat, October 25, 1875, to March 3, 1877. It thus appears that Senators Harding and Nesmith were colleagues nearly three years; Nesmith and Williams for two years; Williams and Corbett, fo-ur years; Corbett and Kelly, two years; Kelly and Mitchell, four years. Williams succeeded Harding; Corbett succeeded Ne'smith; Keily succeeded Williams, and Mitchell succeeded Corbett. Williams, Kelly, Corbett, and Mitchell are living, and Harding and Nesmith are dead. No congressman succeeded himself. Two died before taking office; one had been a United States senator before he was elected to the house; another became a United States senator after serving in the house. McBride and Mallory alone survive. The remaining eight are dead. All the congressmen belonged to the legal profession, excepting Henderson, and he was a clergyman. All the senators were lawyers, except Corbett, a merchant and banker. Senator Nesmith did not practice his profession after his election as senator, but lived upon his magnificent farm near Derry, Polk County, and devoted himself to farming until his death. Senators Kelly and Williams have both been chief justices of the supreme court, one of the territory and the other of the ​state. Nesmith was elected supreme judge June 3, 1845, under the provisional government, and Wilson was a justice of the supreme court and circuit court judge of the fifth judicial district by virtue of his office from 1864 to 1870. During this time three of the senators were democrats, three were republicans. Five of the congressmen elected were democrats, four were republicans. Nine were elected, two of whom died, and seven took office. Senator Harding was elected to succeed Benjamin Stark, appointed October 21, 1861, by Governor Whiteaker to succeed Col. E. D. Baker, killed at Balls Bluff, October 21, 1861. John R. McBride was born in Missouri in 1832, was the republican nominee for the first congressman for Oregon at the election in 1858, but was defeated by L. F. Grover, who took his seat February 14, 1859, and served only seventeen days, his term expiring March 3, 1859. McBride was the only republican elected as such in the constitutional convention, although others were chosen who were republicans. He was elected to congress in June, 1862, as a republican, took his seat March 4, 1863, and his term expired March 3, 1865. Later he became chief justice of Utah, and is now a leading lawyer residing at Spokane, Washington. Mr. Henderson was elected his successor, and in June, 1866, Rufus Mallory was elected as the candidate for congress of the union-republican party, and served from March 4, 1867, to March 3, 1869. Mr. Mallory was born June 10, 1831, in the State of New York, came to Oregon in 1858, resided at Roseburg, Oregon, for some time after his arrival, where he read law and taught school, and he was admitted to the bar in 1860. He was a member of the legislature in 1862 from Douglas County, and elected as a union-republican. Later he removed to Salem, Oregon, where he was elected district attorney of the third judicial district in 1864 upon the ​union-republican ticket. He was a delegate to the republican national convention in 1868, which nominated General Grant for president; was elected to the legislature in 1872 from Marion County, as a republican, and served as speaker of the house at that session. He was appointed United States attorney for the district of Oregon by President Grant in 1874, reappointed in 1878 by President Hayes, and has since the expiration of his term held no other public office. He has at all times been an able exponent of the soundest views of his party and an interesting advocate of its principles. He is a successful and able lawyer in every field of professional endeavor, and a man free from hypocrisy, deception, or any species of indirection.
Joseph S. Smith, democrat, was elected in 1868 over David Logan, republican, to succeed Mr. Mallory, and served from March 4, 1869, to March 3,1871. Mr. Smith was born June 20, 1824, in the State of Pennsylvania. He came to Oregon and located at Oregon City in the year 1845, where he was admitted to the bar, and in 1853 removed to Puget Sound, where he was elected prosecuting attorney for the third judicial district, and where, in 1855, he was elected to the territorial legislature and chosen speaker. He was appointed United States attorney for the territory of Washington by President Buchanan, and at the expiration of his term of office removed to Salem in 1858, where he became connected with many large manufacturing interests. In the year 1870 he removed to Portland, Oregon, which continued to be his home until his death in 1884. While a member of congress he was largely influential in securing the passage of the joint resolution of 1870, which authorized the construction of the main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad down the Columbia River to a point at or near Portland, and conferred upon this company an additional grant of land ​from Portland to Puget Sound. He was a faithful public servant and useful citizen, and took a deep interest in the political affairs of his state. In 1882 he was nominated by the democratic convention to the office of governor, but was defeated by his opponent Z. F. Moody. He was a churchman, prominently identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and although not a licensed minister, he frequently officiated in public address in the pulpits of that church. He was an able and polished speaker, pleasing and forcible in manner, merited and received the universal respect of all who knew him.
James H. Slater succeeded Mr. Smith as congressman, and was elected in June, 1870, took office March 4, 1871, and served until March 3, 1873. Mr. Slater was born in Illinois in 1826, and died in February, 1899, at La Grande, Oregon. He came to California in 1849; to Oregon in 1850, and for two years taught school at Corvallis, Oregon. He was appointed clerk of the United States District Court in 1853, and admitted to the bar in 1854. He was elected as an independent of democratic antecedents to the territorial legislatures of 1857, 1858 and 1859, and the first state legislature. He was editor of the Oregon Weekly Union, at Corvallis, from 1859 to 1861; was postmaster also at that place, and in 1862 removed to Baker City, Oregon, and in 1866 to La Grande, where he has continuously practiced his profession of a lawyer, except while holding the offices of congressman and United States senator. He was elected prosecuting attorney of the fifth judicial district in 1866, serving two years. He was chosen a presidential elector for Seymour and Blair in 1868, and in 1870 was nominated and elected as a democrat to the forty-second congress. He was elected United States senator in September, 1878, taking office March 4, 1879, and his term expiring March 3, 1885, to be succeeded by Senator John H. ​Mitchell, who had been elected for the second time. Senator Slater also served two years as railroad commissioner of this state from 1887 to 1889. He was a man of the strictest probity, and represented the state honestly, faithfully and with ability. He belonged to the old school of public men, lived a plain and simple life, and retired with the respect of his fellow-citizens . Unaided by wealth or influence, he reached the highest office in the gift of his state.
Joseph G. Wilson, who was elected in June, 1872, as a republican, to succeed Mr. Smith, died in 1873 at Marietta, Ohio, where he had gone to deliver a college address, and never took his seat, although his official term began March 3, 1873. He was born in New Hampshire December 13, 1826, graduated from Marietta College in 1846, came to Oregon in 1852, located at Salem, where he became clerk of the supreme court that year and served several years, and in 1860 was appointed district attorney of the third judicial district, and in 1862 was appointed by Governor Gibbs judge of the fifth judicial district, then comprising all of eastern Oregon. He was elected judge in 1864, holding the office until 1870, and as such judge was a justice of the supreme court, thus sitting upon the supreme bench eight years. Mr. Wilson was the republican candidate for congress in 1870 against Mr. Slater, but the entire republican ticket was defeated, Mr. Slater receiving a majority of only three hundred and forty-three. In 1872 Mr. Wilson received a majority of eight hundred and fifty. At the age of forty-seven Joseph G. Wilson was cut off in what promised to be a most brilliant career. No man gave greater promise by what he had already so well done. His death was universally lamented, and his contemporaries without dissent testify that he was an able lawyer, a skillful debater, ​a polished orator, and an honorable man. His most enduring monument is found in the record of his career as a jurist, and it is to be regretted that death overtook him as he was entering upon a career of wider usefulness.
Mr. Nesmith was elected to fill the vacancy thus caused, serving until March 3, 1875. George A. LaDow was elected in 1874, as the eleventh representative to congress from Oregon, but died before taking his seat.
Lafayette Lane was elected to succeed Mr. LaDow, and held the office until March 3, 1877. Mr. Lane was always an ardent democrat. He was born in Indiana November 12, 1842, and died at Roseburg, Oregon, November 24, 1896. He came to manhood in the stormy days of the civil war, was a student in college at Washington, where his father, Gen. Joseph Lane, was first a delegate and next a senator in congress. He was trained for public life under the skillful eye of his father, and early imbibed his strong feelings and sympathies for his Southern kinsmen and party associates. He was elected to the legislature in 1874 as a member of the house from Umatilla County, and at the special session, convened December 5, 1865, to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, joined with James D. Fay and two other members of the house in a vigorous protest against the proclamation of the governor convening the session, and the sitting of the house in pursuance thereof. Governor Grover appointed him and Matthew P. Deady to compile the laws of Oregon in 1872, and they gave us the code entitled "General Laws of Oregon, 1843-1872, compiled and annotated by Matthew P. Deady and Lafayette Lane," and which continued in general and sole use as a code until the code of 1887, compiled and annoted by William Lair Hill, and published in 1887 by authority of an act of the legislature approved February 26, 1885. Mr. Lane was a candidate in 1876 for re-election, but was ​defeated by Richard Williams, the republican candidate. He retired from public life March 3, 1877, and for nineteen years thereafter practiced his profession at Roseburg, taking such interest in political affairs as his failing health would permit. He was kind-hearted, genial, brilliant, and eloquent. He had many qualities of head and heart that made General Lane famous, popular, and strong. In brilliant repartee and sharp retort he had but few superiors. In his relations in private life he was a courtly gentleman of the old school—generous and warm-hearted, but strong in his political convictions and fearless in their defense and advocacy.
Benjamin F. Harding, James W. Nesmith, Henry W. Corbett, James K. Kelly, and John H. Mitchell were the senators during this period. Senator Harding was born in Pennsylvania January 14, 1823; came to California in 1849; located in Salem, Oregon, in 1850, where he resided many years, and was regarded as one of the brightest democratic party leaders of the state. He was trained a lawyer, but did not practice his profession for any great length of time, except while United States attorney before the organization of the state government. He was elected three times to the territorial legislature, appointed secretary of the territory by President Pierce, and held the office from January 27, 1855, to March 3, 1859. He was chosen, as we have already seen, United States Senator in 1862 to succeed Stark, and was succeeded March 4, 1865, by Judge Williams. The leading Douglas democrats of Oregon in 1862 were Benjamin F. Harding, George H. Williams, James W. Nesmith, and Asahel Bush, and the issues of the war made them all war democrats, logical followers of Senator Douglas, and ultimately drove Judge Williams to the republicans. Senator Harding was appointed circuit judge of the third judicial district by Governor ​Thayer in 1878, and served as such until July, 1880, since which time and until his death, June 16, 1899, he has lived in retirement in Lane County on his large farm, devoting himself to agriculture and stock raising. He was a profound student of men, of keen intuition, careful in promise, strict in performance, and exact in plan. He is regarded as one of the big four that had a controlling influence in the politics of Oregon at the organization of the state government.
Henry W. Corbett was elected United States Senator to succeed Senator Nesmith; took office March 4, 1867, and served until March 3, 1873. Mr. Corbett was born in Westboro, Massachusetts, February 18, 1827, and came to Oregon by way of Panama in 1850, locating at Portland, where he has been continuously engaged in business as a successful banker and man of affairs. After a prolonged contest in the legislative assembly in 1866 between Mr. Mitchell and Governor Gibbs, who were the rival candidates, Mr. Corbett was chosen as United States Senator. Gibbs at the time was the republican caucus nominee over John H. Mitchell, the two men having almost an equal number of votes in the caucus. The majority upon joint ballot in favor of the republicans was small. Dr. J. R. Bayley and John White, and some others, who were ardent friends of Mitchell, refused to abide by the action of the caucus, and withheld their votes from Governor Gibbs, thereby rendering his election impossible. Senator Corbett was chosen as a compromise candidate. In 1869 Mr. Corbett became interested with Henry Failing in the purchase and management of the First National Bank of Portland, which has since become the greatest financial institution in the Northwest, and of which at this time, Mr. Corbett, since the death of Mr. Failing, is the actual and controlling head. Senator Corbett was a member of the committee on finance, and took a leading ​part in the senate of the United States in the establishment of the existing financial system, and in the preparatory legislation for the return to specie payment. In 1872, after a spirited and bitter contest consuming almost the entire session of the legislature, Senator Corbett was defeated for re-election by John H. Mitchell. Senator Corbett is a pronounced republican of the old school, adhering with great firmness to his political convictions and at the same time is conservative and respectful toward the opinions of others. The legislative assembly in 1897 failing to elect a successor to Senator Mitchell, Senator Corbett was appointed by Governor Lord to fill the vacancy thereby occasioned; but under the rule claimed to have, been established by the senate in previous cases, he was not admitted to a seat in the senate, and at the extra session of the legislative assembly chosen in June, 1898, and which convened in October in that year, he was the most prominent candidate for election to the office, and received the support of a large majority of the republican members, but not enough to secure the election. In the interest of harmony, and to avoid failure to elect, he withdrew his name, and Joseph Simon was elected for the unexpired term. Henry W. Corbett, William S. Ladd, Henry Failing, and C. H. Lewis may justly be said to have had the largest influence in the upbuilding and development of the City of Portland, of all the men prominently known to the financial world, and at this time Mr. Corbett is the leading figure in the financial circles of the state, and his influence upon its business and political interests is perhaps superior to that of any other public man.
James K. Kelly, who succeeded George H. Williams as United States Senator, and who was elected at the session of the legislative assembly for the year 1870, took office March 4, 1871, and served until March 3, 1877. ​Senator Kelly was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1819. At the age of twenty he graduated at Princeton, was admitted to the bar in the State of Pennsylvania in 1842, came to California in 1849, and in 1851 located in the Territory of Oregon. He was a colonel of volunteers in the Indian war against the Yakima Indians in 1855; a member of the legislative council from 1853 to 1857; a member of the constitutional convention, and was a member of the state senate from 1860 to 1864. He was appointed United States district attorney for the district of Oregon by President Buchanan in 1860, but declined to accept the appointment. Upon his retirement from the senate and in 1878 he was appointed by Governor Thayer chief justice of the supreme court under the act of the legislative assembly, approved October 17, 1878, which authorized the appointment of three judges of the supreme court as a separate judicial body, and who should perform appellate duty only. His opinions while a member of the supreme bench are found reported in seventh and eighth Oregon Reports. His term expired July 4, 1880, since which time for several years he devoted himself to the practice of his profession at Portland, Oregon, and later removed to Washington, D. C., where he now resides. He faithfully discharged the obligations of public office in whatever capacity his services were required, and his record is one of which the state is justly proud.
John H. Mitchell was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, June 22, 1835; admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania; later removed to California and practiced law in that state, and in 1860 came to Portland, Oregon. He was elected city attorney of the City of Portland in 1861, and in 1862 was elected to the state senate and served as president of the senate at the regular session of 1864 and the special session in December, 1865; a ​candidate for the United States senate in the legislature of 1866, he was defeated in caucus by one vote, and on September 28, 1872, he succeeded Senator Corbett and served in the senate of the United States, his first term expiring March 3, 1879. He was re-elected to the senate in 1885 and in 1891, his third term expiring March 3, 1897. For eighteen years a member of the senate of the United States; he was a colleague of Senators Kelly, Grover, Dolph, and McBride, serving upon the leading committees of the senate; a candidate for re-election at the session of the legislative assembly for 1897, and received the votes of a majority of all the republicans, but not sufficient to elect, and the legislative assembly adjourned without having effected a legal organization, and consequently failed to elect his successor. Differences of opinion in his party upon the leading issues of the last presidential campaign were undoubtedly instrumental in securing his defeat. It is the truth of history to say that Senator Mitchell in public life has been a most important figure, and has filled the great office to which he has been three times elected with signal ability. Since his retirement from the senate he has continued to practice his profession at Portland, Oregon.
La Fayette Grover was the fourth governor of the State of Oregon, elected in June, 1870, and re-elected in 1874. He held the office of governor from September 14, 1870, to February 7, 1877, when he resigned that office to accept the office of United States Senator, to which he had been elected in 1876. He was born at Bethel, Maine, November 29, 1823; he came to California in 1850, and the next year to Oregon, and became clerk of the first judicial district in Southern Oregon, and later ​prosecuting attorney of the second judicial district. In 1853 he was appointed territorial auditor, and was a member of the territorial legislatures of 1853, 1855, and 1857. He was also a member of the constitutional convention and was elected first congressman for Oregon in 1858, taking his seat February 15, 1859, and serving in that capacity for a period of only seventeen days, and was succeeded by Lansing Stout, who. had been elected as his successor. Senator Grover succeeded James K. Kelly March 4, 1877, and his term as senator expired March 3, 1883. He was succeeded by Joseph N. Dolph. Governor Grover and ex-Senator Nesmith were rival candidates for the senate in 1876. Senator Grover was at the time governor of the state and had been for more than six years. He was also the recognized candidate of the organized democratic party. He had been active in its leadership for many years; was himself a man of large executive ability; loyal to party organization; a man of the purest character in public and private life; faithful, politic, and courageous. He was, however, bitterly opposed by Senator Nesmith and his ardent friends, and the bitterness of the contest and its results made a profound impression upon the history of the democratic party in this state. It is now well understood by those conversant with the political history of the state that the mismanagement of Senator Nesmith's friends led to his defeat in the democratic senatorial caucus in 1876, and paved the way for the election of Senator Slater in 1878. Since his retirement from the United States senate, Governor Grover has lived a quiet and simple life at Portland,' Oregon, devoting himself to his private interests. He has been a conspicuous and important figure in this state.
The sessions of the legislative assembly during the period reflect the political opinions and discussions of the time, and may be profitably reviewed. The fourth ​regular session of the legislative assembly convened at Salem on Monday, September 10, 1866, and adjourned on Saturday, October 20, 1866. The senate consisted of twenty-two members and the house of forty-seven. Joseph N. Dolph was then a state senator from Multnomah County, and Gen. Joel Palmer, afterwards republican candidate for governor, was state senator from Yamhill County. In the house Binger Hermann, now commissioner of the general land office and for several years member of congress from this state, was representative from the County of Douglas. W. W. Upton, afterwards elected justice of the supreme court, was a member of the house from Multnomah County. John Whiteaker, the first governor of the state and a member of congress at one time, was a representative from the County of Lane. George R. Helm, who acquired considerable prominence as a leading democratic politician and a public speaker of some force, was one of the five representatives from the County of Linn; and T. R. Cornelius, of Washington County, was elected president of the senate. F. A. Chenowith, of Corvallis, was elected speaker of the house. The vote for governor was canvassed upon September 12, 1866, and it was ascertained that George L. Woods had received ten thousand three hundred and sixteen votes and James K. Kelly ten thousand and thirty -nine votes. The returns showed that Woods carried Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Grant, Marion, Multnomah, Tillamook, Washington, and Yamhill, and Kelly the remainder. Woods carried Multnomah by one hundred and eighty majority. On September 12, 1866, Senator Dolph offered Senate Joint Resolution No. 3 to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The resolution was referred to the committee on federal relations, and reported favorably September 13. A ​motion was made that it lie on the table, the democrats voting in the affirmative and the republicans in the negative, but the motion was lost by a vote of eight to fourteen. It was made the special order for Friday, September 14, and Mr. Crawford, of Linn, a democrat, moved to amend the resolution by referring the same to the people of Oregon, to be voted on at the next general election, and upon this motion eight of the nine democratic senators voted for the amendment, and the thirteen republicans voted, with one democrat, against the same. The resolution passed the senate on the same day. Thirteen senators voted in the affirmative and nine against; all the democrats voting in the negative. The action of the senate was communicated to the house on Monday, September 17, and the joint resolution referred to the judiciary committee. Cyrus Olney was chairman of the judiciary committee, and on Wednesday, September 19, he reported the same back to the house with the recommendation that the house concur in the same, and moved that the house concur. A motion to lie on the table was defeated by a vote of twenty-one to twenty-six; the republicans voting nay and the democrats in the affirmative. The minority moved to postpone further consideration, and this was defeated. Thereupon, and at the evening session of Wednesday, September 19, Mr. Worth and seventeen other democrats made a written protest, which was spread upon the journal, solemnly protesting against the passage of the resolution upon the grounds,—first, that the resolution had been hurriedly reported to the house by the chairman of the judiciary committee without consulting two members thereof; second, because there were seats held by persons in the house who were not entitled to the same, and that, therefore, the will of the people could not be expressed; and, third, that the resolution had come before the house without ​due consideration by the committee to which it had been referred. At the evening session Messrs. G. R. Helm and H. A. Gehr also presented their written protest against the passage of the resolution, they being the minority members of the judiciary committee. In the light of subsequent events this language, found in the protest, is interesting: "This resolution proposes to adopt certain amendments to the Constitution of the United States, which amendment if adopted will change, if not entirely destroy, the republican form of government under which we live, and crush American liberty." The previous question was ordered, however, notwithstanding these protests, by a vote of twenty-seven to nineteen, and the main question being put, the resolution passed the house by a vote of twenty-five in the affirmative to twenty-one in the negative. This amendment was proposed by congress June 16, 1866, and declared ratified July 28, 1868. Governor Woods at this session sent a special message to the legislative assembly, calling its attention to the depredations committed by hostile bands of Indians in the counties of Wasco, Baker, Grant, Union, and Umatilla, and noted the fact that more than $100,000 of property in horses and cattle had been driven off annually for the past three years, and that families had been compelled to abandon their homes, mails robbed, and life and property rendered unsafe.
On September 25, 1866, Addison C. Gibbs received in the senate thirteen votes for United States Senator; J. S. Smith, four votes; James K. Kelly, four votes; John Kelsay, one. In the house Governor Gibbs received twenty votes; Mr. Smith, eleven; Mr. Kelly, seven; Mr. Nesmith, five; Benjamin Simpson, one; Jesse Applegate, one; Henry W. Corbett, one; David Logan, one. A joint convention was held September 26, in which, upon the first ballot, Governor Gibbs received ​thirty-three votes; Smith, twenty-one; Nesmith, nine; Simpson, three; Kelsay, one; Corbett, one; Logan, one; and, upon the second ballot, Gibbs received thirtythree; Smith, thirty-one; Simpson, two; Kelsay, one; Corbett one; Logan, one. Eight ballots were taken without material change. On Saturday, September 29, on the fifteenth ballot, John Whiteaker received thirty votes; A. C. Gibbs, thirty-three; H. W. Corbett, five; Kelly, one; and a motion to adjourn being made and lost, W. Carey Johnson withdrew the name of Governor Gibbs, and placed in nomination the name of H. W. Corbett. Mr. Corbett on the sixteenth ballot received thirty-eight votes; Mr. Smith, fourteen; Mr. Nesmith, four; Judge Prim, seven; Judge Kelly, five; John Whiteaker, one; total number of votes cast sixty-nine, of which Mr. Corbett having received thirty-eight votes, was declared duly elected. The oath of office to Governor Woods was administered by E. D. Shattuck, then chief justice of the supreme court, who still survives, and who retired from a long and honorable career upon the bench on July 1, 1898. The inaugural address was delivered at the Methodist Episcopal Church at Salem; Rev. Davis Leslie offered the opening prayer, and the governor-elect was introduced by Governor Gibbs. Mr. Upton on Saturday, October 6, 1866, offered House Joint Resolution No. 13, to designate the Oregon Central Railroad Company as the company entitled to receive the land and all of the benefits of the act of congress, approved July 25, 1866, entitled "An act granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Central Pacific Railroad in California to Portland, in Oregon." A special message to the legislative assembly was communicated October 8, urging favorable legislation in behalf of the construction ​of railways, and particularly a line of railroad connecting with the Central Pacific in California, and with the same road at Salt Lake City.
House Joint Resolution No. 13, above-mentioned, was referred to a select committee of five, appointed by the speaker, consisting of W. W. Upton, E. D. Foudray, of Jackson; James Gingles, of Benton; Binger Hermann, of Douglas; and John Whiteaker, of Lane. The resolution was ultimately passed by the house and senate October 10, 1866, and thus began the contest in the legislature which did not end until the adoption of Senate Joint Resolution No. 16, relating to the same grant, which passed the next legislative assembly October 20, 1868; the result of which was to give to the Oregon Central Railroad Company of Salem an equitable title to the land grant, and to take from the Oregon Central Railroad Company of Portland, known as the West Side Road, any right which this company claimed to the same. The governor in his special message urged upon the legislature the great importance of railroad connection with the Central Pacific by way of Salt Lake City and San Francisco. In his message he recommended that provision be made by immediate enactment by which the Oregon Central Railroad Company should be able to reap the benefit of the liberal donation made by congress, and also by which provision should be made for the payment of the interest on the bonds of the company, necessary to construct and put in operation the first section of twenty miles of the road. There was a marked division in the legislative assembly; the delegations from Multnomah and Jackson strongly supporting these measures, while the delegations from Linn and other counties strongly opposed. Upon the invitation of the house, Senator Corbett, Mr. W. S. Ladd, Governor Woods, and I. R. Moores addressed the house upon the ​object and design of the proposed corporation, and the previous question being ordered, the resolution passed by a vote of forty-four ayes and one nay; Mr. J. E. P. Withers, of Lane County, casting the negative vote. The resolution was transmitted to the senate on October 10, and upon motion of Senator Palmer the senate concurred, nineteen voting in the affirmative; Senator T. R. Cornelius voting in the negative; and Senators Caldwell and Pyle being absent. On October 12, 1866, an elaborate report was presented from the select committee, to whom was referred the governor's special message, and to whom was referred House Joint Resolution No. 13, and with the report was House Bill No. 78, entitled "A bill to aid in the construction of the Oregon Central Railroad." This bill afterwards passed the legislative assembly, and was approved October 24, 1866, and by its terms the state undertook to pay interest on $1,000,000 of bonds to be issued by the corporation; and in return therefor was to receive transportation of all persons and property which otherwise would be conveyed at the expense of the state, and all articles on their way to the fairs of the state, and upon their return; and also to transmit free of charge all telegraphic dispatches to and from the officers of the state. It is sufficient to know that this act was clearly unconstitutional, and that no money was ever appropriated or paid under its terms. The report of Mr. Foudray, of Jackson, which accompanied the bill, is interesting in this, that it states the fact that in 1864, while wheat was selling readily for $2.00 per bushel in San Francisco, it would bring the farmer but seventy-five cents per bushel in the Willamette Valley, and that at the time the legislature was then in session, while it was $1.00 per bushel in San Francisco, it was dull sale at half that price in the Willamette Valley. It appeared also from the books of commission ​merchants of Crescent City, California, that the inhabitants of Josephine and Jackson Counties had in a single year paid out as freight money alone on one thousand eight hundred tons of merchandise imported the sum of $179,700. The report mentions the fact that among the principal incorporators were a number of representative citizens of the state, and that the proposed measure would give comparatively small, but necessary, aid to the new corporation. It was urged in argument that the increase in value of the assessable property by reason of the construction of the road would more than offset the annual sum of $60,000 proposed to be paid. The bill passed the house with thirty-three votes in its favor, and eight votes in the negative. These negative votes were cast by J. J. Dempsey, of Polk; W. C. Hindman, of Baker and Union; J. D. Garrett and J. D. Locey, of Clackamas; G R. Helm and J. R. South, of Linn; John Whiteaker and J. E. P. Withers, of Lane. In the senate, thirteen senators voted in the affirmative and four in the negative. Those voting nay were: Donnell, of Wasco; Ford, of Umatilla; Stearns, of Grant; and Cornelius, of Washington. The act as framed proposed to loan the credit of the state to the Oregon Central Railroad Company by requiring the state treasurer to pay the annual coupons upon the bonds issued by the company at the rate of seven per cent, per annum, and bonds at the rate of $10,000 per mile for each mile of road completed, until the whole number of bonds upon which the state was to pay interest should not exceed one thousand, of the aggregate nominal value of $1,000,000.
On October 17, 1868, Senator Miller, of Jackson County, offered Senate Joint Resolution No. 16, reciting the passage of House Joint Resolution No. 13, and reciting that at the time of its adoption no such company as the Oregon Central Railroad Company was organized or ​in existence, and that the joint resolution was adopted under misapprehension of the facts, and that therefore there had been no legal designation of the company required by the act of congress of July 25, 1866. The resolution was urged in the interest of what afterwards was known as the Oregon Central of Salem, and the resolution passed the senate by a vote of fourteen in the affirmative and eight in the negative. The negative votes were cast by S. C. Adams, of Yamhill; T. R. Cornelius, of Washington; Binger Hermann, of Douglas; B. F. Holtzclaw, of Josephine; and H. C. Huston, of Lane; S. Ison, of Baker; C. M. Pershbaker, of Douglas, Coos and Curry; and B. F. Burch, of Polk. It is thus seen that the controversy became geographical, the west side senators voting as a unit, assisted by a scattering vote from other sections of the state. The action of the senate was communicated to the house on October 19; whereupon C. B. Bellinger, who, with Daniel Carlisle, of Benton, had contested the seats occupied by J. C. Alexander and R. A. Bensell, and who had been seated in place of Bensell, took active measures to secure the passage of the senate joint resolution. After a spirited contest, the house divided upon the same lines as the senate. The senate joint resolution finally passed, under which the Oregon Central Railroad Company incorporated April 22, 1867, became designated as the company entitled to the grant under the act of congress of July 25, 1866, and was the predecessor in interest of the present Oregon and California Railroad Company as to such grant. This controversy between these two rival railroads occupied the attention of the courts for several years, and was transferred from the legislative assembly to Washington, D. C. Mr. Joseph Gaston was one of the leading and moving spirits behind the Oregon Central Railroad Company, called the West Side Company. ​After it had become an established fact that the Oregon Central of Salem was the designated beneficiary of the grant, special effort was made to give a grant to the Oregon Central West Side, and to that end the act of May 4, 1870, was passed, giving to the West Side Company a grant of land to aid in the construction of a railroad from Portland to McMinnville and Astoria, by way of Forest Grove.
The legislative assembly for the year 1868 convened September 14. B. F. Burch was elected president of the senate and John Whiteaker was elected speaker of the house. Among the members of the senate we notice the names of Lansing Stout, of Multnomah; D. P. Thompson, of Clackamas; Binger Hermann, of Douglas; and of the house John Whiteaker and H. H. Gilfrey, of Lane; T. W. Davenport and John Minto, of Marion; G. W. Burnett, of Yamhill. Victor Trevitt on Wednesday, September 16, 1868, introduced Senate Joint Resolution No. 4, rescinding resolution passed September 19, 1866, relative to amending the Constitution of the United States, and withdrew the assent of the State of Oregon to the proposed Fourteenth Amendment. It is recited in the resolution offered by Senator Trevitt that no amendment to the constitution is valid until ratified by three fourths of the states, and that until so ratified any state had a right to withdraw its assent, and that on July 28, 1868, Secretary Seward had issued a proclamation reciting, among other things, that the proposed amendment was ratified by the legislatures of Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia, and that the same was adopted by more than three fourths of the states. It was further recited in the resolution that the newly-constituted and newly-established bodies avowing themselves to be and acting as legislatures of these ​states, were created by military despotism against the will of the legal voters of said states under the unconstitutional reconstruction acts, which were revolutionary and void, and that such bodies could not legally ratify such amendment. It was further recited that the resolution of 1866, passed by a vote of twenty-five ayes and twenty-two nays, by means of the votes of Thomas H. Brentz and M. M. McKean, fraudulently seated as members of Grant County, whose seats were vacated September 22, 1866, and filled by J. M. McCoy and G. W. Knisely, who, on September 29, 1866, entered their protest on the journal of the house, and declared therein that if they had not been excluded, they would have voted against such ratifying resolution, thereby defeating the same; and further reciting that on October 6, 1866, the house had not legally concurred in the joint resolution. It was resolved, therefore, by Senator Trevitt's resolution, that the resolution adopted September 19, 1866, had been so adopted by fraud, and that the same should be and was thereby rescinded. The ratification was withdrawn and refused; and further resolved that any amendment should be proposed by a congress in which all the states should be represented, or by a convention of all the states.
On September 23, 1866, the committee on federal resolutions reported in favor of the adoption of this resolution, and declared in the report that the conduct of the dominant party in the last legislature with reference to the proposed amendment was one of the reasons of its overthrow in the late election. This rescinding resolution was passed by the senate on October 6, 1868, and the house thereafter concurred. House Joint Resolution No. 13 was passed, instructing and demanding that George H. Williams and H. W. Corbett should resign their seats in the senate because, as alleged, they had misrepresented the people and supported measures in violation of the ​constitution, known as the reconstruction acts, declaring that they had been actuated by unworthy partisan motives in their efforts to impeach and remove the president, and declaring that Senator Williams had acted from improper and unworthy motives. Nothing ever came of this effort on the part of the legislative assembly of the year 1868 to rescind the joint resolution of the previous session in respect to the Fourteenth Amendment. This action upon the part of the democratic majority was in line with the intense feeling entertained by that party towards the reconstruction measures passed by congress and the bitter quarrel between President Johnson and the republican majority. At this session, also, J. C. Alexander, Daniel Simpson, G. W. Burnett, J. F. Gazley, John F. Denny, James Applegate, R. Pendegast, T. W Davenport, J.G. Flook, D. P. Trullinger, W. D. Hoxter, J. W. Garret, W. W. Brown, John Minto, and John A. Taylor, being the republican minority, resigned their seats as members of the house on Saturday, October 24, 1868, leaving the general appropriation bill on the table, and other important legislation not passed. The house consisted of forty-seven members, thirty-two being a quorum. There were twenty-seven present and six absent, as stated by the governor in his message in response to notice. The house replied, declaring that there were twenty-seven members present and sixteen vacancies. The report of the committee, of which W. W. Chapman was chairman, impugned the good faith of the governor, charging him with falsehood and misrepresentation.
The legislative assembly for the year 1870 convened September 12, of that year. James D. Fay was elected president of the senate, and Ben Hayclen, of Polk, elected speaker. Among the prominent members of the senate for that session were: A. H. Brown, of Baker; Fay, of Jackson; Enoch Hoult, of Linn; D, P. Thompson, of ​Clackamas; R. B. Cochran, of Lane; Lansing Stout, of Multnomah, and T. R. Cornelius, of Washington; R. S: 8 trah an contested the seat of A. M. Witham from Benton. The seat of Binger Hermann, sitting member elected from Douglas, 1868, was contested by L. F. Mosher. It was claimed that Mr. Hermann held the office of deputy collector of internal revenue, and thereby the office of senator had become vacated. The seat of J. W. Watts, senator from Yamhill, was contested by W. T. Newby. On Wednesday, October 26, 1870, Victor Trevitt offered in the senate Joint Resolution No. 30, declaring that the so-called Fifteenth Amendment is an infringement of popular right and a direct falsification of the pledges made to the State of Oregon by the federal government, and that the same be rejected. This resolution was adopted by a vote of sixteen to five; Brown, Cornelius, Moores, Powell, and Thompson voting in the negative. The house concurred by a party vote on the same day. On October 26, Trevitt introduced Senate Joint Resolution No. 32, consisting of nine sections, professing unswerving fidelity to the Union and the constitution, and declaring that each state is an independent sovereign political community, except in certain particulars, declaring that the dominant party had repeatedly ignored and violated the constitution. This resolution was also adopted by a vote of twelve to five; four being absent. The minority candidate for speaker of the house against Mr. Hayden was W. D. Hare, of Washington. Governor Woods, in his message of September 13, 1870, called the attention of the legisislative assembly to the fact that the session of 1868 had failed to pass the general appropriation bill, in consequence of which the business of the state had been done upon credit, while the money of the state was accumulating in the vaults of the treasury. It will be remembered that L. F. Grover was elected governor ​at the regular election for the year 1870, and was about to succeed Governor Woods. A joint committee was appointed for the purpose of making arrangements for the inaugural ceremonies, and the governor-elect was inaugurated in Reed's Opera House. At this session Andrew Shuck and William M. Townsend successfully contested the seats of L. Laughlin and A. Hussey, of Yamhill; Carlisle and Galloway contested successfully the seats of Kelly and Dunn, of Benton County. The seats of the sitting members, Starkweather, Apperson, and Paquet, of Clackamas, were unsuccessfully contested. On September 20, 1870, in the house, James K. Kelly received twenty-eight votes; George H. Williams, nineteen votes for United States Senator; and in the senate Kelly received fourteen votes, and Williams seven. In joint convention Wednesday, September 21, 1870, Kelly received forty-two votes and Williams twenty-six, and Judge Kelly was thereupon declared elected United States Senator for the term beginning the first Monday in March, 1871. On September 21, 1870, Mr. T. W. Davenport offered House Joint Resolution No. 14, as follows: "Whereas, Lieutenant-General Sherman, the hero of Atlanta, is expected soon to arrive in this state; therefore, be it resolved by the legislative assembly of the State of Oregon, that in remembrance of his great services in the cause of republican liberty and for the preservation of the American Union, we do hereby extend to him a most cordial welcome, and respectfully invite him to visit the capitol at his earliest convenience, some time during the present session of the legislative assembly." Mr. Olney moved to amend, by inserting in its proper place in the preamble, the words: "William T. Sherman, General of the Army of the United States." Mr. Amos moved to amend by inserting after Lieutenant-General Sherman the words: "Who destroyed indiscriminately the people of a ​large portion of our country against every usage of civil warfare during the late civil war.' The resolution was referred to the committee on military affairs upon motion of Mr. Whiteaker, and a substitute for the original resolution was reported, as follows: "Resolved by the house, the senate concurring, that we welcome William T. Sherman, General of the Army of the United States, to our state, and invite him and his staff to visit the capitol at this session."
At the election held on Monday, June 6, 1870, for state officers, L. F. Grover received eleven thousand seven hundred and twenty-six votes, Joel Palmer eleven thousand and ninety-five votes, for the office of governor; S. F. Chadwick eleven thousand six hundred and fifty-five votes, James Elkins eleven thousand one hundred and forty-two votes, for the office of secretary of state; L. Fleischner eleven thousand five hundred and ninety-three votes, M. Hirsch ten thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine votes, for the office of state treasurer; Thomas Patterson eleven thousand six hundred and fifty-one votes and H. R. Kincaid eleven thousand five hundred and fifty-eight votes, for the office of state printer; James H. Slater eleven thousand five hundred and eighty-eight votes and Joseph G. Wilson eleven thousand two hundred and forty-five votes, for the office of congressman. It is thus seen that the entire state ticket of the democratic party was elected by a small majority. A. J. Thayer was elected judge of the second judicial district by a vote of two thousand four hundred and twenty-two to two thousand three hundred and thirty-six in favor of John Kelsay; R. P. Boise was elected judge of the third judicial district by a vote of three thousand four hundred and ninety-two to three thousand four hundred and seventy-four for B. F. Bonham; L. L. McArthur was elected judge of the fifth judicial district by a vote of two thousand ​one hundred and fifty-seven to one thousand four hundred and seventy-nine in favor of B. Wliitten. At the presidential election held November 3, 1868, the democratic electors, S. F. Chad wick, John Burnett, and James H. Slater, received an average vote of eleven thousand one hundred and twenty-five to ten thousand nine hundred and sixty polled for A. B. Meacham, Wilson Bowlby, and Orange Jacobs, the republican electors. It will be remembered "that the republican candidates were Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax, and the democratic candidates were Horatio Seymour and Frank P. Blair. At this election the second judicial district was composed of the counties of Benton, Coos, Curry, Douglas and Lane. The third judicial district of the counties of Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill, and the fifth judicial district of Baker, Grant, Umatilla, Union and Wasco. The population of the state, according to the ninth census, taken in the year 1870, was ninety thousand seven hundred and seventy-six. The legal voters were twenty-four thousand and forty-eight. The population of Multnomah at that time was eleven thousand five hundred and thirteen; of Marion nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-four, and Linn-eight thousand seven hundred and seventeen. There were then twenty-two counties.
Governor Woods in his message to the legislature in September, 1870, strongly urged state aid for the construction of railroads. Governor Grover, in his inaugural address, speaking of the Fifteenth Amendment, said: "Since your last meeting, by the promulgation of the so-called Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, Oregon has been deprived de facto of the first element of its constitution, guaranteed by her admission into the Union—the right to regulate suffrage. In the farewell address of Washington we have the following remarkable and prophetic ​admonition: 'Toward the preservation of your government and the permanency of your present happy state it is requisite not only that you speedily discountenance irregular opposition to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of invasion upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations which impair the energy of the system, and thus undermine what can not be directly overthrown.' The spirit of invasion upon the principles of the Constitution of the United States, of which we have been forewarned, has already been abroad, and it has adopted the very method of assault specifically pointed out. It has struck at the vital forces of our system and sought to implant therein the essential elements of tyranny. It has attacked the principle of local self-government in the states, which is the chief corner stone of our whole political fabric. While discountenancing irregular opposition to even assumed authority on the part of the general government in this respect, I shall not forbear placing on record my settled conviction that the two propositions last promulgated as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, effecting, as they do, such violence to the inherent and reserved rights of the several states, have never been legally sanctioned; and while we yield to superior force, exercised in the forms of law, let our constitution stand, sustained by the will of her people as a living monument of the former dignity of the states of the Union and as a landmark of American liberty. In order to cure the numerous complications and inconsistencies into which the late distracted condition of the country has thrown our fundamental laws, both state and national, at the proper time I would recommend that Oregon join with her sister states in proposing a call for a convention of all the states to frame ​amendments to the Constitution of the United States, to which, when fairly ratified by the legislatures or conventions of three fourths of the states, elected upon the issues submitted, all the states would cheerfully acquiesce and conform their local constitutions thereto. This course will probably become necessary in order that the co-ordinate branches of the general government be better intrenched in their rights, and that the rights of the states be redefined and acknowledged."
It is thus seen that the issues growing out of the war were sharply defined, and that the successful party in the elections in 1870 in the State of Oregon read in the results of that election condemnation of the reconstruction measures and of the adoption of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. At this distance, and divested of the feelings of bitterness which inflamed so many good men, it is seen that the gloomy anticipation in respect to these amendments have not been realized.
The legislative assembly, seventh biennial session, convened September 9, 1872, and concluded October 23, 1872. James D. Fay was elected president of the senate by the unanimous vote of that body. Syl. C. Simpson was elected chief clerk upon the sixty-third ballot. Rufus Mallory was elected speaker of the house. L. F. Mosher contested a seat in the senate from Douglas County, and Z. F. Moody contested the seat of W. F. Monroe from Wasco County. The joint convention for the election of United States Senator convened on Wednesday, September 25, 1872, and on that day John H. Mitchell received thirty-two votes; H.W. Corbett, eleven; John Whiteaker, four; P. P. Prim, eight; J. H. Slater, eleven; J. W. Nesmith, four; N. Gates, one; and on September 28, 1872, Mr. Corbett addressed a letter to W. W. Bristow, in which he withdrew his name as a candidate for United States Senator, and on the fifth ballot Mr. Mitchell ​received forty-one votes; Corbett, twelve; Prim, fourteen; Blank, four; and Mr. Mitchell was declared elected. This was Senator Mitchell's first election to the United States Senate for the term commencing March 4, 1873. Among the members of the senate we notice the familiar names of Enoch Hoult, of Linn; R. S. Strahan, of Benton; Albert H. Brown, of Baker; W. W. Bristow, of Lane; J. F. Watson, of Douglas; J. W. Cowles, of Yamhill; T. R. Cornelius, of Washington; J. N. Dolph, of Multnomah; John Myers, of Clackamas; and in the house the familiar names of Benjamin Simpson, of Benton; L. T. Barrin, of Clackamas; G. W. Riddle, of Douglas; Nathaniel Langell, of Jackson; Rufus Mallory, of Marion; T. McF. Patton, of Marion; J. F. Caples, and Sol Hirsch of Multnomah; Robert Clow, of Polk; A. R. Burbank and T. R. Harrison, of Yamhill. On Wednesday, October 23, 1872, the democrats of the house withdrew in a body, thereby breaking the quorum, and on that day the house adjourned without passing the general appropriation bill. The presidential electors for 1872 on the republican ticket were A. B. Meacharn, W. D. Hare, and J. F. Gazley, and they received an average vote of eleven thousand eight hundred and eighteen. The democratic electors—Horace Greeley for president—were N. H. Gates, E. D. Shattuck, and George R. Helm, receiving an average vote of seven thousand seven hundred and forty-two. On October 13, 1873, a special election was held for representative in the forty-third congress, at which J. W. Nesmith, democrat, received eight thousand one hundred and ninety-four votes; Hiram Smith, republican, six thousand one hundred and twenty-three. At the state election held June 1, 1874, T. W. Davenport, independent, received six thousand three hundred and fifty votes; R. Williams, republican, nine thousand three hundred and forty votes; George A. LaDow, democrat, ​nine thousand six hundred and forty-two votes, for congressman. J. H. Doughitt, independent, five thousand seven hundred and thirty-three votes; C. M. Foster, republican, eight thousand six hundred and three votes; S. F. Chad wick, democrat, ten thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven votes, for secretary of state. Demas Beach, independent, six thousand one hundred and thirty-two votes; D. G. Clark, republican, nine thousand and forty-three votes; A. H. Brown, democrat, ten thousand two hundred and twenty-eight votes, for state treasurer. William Hand, independent, five thousand seven hundred and twenty-one votes; E. M. Waite, republican, nine thousand and seventy-eight votes; M. V. Brown, democrat, ten thousand three hundred and one votes, for state printer. M. M. Ogelsby, independent, five thousand and fifty-seven votes; L. L Rowland, republican, nine thousand seven hundred and thirty votes; E. J. Dawne, democrat, nine thousand six hundred and ninety votes, for superintendent of public instruction. At this election, L. F. Mosher, democrat, received one thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine votes; John Burnett, independent, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight votes; John Kelsay, republican, one thousand five hundred and thirty votes, for judge of the second judicial district. W.C.Johnson, republican, two thousand three hundred; E. D. Shattuck, democrat, three thousand six hundred and seventy-three votes, for judge of the fourth judicial district. H. Kelly, republican, seven hundred and thirty-two votes; H. K. Hanna, democrat, nine hundred and eleven votes, for prosecuting attorney first judicial district. J. J. Walton, independent, one thousand six hundred and nineteen votes; F. A. Chenoweth, republican, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one votes; C. W. Fitch, democrat, two thousand and thirt-yeight votes, for prosecuting attorney for the second judicial ​district. T. Ford, independent, two thousand one hundred and eighty-one votes; N. B. Humphrey, republican, two thousand three hundred and eighty-eight votes; J. J. Whitney, democrat, two thousand seven hundred and fifty-five votes, for prosecuting attorney third judicial district. J. C. Morel and, republican, two thousand six hundred and seventeen votes; H.Y.Thompson, independent, three thousand two hundred and seventy-nine votes, for prosecuting attorney fourth judicial district. 0. Humason, independent, nine hundred and forty-five votes; J. C. Cartwright, republican, one thousand one hundred and thirty-two votes; W. B. Lazwell, democrat, two thousand and ninety-four votes, for prosecuting attorney for the fifth judicial district.
In the winter of 1872 and 1873 the Modoc Indians, then encamped on Lost f River, were ordered returned to the Klamath Reservation. They refused to obey, and Maj. James Jackson of the United States Army, with thirty-five men, was detailed to execute the order. The force being insufficient, John E. Ross, Brigadier General, First Brigade, Oregon Militia, with several companies, was ordered to his assistance, which resulted in what is called the Modoc War. On January 17, 1873, an engagement took place with the Indians under command of Captain Jack, in which there were three hundred and ten United States soldiers, one hundred and fifteen Oregon militia, and twenty-five California volunteers. The attack was unsuccessful, resulting in the loss of thirtyseven killed and wounded United States troops, two killed and five wounded Oregon militia, and four California volunteers wounded, two of whom afterwards died. The Indians were well fortified and had an estimated force of one hundred and fifty to two hundred. This was known as the battle of the Lava Beds. The president appointed a peace commission, who, on April 11, 1873, while ​attempting to negotiate with the Modocs, were attacked and massacred. The Indians, of course, finally surrendered, their leaders were banished, and the rest removed to various reservations.
* ↑ Senator Mitchell was re-elected United States Senator February 24, 1901, receiving forty-six votes, Henry W. Corbett twenty-nine votes, and A. S. Bennett fifteen votes.
* ↑ E. D. Shattuck died July 26, 1900.