The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1867-06-01
For the State Rights Democrat
LECTURES BY REV. II. H. SPAULDlNG
Early Oregon HissiOns.--X'hefr Em.
pOrtance in Securing the P0uns
try TO Americans.
INuMnKR TWENTY ONE.

| On tue IouftH uuy the VASTLY tHlpVtltlit III
telligence that should have been brought by
Mr.. Parker, came, unex xpectedly, by Captain
Wyeth, whb arrived 1T our rendezvous from
the Lower Columbia. Il will he recoleeted
that he crossed the mountains n 1884, and
that under his convoy tLe great pioneer mia.
sionary, Lee, reached tho Willamette Valley.
He established himself on Souvib's Island,
lat the mouth Of the Willamette, and com.
menced the salmon trade in connection with
tho fur business but, as he said, he twas
politely bowed out Of the country by the
isuperior advantages Of the II .eJs. Co. lie
told us missionaries We bad ~ jng II fear !;
that We would find the EngIIsf inF traders
lperfect gentlemen and ready 20 aid us IN our
enterprise 70 the best Of their ability that
ut Vancouver, their principal establishment,
we would find civilization fairly begun that
the Company had Touring mill ut Fort Col.
willie, north Of the Nez Perces country, and
one at Vancouver, where they also raised
thousands of bushels of grain and where we
could readily obtain flour and seeds that
Vancouver contained shops and stores we'll
filled with merchandise, which the Company
would cheerfulIy afford us on reasonable
terms that the soil aud climate Of the Pa
Iciiic coast had been found adapted 10 cultiya.
ton and above AL, he informed us that a
strong caravan Of the II. Is. Co., direct from
Fort Wafla Walla, had arrived that day the
had travelled with theml. and were encamp-
ed only ten miles distant, and that the two
partners, McCloed and Mckay, would be at
our camp that evening, aud advised Us 10 put
ourselves at once under their protection.
This intelligence was almost like electrici.
~. We could hardly believe our ears. How
joyfulIy different from what we had feared
or con 4 even expect. How wonderful how
timely We saw in il at once the kind in
terposing hand Of our Heavenly Father,
which had been stretched out so often 10 dc
liver US, but now so memorable; and we
gave Him public thanks.
That evening Mcssrs McCloed and Mckay
1.-THE latter well known 0h this coast, arrived
at our tant aud kindly inYited ps % join
their camp as soon as Mrs. Spalding should
sufficiently recover % DO able 20 ride. They
assured Us that the Snake River route was
the only one by which our ladies and cattle
could possibly reach the Nez Perces country
that year that they would most gladly at.
ford us every facility in their power. But
they told us plainly that they did not believe
il possible 10 take a wagon through the rug
ged mountains Of the Bear River and the
volcanic burning sand.deserts Of the Snake
country but they would select the possible
passes aud give us n chance TO settle tho
question that wagons and cattle, as also
white women could be taken through this
great and terrible wilderness, which had
proved 10 80 many the wilderness Of death.
They generously assured as that we should
share equally with them the meat brought
in by their hunters. If not daily, Yet Hs OF
zen as it could be obtained from the distant
mountains. And most faithfully did these
kind hearted gentlemen make their promise
8 good. They were particularly attentive 10
4 tka IL rf al AuA nd a.
;. gain did they direct their march 10 accom-.
: MEDIATE our wagons, and our cattle, as the
: one could not penetrate some Of the narrow
: deiiles, and the other could not endure the
long stretches over fhe burning sand deserts,
like native Indian horses of whieh their car
4 avan was composed. Mr. Gray is mista.
/, ken in his opinion published about these
|. lgentlgmen, and docs them great injustice
= They certainly gave him no grounds to say
Q what he has. Indeed, but for their kindness
l and unceasing attentions, we would not,
T. probably. have reached this country that
[. year certainly not with our wagons and
cattle. To have attempted it with few
. strangers, and without an experienced hun.
: ter, rs we would have been compelled to do,
Z would have been certain destruction TO our
e animals, and probably 20 ourselves.
st On the 18th of July, 1896, having prepa,
d red our Report to our Board in Boston, and
10 letters TO friends in the civilized world, TO 70
n back by the Am. Fur Company, we exchan
:. ged earnest prayers and hearty good wishes
:, with our n-browned travelling com panions
u as they were 20 return to the Christian
Y world, and we TO plunge deeper into tho
r moral darkness--t0 camp no more together
Ie till the last Great Day OF the Lord our Sa
- vior. The famous mountaineer, Bridger
= was particularly warm in his good wishes
!, and thanks TO DR.. Whitman for his valuable
= services to him the year before, in extracting
T. dangerous arrowhead from his back bone
II lie declared he would send his little hal
10 breed daughter to his care. as soon as sh'
Of became old enough and he made good hi
A. vows, and the dear child fell one of the vic
:. Tins of the Waiilat-pu tragedy which
& bloody and noted event, Capt. Mullan, il
- his valuable book on military roads, yirtu
"a ally denies as does, also, the stAlta Cali
Of fornia, for the probable reasons which viii
sr hereafter appear. The Great Camp at Ru
% clezvan's was to break up in q few days, ant
n the valley of Green River TO rest on in 81
:, lence till other years.
~ Mrs. Spalding, through a kind Provi
10 dence, was able TO ride in the wagon by dri
= wing slow, wrote TO our Board: "Neve
n send another white woman over those noun
b. tains, if you have any regard for human
of life" But the great deed was done, neye
- to be undone. Two years later and fou
: women crossed, and every year after tha
:, to the present has witnessed the crossing 0
"a more or less ;--the first four years by mis-
as sionary ladies only, and after that by emf
= grant ladies. In l842 the track had becom
le so plain that the famous "Pathfndero wa
r able to follow it as far as Wind River Noun
- tains, where he deemed it too hazardous, 70
!. himself and brave men, to advance furthe
=, into this Great Wilderness, without "brea
~ and coffee" returned to the city of Wash
is ington and reported progress. The mex
ID year, the path having been greatly impro
le we'd by the footsteps of some three hundre
. mothers and daughters, in the emigrant
: brought over by DR.. Whitman, the "hero'
= and his party rolled out again, and was abl
this time to follow the white woman's pat
- entirely to the Dalles of the Columbia, Sc
lr ven years after the first white woman ha
re passed, and for which hazardous and sell
& denying enterprise, he came very near bein
- made president under the significant It'll
: of the Pathfinder -
: On our way to the English camp we me
lone Of the partners, Mr.. M'C0y, who erie
out as he saw our ladies: sThere is some
thing Dr. Mclaughlin will NOT get out of th
country so easy This English half breed
though American born saw at once the fu
,e ture consequences Of the crossing of th
mountains, and the continent, by these tw
- women, and nobly did he help them on.
ds The English historian, Duncan, declares thi
event sealed the fate Of this country to Enc