The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-07-09
IN PROMISED LAND
Eastern oregon's Colony of West
Virginia Mountain Folk
GOD.FEARlNG AND COMMENTED.
Little known of These Hardy and
Hospitable People Who Helped to
Penetrate the Virgin Forests of the
Pacific Slope-Nearly All Followers
of the Creed Taught by Campbell.

Portland oregonlan' On the spurs OF
the Powder river mountains Just east
OF the Grand Ronlo river. In Wallowa
county, Ore, lie thousands OF acres OF
fertile. heavily timbered. well watered
government land. There is probably no
other region in thu United States, OF
which there is SO little known by the
outwide world as this. 1t is fifty miles
to Elgin, the nearest railroad point, over
q road which is none of the best. ii,
A few years ago, about fifty families
OF West Virginia mountaineers. tired Of
atruggllng for q livelihood on the pow
5erty-stricken hills OF their native state,
began to look about for i place where
they could better their condition. BY
some means their attention was direct
cd to eastern Oregon. and rising like q
flock of migratory birds, they flew west
and settled down on these fertile hills.
The head of each family took up 100
acres OF land, under the homestead law,
and ut once began 10 clear away the
forest and open a farm. So delighted
were the settlers with their new loca-
ton that they named 1t "The Promised
Land" and the settlement is known BY
that name over all that part of the
state.
Clearing away and disposing of the
heavy timber was no easy task Great
trees, many of them more than 100 feet
HIGH and from two to three feet in, d.
ameter, were cut down, sawed into
lengths that could be moved, rolled to-
gether and burned. Just to get rid Of
rnem. 1t seemed like wanton destruc-
ton to burn these magnificent trees:
, but there was no other way, and the
monarchs of the forest had to go. The
newcomers. cut logs and built for them
selves cabins more. or less pretcntlous.
according to their means, each help
ing the other. and, .thess~''iione rails
ings" served the double purpose of
making homes and promoting sociabili-
ty.
old-Fashioned Hospitality.
The men are strong. hardy, sober. in
dustrious and sensitive, quick and will
ing to do an,act of kindness, and equal
~ quick to resent an insult or an In
jury. The women are pictures of health
and robust womanEood. The people
are noted for their hospitality. The
visitor be he friend or stranger, Is al
ways welcomed In thu old-time south
ern manner. The best his4host can pro-
vide is set before him, aaSssn Offer to
pay is regarded as an insult, The mem
! bers of the community are primitive in
manner of Lying. as pioneers must be,
but thelr kiEd-helrtedness. their hospI
tally and their keen sense of houor
proclaim the gentle blood of the "old
Dominion" The Promised Land" is 4
reighcorhood all to Itself; being 50 re-
mote from every settlement, the people
do not suffer for want Of elbow room:
Willis their life is made up Of days of
hard work. they are not without
amusements. The evenings In summer
are short. and after long days work.
cultivating their crops, they are tired
enough to want to rast. esr
But. during the winter. thay have
more time for enjoyment. The days
are spent In clearing away TIL: timber
and taking care OF their stock. ana the
long evenings are devoted to social In
tercouIse. Almost every week some
one of the reighhors gives purity. and
old anu young gather in the log cabin
and pass the hours away to the music
of the fiddle anu when THE Arkansas
Traveller" '"rhp Irish Washerwoman"
and The Devils Dream" take the plac.
of Schubert's "Serenade." Chopin's
"Polonaise," etc., OF the city gatherings.
II the youngsters want to indulge in 4
dance. the room Is cleared, the young
fellows select their partners and. while
one Of their number calls off, the
others keep time to the merry strains
of the music. These amuscments may
be crude or even rude, but they recall
Goldsmith's lines:
o luxury. Thou cursed by heavens decree,
How III exchanged arc things like these
for thee.
In their religious life-and they are
all church memberships people of the
promised Land" are as primitive as
they are In other respects. They are
nearly. II not all. members of the Chris
t!an or CampbcllIte church. and they be-
licvc In doing right. The little log
schonlhousc is utilised as L church on
Sunday. The minister Is 4 regular old
timer. who expounds the gospel of hell
fire and birthstone. In the Blooming
ton. Ind, Star. which Is being edited
.as the devil wc>ild edit IT," his Satanic
Majesty is made to say. editorially:
Satan's Editorial.
THE world moves. and things are
(. coming my way fast. Even the churches
are falling into line. When the old
fashioned preacher Of former days
pounded the pulpit and preached
to the text. Christ and him crucinad,' l
had a pretty hard road. but now, with
the liberal and up-to-date preachers.
am getting along easy"