Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1907-02-08
- slN' 'sINk'SI G sNs M
POLK COUNTY
It's Past, Present and
Future.

w ' pec'' u Keen observer of men
ana close student of events. The OBsERvrR
gladly gives II space, as ii contains mucl, that
wii DC oil Interest not only to pioneers. but to
1he many people who have come to Polk comfy
IN recent years to make their homes-Ed,
Continued from Last Week
Thls question brings US to the
present in thought, and, without
going into history, we find that where
once stood the wickyup and the sweat.
house OF the aboriginal inhabitant.
now stand thriving cities and manu-
featuring towns, with schools, colleges,
and churches whose spires point
Heavenward and whose bells pro-
claim civilization second to none in
the world. Some communities NAV
make more pretentious show OF re-
tinement than Oregon, but beyond all
doubt the representative citizen of this
commonwealth is q model. He is
conservative, progressive and enter
prising, with the hard-headedness
characteristic of men the world over
who keep business and social con-
ditlons in balance.
The Oregonian-the pioneer, or the
arrival OF a more recent date-is not
OF the Munchausen stripe, neither is
he a plunger, but on the other hand
he is laying the foundation for busi-
ness broad and deep. See Oregon's
public schools, her reformatory insti-
tutions, churches, colleges, railroads,
and other institutions too numerous
to mention. OF rural schools, on
which the foundations of civilization
rest, it is said that Oregon has, for her
age, perhaps the finest system in the
world-t the most perfect and universal
of any known country.
Agricultural and horticultural i'm
provement has also more than kept
pace with other important features in
0regon's development. Her hills are
covered with orchards, which bear in
riotous profusion, and the valleys
that once produced only wild grape
are now ''deep waving fields and
pastures green, with gentle slopes and
groves between"
The site of the town of Dallas is
perhaps the most changed OF any spot
in Polk county. When first seen by
the earliest settlers, the landscape was
a beautiful oak park great spreading
trees. with branches interlacing, and
n velvety carpet Of grass, without
weeds or the semblance Of brush or
briars. Every fall the Indians burned
the grass, and these grass fires Kept
down the small brush and did not
iniure the big timber. There was no
brush in Oregon then, neither in the
mountains, hills nor valleys. All was
grass, grass, and big trees that grew
on the hills and mountains and by
the water courses that led down to the
beautiful Willamette, whose placld
waters had never been fretted by the
white mans craft, and where no sound
was heard save the plouting OF
salmon. No busy machinery, no
discordant whistles Of scorching loco
motives or harvest engines broke the
entrancing stiffness of what seemed 10
he a verdant land of eternal rest.
The reader will excuse the writer for
this return to the scenes OF the
fascinating past, for while we ENJOY
the nresent and desire to be classed
among the promoters of all things for
the public and private good, we nope
we may be pardoned if the memories
Of sixty years ago open the very
fountains of the soul and incline us
to linger in the shade of the almos.
forootten past, with its beautiful
scenes and reeollections, in a land
fresh from the Omnipotent hand. Do
not call us a fogy or a mosspaek' lol
while we love Oregon in its past We
love if more in the present.
The civilization of Polk county ls
not to be wondered at when one knows
the character of its founders; wnen e,
one clrr knows the spirit of Colonel Gli- n,
liam or a Colonel Ford, together WIN
the the, Embrees. Thorps, Grants, the NC.
Daniels. and others of class Oh lnel
broad-mipded, energetic, conselen'
tions and brave. They laid the foun
dation JI here with the Golden Rule p'
u''s as 4hink for a moment that fanatl
niom lo, ever held sway IN early Oregon
~ sor no country was ever more noteo
for its religious freedom, ana 'h' !.
nario,,s 10 denominations worked Il
barmony in the first oampmeetlng'
ii't in tbe groves as we'll as at the revlVal'
hold h. in the settlers homes.
H1l% Colonel ln Cornelius Gillian and Col
oI Nathaniel Ford. both men 0
On0l OaI1 aocb arrived here in charge OF
lma1I l0aa' wagon train, the ittest" Of theiI
si snlal' +roins ~a of the Platte. Thougi
lobB Il'iD distinctive char