The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-10-21
PIONEER MINISTER
BECOMES AUTHOR


on the Columbia river highway a short
distance west of the city, G. W. Ken
nedy. an Oregon pioneer Of 1853 and an
early Methodist circuit rider Of eastern
Washington and Oregon. hnds no occu-
patton more pleasing than that Of tell
ing stories of the days when Oregon
was being wrested from the wilder
ness. Rev. Kennedy has just written
book of pioneer stories. ''The Pio-
neer Campfire, he calls it. The vol
ume contains much of interest to the
casual reader; it is graphic in its de-
scriptIon of Incidents of the stirring
times of Indian warfare; there are
touches of pathos in the telling of
some early day tragedy; and the reader
must smile as the author must have
done when he was telling of some of
the pleasantries and jokes of the from
tier. To the student of pioneer north
western history the book contains much
of value.
How much greater privilege it is,
however, TO hear the stories told by
the pioneer minister himself. !. Rev.
Kennedy is as modest as a maiden. He
is proud of bis new book not so much
because he has written it, but because
in building up its stories he has lived
over again the days of his childhood
and young manhood. With all of his
modessty the aged minister carries
himself very dramatically. In his con-
versation he will pause until he grasps
just the proper word to make his
meaning more emphatic. He won rec
ognition for the we'll rounded points
and beauty of his sermons.
81 made my first speech, he says in
The Pioneer Campfire, when | was
IL years old. The weekly debating so.
ciety of those days was a pretentious
and ambitious institution. The partic-
ipants were the men and half grown
boys Of the neighborhood who organ
ICED with ponderous constitution and
set OF bylaws, and under these fought
out many a forensic battle over ques
tions that have puzzled the minds of
sages and that are still unsettled"
Mr.. Kennedy was born in Pike Co.,
Illinois, September 5, l847. On that
date of the past September he was fill
ing the pulpit of the local Methodist
church in the absence of the pastor,
Rev. W. B. Young, who was attending
conference at Spokane. "This is a
coincidence" said Mr.. Kennedy, as a
prelude to his sermon. "Sixty-eight
years ago on Sunday morning, just
as this is, first saw the light of day.
Ii was 10 O'Clock, they tell me. was
early enough for church, and | have
never been late since" Mr.. Keenndy
was of family of five children.
- -.
year of age his parents crossed the
Mississippi, joined an emigrant train
and set out for the promise land of
Oregon. The journey was begun as
early as possible in the year, and by
September the kennedys were en-
camped on the MOala in the William
ette Valley. Telling of this first camp
Mr.. Kennedy pays tribute to the
oxen that drew his fathers wagon
across the plains. "And the tired oxen,
how they did enjoy It'll" he says.
"How they did eat that green William
ette grass. Those faithful old oxen
there was old Buck and Dick, always
working at the tongue Of the wagon
and from Illinois to Oregon were never
out of their places when we were trav-
cling. Old Buck, the kind faithful old
friend, how | did love him. He had
kicked me down once on the plains,
away back on Bear river. was
thrown under the wheels and one of
them passed over my thigh. But
thanks to a protecting Providence |
was scarcely bruised. Still | never
held it against old Buck. 1t seemed
that he couldn't do a mean trick.
Those weary, hungry cattle seemed as
thankful as we were to God that we
had reached the grassy wales of Ore.
gon.
Mr. Kennedy's father took up do
nation claim west of Covallis near the
present site of Philomath. An uncle
of Mr.. Kennedy purchased squatter's
right to an adjoining half section. The
family of the former set to work at
once to prepare for the coming winter.
A 20 by 30 foot log cabin was built.
I'VE called it home with great deal of
pride when we moved into it, " writes
MIR. Kennedy. THE log cabin had no
floor at first but had a large fireplace
at one end What fires we used to
have !"
"My mother was forted up in that
cabin during the Cayuse war of 1856
56. Nearly all the able bodied meu
had to join the volunteer army and 60
out to fight the Indians. With my
mother were her five children, the old
est but ii years of age. But she could
shoot the head off squirrel at good
distance, and with her rifle and port
holes between the chinks she felt that
she cuold stand off fair sized party
of Indians.
1.-The first decade of Oregon history
was this log cabin decade. But it was
grand and beautiful and romantic. Out
of those log cabin homes, log cabin
schoolhouses and log cabin meeting
houses came the stalwart men and
women of the territory. Those states
men, teachres and preachers have Civ
en- character to the whole state. We
ought to cherish their memories and
thank God for their environment.
MIR. Kennedy's mother, Mary A.
Kennedy, taught the first school in the
Mary's river country. "We children
all went with mother to school, says
Mr.. Kennedy.
mot long after the opening of that
log cabin school the people desired to
establish a school of college grade.
That call was answered by the selec-
ton of Philomath. " One of the early
graduates of Philomath, Prof. ]. B.
Homer, of the University of Oregon.
is a warm personal friend of Mr.. Ken
nedy. In foreword to "The Pioneer
Campfire, Prof. Horner says: "In
the early morning of Oregon history
the author of The Pioneer Campfire
became a prominent figure. He min
ged with the most active men and
women of the time. He lived amidst
their activities. He heard them recite
Oregon stories as tragic as the deeds
of Horatus, Cssablanca and James
Fitzjames, and he jotted them down in
his memory after he had talked heart
to heart with the Indians. Thus the
early history of Oregon became part
of his being. Later, when his age
ripened, he recounted the stories with