Clarence Booth Bagley

“ The citizens of the United States are scat- tered for a wide extent of the territory without a single place of refuge. We have neither ships of war, nor of commerce, nor any navigation of the rivers of the interior." It asked for a distinct territorial government, for means of protection against Indians, for Indian agents, and the acquire- ment of the lands from the Indians ; for donations of lands to settlers then in Oregon and to come; for navy yards and marine depots on the Columbia River and Puget Sound (this was before an American settler had reached Puget Sound) ”

“ He appointed postmasters at Portland, Oregon City, Salem and Corvallis, but not until June, 1850, did a mail steamer come up the Coast, but even then the visits of steamers were few and far between until in 1851. The steamer Columbia arrived from New York with mails and passengers in March of that year. Her schedule between San Francisco and Portland was once each month. The carrying of mails in the early days was a matter of great expense and exceeding difficulties and by land was at- tended with danger from storms, floods, wild animals and Indians. ”

“ In January, 1852, the Oregon Legislature passed a resolution asking the delegate to secure the location of a postoffice in each county seat and that a mail route be established to each one of them ; also that he "request" the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to comply with the terms of its contract, obligating it to leave mail at Umpqua City on the upward and downward trips of its steamships between San Francisco and the Colum- bia River. For 40 years that company observed no law, regu- lation or contract that was not to its liking. ”

“ In 1855 the construction of a telegraph line from Portland to San Francisco was begun. The line was actually completed as far as Corvallis, and a few messages transmitted, at least as far as Salem. It went through Oregon City and to Salem on the east side, and at the latter place crossed over to the west side, and thence to Corvallis. The wire was light iron and the insulators the necks of common 'junk' bottles placed around straight iron pins or nails in the tops of poles. ”

“ The company bought government stamped envelopes and put its own stamps on them and charged more than one hundred per cent profit for the service, the government mail service at the same time escaping the charge for carrying an immense amount of mail matter that it col- lected full postage upon. Individuals engaged in carrying letters and light packages overland from Oregon to California in the early '50s and as a reward for their arduous and dangerous task received 50 cents an ounce for the contents of their pouches. ”

“ Lawrence, and westward to the Sandwich Islands was conducted by that company. It had ships to and from London, schooners to Honolulu, steamers from Nisqually to Victoria, Langley and Sitka. Expresses were sent in every direction as the needs of the service required. By canoe down the Columbia and up the Cowlitz to a landing near the Cowlitz Farms, and thence to Nisqually by land. The trip usually required six days. From Nisqually, by canoe, to Victoria and Langley, though sometimes the Cadboro served, and after 1836 the steamer Beaver and later the Otter, in place of canoes. ”

“ In 1838, about three years after the establishment of the Methodist Missions in Oregon, it had become apparent that, so far as the work among the Indians was concerned, it had been and must be a failure. To Jason Lee and others, the establishment of civilization with religion and good govern- ment as the foundation of the edifice became the paramount issue. It was agreed that Lee should become the messenger to personally represent to the Church Board, to the authorities at Washington and the public generally the needs and value of the country ”

“ From that time until the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad across the conti- nent, in 1883, while the telegraph served the newspapers and business needs of Oregon and Washington, the mail service was a never-ending source of frauds, injustice and hardships to the general public. The Oregon Railroad was begun in 1868, but not completed until 1887, and the Northern Pacific, begun at Kalama in 1871, reached Tacoma in 1873. ”

“ Men of light weight but known courage and experience on the plains were selected. It was necessary that some portions of the race against time should be run at the rate of 20 miles an hour. The horses were stationed from 10 to 20 miles apart and each rider was supposed to ride 60 miles, though it hap- pened more than once that when the rider arrived at the end of his run he found the other man sick or injured or dead, and then the tired rider ran out the other man's stunt. ”

“ As early as 1845, the authorities at Washington began mak- ing spasmodic efforts for mail service from the Atlantic States to Oregon, via Havana, Aspinwall, across the Isthmus to Pan- ama, thence up the Coast to the Columbia River, and thence to the Sandwich Islands, but little came of it until the discovery of gold in California. Early in 1847, Cornelius COMMUNICATION IN EARLY OREGON 357 Gilliam, of Oregon, was appointed postal agent for the Oregon Country. ”

“ It recites the condition of the people, "the fact that the temporary government being lim- ited in its efficiency and crippled in its powers by the paramount duty we owe to our respective governments, our revenues being inadequate to its support and almost total absence apart from the Hudson's Bay Company of the means of defense against Indians. ”

“ After the objections of Eells and Walker were overcome, H was decided that Whitman should go East by the overland route. October 5 was the time set and the other members of the mission returned to their COMMUNICATION IN EARLY OREGON 351 stations to prepare long- letters to send by him. However, he started two days earlier, or on October 3, 1842. A. L. Lovejoy accompanied him. Usually they would have had little difficulty in getting across the Rocky Mountains before winter set in. ”