Portland, Oregon - History (part 11 of 18)

From these somewhat iminviting parts, one passes westward up the long streets, meeting with an area of manufacfturing establishments, and gradually finding himself in the midst of a middle class of cottages, mostly iinpretentious, but comfortable and occasionally displaying signs of ambition. ^This passed, one is led rapidly on by the sight of grand and imposing residences in the distance, of costly structure and splendid ornamentation. Many of these are set upon whole blocks, beaiitifuUy decorated with trees, turf and flowers, and supplied with tasteful drive-ways. One notable feature of Portland here first seen, is the elevated or terraced blocks, making the level of the lawn a number of feet above the streets, giving a somewhat regal aspedl to the whole premises. Some of the more palatial of these edifices occupy double blocks, the cross streets not being run through. Among those of the spacious and magnificent West End are houses costing about $20,000 to $50,000 - some of them $90, 000 each - of three and four stories, and mainly in the Queen Anne style. It is upon the swell of the plateau that these fine houses begin to appear, and the views from their upper windows and turrets are extensive. For ten blocks back - 16th to 26th streets - or even further, and from about N street southward to Jefferson, or some twenty streets, the region is, by popular consent - and still more by prevailing prices - forever dedicated to dwellings of wealth and beauty. The streets here are, for the most part, well paved and delightfully ornamented, but not overshadowed by trees. The houses are projedled and their accompanying grounds are laid out on such an ample scale, and there is so little crowding, the sun and sky have such complete access that one is much impressed with the general air of elegance and taste. There is, of course, none of the marble and stony grandeur of New York or Chicago, of the splendor of Euclid Ave., in Cleveland, or the lavish adornment of Jackson street in Oakland, California, or the pre-eminent extravagance of the palaces of the mone}' kings cf Nob Hill, in San Francisco; but for substantial comfort and tasteful display the west end of Portland has few rivals. It is, moreover, devoid of superfineness, or niceness, but is wholesome and neat. The general spirit of this portion of town might be distinguished from the streets or avenues of other cities, in that the separate houses appear to be built independently and with reference only to their own needs and entirety, while the others referred to are more often construdled as complete streets, each edifice being planned and laid out with reference to the rest, and as but a part in one continuous whole. The charadleristic of Portland in its residential quarters will probably prevail even when the city attains its largest population, since the irregularities of ground and peculiarities of situation will necessarily modify the archite(5ture, and, to quite an extent, at least, make each dwelling a complete whole in itself

On the environs of this region toward the north are two buildings very worthy of note. One of these is St. Vincent's Hospital, under the charge of the Sisters of Charity, among the cottages and shops toward the Lake; and the other the Good Samaritan Hospital, on 21st and L streets, much nearer than the other to the hills. The latter was established in 1875 under the Episcopal diocese, but chiefly by the labors of Bishop Morris. It, like St. Vincent's, has a substantial building three stories high, including basement and 75 feet wide, by a length nearly twice as great. Both St. Vincent's and the Good Samaritan make amends - to some extent at least - ^for the evil deeds of the men stealers and body destroyers that lurk along the North Shore. The Bishop Scott Military' Academy on 14th and B streets, founded by the first Episcopal bishop of the Pacific Northwest, the medical college near by, the stately block of houses of Mrs. Judge Williams, and a multitude of handsome dwellings adorn the bulge of the plateau on the other hand. The steep hill to the west is rapidly being cleared of its logs and brush and fine houses are ascending its sides, and perching upon coigns of vantage and in sunny plats on their uneven slopes.

B street, running up from Couch's Addition, is the natural boundary of North Portland on the south, following for the most part the depression of Tanner Creek, and further on over to King's Creek. Between this and Jefferson street, some ten blocks, the land has, owing to the irregularities of the ground, and the little winding vale of the creek, been left lying in large, and often irregular blocks, some of which contain an area of as much as five acres. The lay of the tract is romantic and delightful in the extreme. The creek forms a sunken valley, with little meadows on either side, which have been, and to some extent are still occupied by the Chinese for garden purposes. Ash trees, weeping willows, and various wild shrubs have been suffered to grow, and the winding lines of this depression, cut by water, form a most grateful rest from the strict angularity of the streets as laid out by man. Upon the west side the hill climbs rapidly, but not abruptly out of the cleft, going steadily and confidently toward the Heights. On the way its looks back, figuratively speaking, somewhat lovingly, certainly very gracefully, and makes no such violent assent as the sterner hills to the northward and southward. It is no breathless climb, but an easy ambling gait. The big plats, grassy and set with small trees, lie wide, with but few houses, but those present large and stately. That of Mrs. Gaston on the first swell, and a cluster near form a handsome group. On the northern side of this hill front a tract of some five acres is occupied by the residence and grounds of Mrs. H. D. Green, the house, whose delightful architecture and adornment is almost submerged in a wealth of beautiful trees. Her large hot-houses, filled with the finest of exotics, are a mark for the sun and a gnomon to the whole city upon which they look down.

Going down the slow hill once more one finds that B street heads, to speak in the manner of the mountaineer, in a stou}- canyon, whose natural roughness has been aggravated by gravel-diggers. Out of this rises, or did rise King's Creek, a stream of most delicious water, which has now been consigned to more than Tartarean gloom in a sewer. In a cleft on the left, which is soft and leafy with trees overhanging, and cool with the shade of some immense firs, begins an inviting path, gently rising, leading between two banks more or less bestrewn with leaves and ornate with fern fronds, maiden-hair, wood-brakes, wild shrubs and fox-tails. Trees of fir, cedar, dogwood, maple and willow lean over the way; logs lie above across the ravine from one side to the other, and upon them have been laid rustic walks.

The city has other parks - a whole string of them from end to end, but some individual of pomological ideas was intrusted with the work of improving them, and set out trees in lines geometrically straight like an apple orchard, making the park blocks almost offensive to a man of sensitive nature. The City park was, however, saved from any such errors. It contains fort}' acres and was bought as much as ten years ago from A. M. King at the then high price of $1,000 per acre. Lying on the hillside, with gulch and steep brow, and looking like all the other hills surrounding, the people of the city felt no vast interest in the place, and it was difficult to gain any appropriation to improve the same. If $50,000 had been secured at once it is likely that the whole thing would have been grubbed and levelled and set out to poplar trees in straight rows. But having only about enough means to employ a keeper, the city took no such disastrous steps, and the gardener was left to make the place as attractive as possible by his personal labors. Very wisely he decided not to dig up the trees but to simply clear away the rubbish and to let the native shrubbery- and the wild-wood still grow. Following along in this line it was soon demonstrated what a wealth of beauty had already been lavished upon the spot. Little firs, clumps of crooked vine maples, clean-boiled dogwoods, endless bunches of the scarlet flowered currant that flames in the early spring, and many others such as our suns and showers noiirish, were left to their first estate, and were only relieved of the rubbish of years. The roads which have been built from B street and from Jefferson street, must of necessity wind along the hill and thus be as curving as the hill points themselves. As time has gone the ground has been turfed, the roadways terraced above; hothouses and plats of flowers added; pumps, a seal-tub, a bear pit, cages for panthers, and a deer-park have also been supplied.

Coming around in front of the hill one discovers Portland. One sees now that he has not as yet seen it at all. From the river it is not the city but the back-ground that appears. From the hill-fronts he looks down over the place. To get a full, unobstructed sweep, let him ascend the heights still back of the park and stand on the tree-shagged knob of King's mountain. While on the subject of parks, it may be suggested that forty acres is ver\- small for anything really fine. Let six hundred be added to it. A good piece of land along the river, or perhaps Ross Island; and a square mile or two on the East side should also be secured before values become too exorbitant.

In coming back from the park, one sees on the south side of B street a large wooden building, covering two blocks, 400x200 feet. It is that of the North Pacific Industrial Exposition. It was erected by the people of Portland in 1888, at a cost of $150,000. Its first opening in 1889, from September 26 to October 26, was a great success, people coming in for attendance from all parts of the Northwest. The exhibit was good, the music excellent, furnished by special contract with Liberati, of New York, and the receipts were so large as to assure the success of the undertaking henceforth. From thetimeof the organization of the Mechanic's Fair on the old Market block it has been the custom of the people of the surrounding towns and country to come to Portland at the time of the exposition, and the transportation lines have favored them with reduced fares. This has made Portland a sort of Mecca for the whole Northwest; and is unquestionably the best sort of policy for her to pursue - a liberal spirit of general good feeling inviting communication and friendship. The following is a good description of the building: The exposition building is a mammoth structure of brick, iron, glass and fir. It is certainly the largest edifice on the Pacific Coast, and competent judges, who have visited exposition buildings throughout the United States declare it to be superior for the purposes for which it was erected to any they have seen. It is 400 feet long by 200 feet deep and covers two full blocks. Practically it is three stories high, the floor of the central portion or music hall being thirty feet lower than those of the two large wings, while a gallery forty feet wide extends throughout the entire building. With the galleries the building has a floor space of 143,000 square feet, and, after deducting aisles of ample width; can accommodate 250 exhibitors with 200 square feet each. The general plan of the main floors and galleries has been made so that all pushing and crowding may be avoided, and exhibitors may have spaces that can be seen by the greatest number of visitors.

The officers' quarters, ladies' parlor and gentlemen's smoking room are on the main floor in the front part of the building, while the musicians' room and dining room are in the rear portion. The interior is lighted by large windows on every side of the building, and by suitably located skylights. Under the main floor is ample room for storage. The boilers, engines and dynamos are separated some feet from the building and enclosed in a stone, iron and brick structure.

The right wing of the building, which is 200x150 feet, with a gallery 40 feet wide, is intended chiefly for exhibits of machinery. Main lines of shafting may be attached to the outside row of the gallery supports and so arranged that exhibitors can belt to almost any space in the entire hall. Steam pipes run under the floor and are so situated as to be easily tapped by exhibitors of engines and machinery requiring steam. Suitable arrangements are also made for exhibitors of pumps, electric-motors and other exhibits that require special facilities.

The central portion of the Exposition building was originall)- intended to be used permanently as a garden, with tropical plants, caged wild animals, and bii'ds of rare plumage, but the possibilities of the uses to whicli this central portion could be put, led the management to temporarily at least, abandon the ' ' garden ' ' idea, and make of it a music hall. The rough plank iloor on which it was intended to lay from twelve to eighteen inches of soil, has been covered with a toe and top nailed, best quality wood floor, and when waxed, as it will be, will make one of the finest floors in the country for promenade concert purposes. Two galleries, each sixteen feet wide, extend the entire length of either side. These are roomy, and have a seating capacity of 1,000. From every part of these galleries a full view of the stage can be had. The stage of this music hall is set in an elegantly painted grotto, and is surrounded almost entirely by a semi-circular sounding board which serves to intensify the magnificent acoustic properties of the hall. Behind this grotto is a magnificent landscape painting, executed by an eminent artist from Munich. The scene is typically representative of some of the garden spots of the North Pacific Coast, and is spread upon a canvas 100x85 feet. The roof of this hall, or garden, is of glass supported by eleven semi-circular arches of iron and fir. The diameter of each being 100 feet. The floors of the two wings of the Exposition building lead directly on to the galleries of the music hall. The entire seating capacity of this hall is between 5,000 and 6,000 persons.

The dimensions of the general exhibit hall are the same as those of the machinery hall, 150x200 feet, with a gallery forty feet wide, extending throughout. The entire building is lit with the Brush system of arc lights and the Swan system of incandescent lights. For an art gallery a space 75 feet long and 35 feet wide has been enclosed in the front gallery of the general exhibit hall. A wall space of 4,600 square feet is afforded by this enclosure.

Coming down B street one finds himself again in the North End, but above the area of mean buildings. He strikes the center of the great wholesale houses, and there are few finer anywhere. It is a region of brick blocks, three to five stories in height, of massive iron fronts and deep cornices. The shore is here lined with wharves. It must be said, however, that for the water front there remains mnch improvement. It looks, at present rather crude and backdoorish. Time will be when the beautiful lime-stone of Southern Oregon, or some other kind of rock, will be used to build substantial docks or moles from one end of the city to the other, and the wharf fronts and roofs will be carried to a height of seven stories. Our docks at present are all two-story to accord with the rise of water of twenty feet in June. The coal bunkers and the railroad bridge aci'oss the Willamette give a deep emphasis to the scenery here. The latter is of iron, completed in 1887, at a cost of nearly $1,000,000, and is double, for both the car track and a roadway. It connedls on the west by a viaduct with Third street.

, Passing from Couch's and Stark's tracts to lyownsdale's one reaches the region of retail houses, banks, offices, halls, hotels and churches. The streets are paved with Belgian block, basaltic stones cut in brick shape, making a durable roadway, but as the weather surfaces grow smooth, very severe on horses, sometimes giving them heavy falls. The buildings here are massive, elegant, of three to five stories, and kept reasonabl}' clean. Many are set with turrets or small towers, and occupy for the most part five or six streets, and nearly half a mile along the river front.

To strangers there is nothing more attractive than the Chinese quarter. This comprises about three blocks on Second street, Alder being their cross street. The buildings which they occupy are mainly of solid brick, put up in the first place largely by Americans, but on long leases to the Chinese merchants and have been fixed over according to their convenience and ideas of beauty. They are intensely oriental in their general air, with piazzas of cur\'ed roofs, highly ornamented with yellow, white and vermillion paint, and paper globes and gewgaws. Red paper inscribed with characters in black serve as signs, and are pasted numerously over doors and windows. On gala days the entire area is lit up by lanterns, or gaily ornamented with paper, and thin, peevish tones of their flutes and fiddles, and the falsetto twang of their gongs, making a noise, exceptionally flat and weak, lacking even in energy' of tone, which is kept up with monotonous persistency. If the Chinese heart is as devoid of sentiment as their music would indicate, it must be quite barren. But as if to contradict such a conclusion the long rows of flowers of gaudy hue, and in the spring time their basins or vases of early blooming lillies should be observed.

The main fact to notice is their presence, and Portland's tolerance of them. They are not a particularly desirable people and are subject to the usual criticisms and strictures that apply to man in his natural state, but it has not been found necessary to expel them, and it is acknowledged by thinking people that the work they perform so well - laundrying, housework, wood-cutting, clearing up land and railroad construction - is no detriment but makes work of a more desirable and better rewarded kind for the American. Also to those who believe that the race which claims the more enlightenment owes fraternal care to those inferior, either in attainment or opportunity, it seems odious to deny an equal chance in our city.

The middle portion of the city has been spoken of as the place of churches, the large Catholic Cathedral built of brick, and surmounted by a tower with a fine chime of bells, erected on Third and Stark streets; the old Presbyterian Church on Third and Washington; the Baptist on Fourth and Alder; the Congregational on Second and Jefferson ; the First Methodist Church on Third and Taylor; and Trinity Church on Six^h and B would justify the remark. In truth, however, the area of churches is moving back. Already the roar of business, the pressure of other buildings and the centres of the residence quarters, have moved the chiirch area more than half a dozen streets westward. This is all the more to be desired since, as is usual, business buildings of a very inferior sort have been made to occupy the cheaper ground just back of the main grand mercantile houses. Some of the church edifices have therefore found themselves almost submerged in a drift-wood of mean, wooden shanties, devoted to occupations highly oflfensive to religious feeling.

It will be unnecessary to name here the fine business buildings of this central portion, since they are spoken of elsewhere. Some of them will, however, necessarily be noticed. Ladd & Tilton's bank, a very tasteful two story brick and stone structure with fluted column decoration, and carved frieze and cornice, has for many years been noticeable on the comer of First and Stark streets. It was in its time a stately building, and is still attractive, but is now towered over by the heavier and taller erections of later years. It has for a long time afforded rooms on its upper floor for the uses of the Portland Library Association. With great public spirit Mr. W. S. Ladd has furnished this space free of rent. On the east side of First street, coming on Washington, stands the massive stone and brick building of the First National Bank. It is finished with full columns in Doric style, and its heavy plate glass windows, and its finely inlaid floor of vari-colored stones and marble give the structure on a whole a look of costliness and magnificence not exceeded by any in the city. Following out Washington to Second, one of the largest and handsomest of all appears, being the Commercial National Bank of four stories; adjoining this is a very handsome five story building of pressed brick. This is indeed the quarter of the finest structures, ending in the Abington, on Third street, of five stories.

Alder street next beginning with the five-story Oilman house, labors under the disadvantage of leading through the Chinese quarter, and not until Third street is reached does it emerge into splendor. There, however, appears the Masonic Temple, built about twelve years ago. Although but three stories in height, its great amplitude of reach causes it to rise above all else in the vicinity. It is constructed of stone with Corinthian columns set upon the walls and dividing the stories.

Morrison street, into which enters the bridge-way from across the Willamette, begins with the Esmond Hotel of five stories, on the north, and W. S. Ladd's five story brick, on the south. The St. Charles Hotel stands on the south side, and on First street handsome brick blocks appear - except that on the southeast corner, apparently as a relic of ancient architecture, remains the old wooden, clapp-boarded .two story Occidental Hotel. The street continuing westward is of a very uneven character. Fine three and four story brick and wooden houses, alternate with one story fish and fruit stalls and coffee houses. On Fifth street, however, the block devoted to the U. S. Custom House and Postoffice is found, and the building itself, of bluish-gray Bellingbam Bay sandstone, two stories and a half in height, surmounted by a dome of glass, is massive and handsome. Its spacious dimensions and fine proportions are much enhanced in appearance by its position on the brow of the incline, which having been carefully cut and sodded presents a banked and terrace-like front as much as ten feet above the level at the crossing of Fifth street and Morrison. By its wide walks, its green turf and its slight adornment of exotic trees, it possesses an entirety and pose, or repose, and a perspective of its own. It is in truth a ver>' satisfactory and admirable building, well representing the benign way of the central government.

Immediately west, massive and enormous, occupying a full block of brick resting on a stone foundation, seven stories in height, with a multitude of bow windows, is the special pride of the city. This is the Hotel Portland, just completed at a cost of |750,000. This sum was raised by subscriptions, and in a peculiar sense the building belongs to the people. The structure was begim in 1883, during the great "boom" consequent upon the building of the O. R. & N. R. R. , and the completion of the Northern Pacific. Upou the collapse in the stock of the Oregon & Transcontinental, soon after, work was suspended and the foundation was left destitute and almost unprotected, and was called for a time the " Villard Ruins." It was a lonely pile, useful chiefly to the circus and theatrical manager as a fine wall for sticking flaming posters, and a kind of gloomy horror was attached to it from its having been in the course of time the scene of a mysterious murder. The absolute necessity of a hotel fit for the accommodation of the tourist travel to Portland, was earnestly and unremittingly pressed upon the attention of the citizens by the leading papers, and was recognized by the capitalists of the cit)-. Fortunately no outside party was found willing to finish the work, and the people themselves took it into their own hands, thereby rearing something of which they feel proud. Arrangements were completed and the building begun in 1888. The pile now finished presents two hundred feet solid upon both Morrison and Yamhill streets. Facing Sixth street it embraces a deep court and in the angles of the roof rise its turrets. The roof is steep, of slate, with a multitude of dormer windows, and is relieved of uniformity by massive brick chimneys. The prospect from aloft is commanding, affording a certain openness and airiness not realized even from the Heights. If one were disposed to be critical, he might raise the question whether the smooth and narrow curls of frieze and cornice quite satisfied the expectations raised by the massive and rugged rock-work of the foundation, and he might be so unreasonable as to wish that a breadth of one hundred feet lay all about the structure, for lawn and drive-way, for trees and fountains, and that he might have larger foreground to see the hotel. But in this last particular, he would be clearly allowing a taste for the spacious premises of the sea-shore hotel to dominate the warmer spaces of city walls, or perhaps be anticipating the next great structure of the kind, to be placed on some rock-bound tract as that of Jacob Kanim's on Twelfth steet.

In truth one finds himself here in the midst of large buildings, for on the block north of the hotel is the grand new Opera House of Judge Marquam.

South of the hotel, very much embowered in trees, is the quiet edifice of the church "of our Father belonging to the Unitarian Society, whose pulpit has been occupied from the first by Rev. T. L. Eliot, who has ever been prominent in works of progress and humanity. Following Morrison street out to Tenth through much shade of maple trees, and just completed but not costly edifices, one runs upon the new circle of churches. Here is the old Tabernacle built previously to accommodate the great audiences that assembled to listen to the preaching of Mrs. Hampton. Since that time it has been in constant use for mass meetings of the religious societies and temperance folks. The building itself is simply a square box, something like a barn, with windows only in the hip roof Looking one block down to Alder street, on the opposite side, one sees the great stone church of the Presbyterians, recently finished at a cost of more than $100,000. The tall spire is most imposing, and the gothic window and roof is of excellent effect. The work is exceedingly fine, in block built bluish gray sandstone and blue stained mortar. South, and on Taylor street, is the Grace Methodist

Church building, partly of stone. On Main street, still on 10th, is the Jewish Synagogue, of wood, in gothic style, but with front finish in the IMoorish. Passing northward on 9tli street, to the neighborhood of Clay, one finds the edifice of the Second Presbj'terian or Calvary Church, in some respects the handsomest, most graceful and attractive of any in the city. The interior finish, vaulted and in white, or inspiration, tint is very delightful. At the end of Morrison street is the magnificent High School building, accommodating, graceful and convenient.

Sweeping out to the hills with occasional vacant lots, or blocks, but built for the most part with houses of great uniformity of excellence, although not so magnificent or occupying so much space as in the north end, this portion of the city with churches and school buildings, is the most substantial center of the residences. Some are costly. The umbrage from the shade trees, mainly of maple, is deep and in places too heavy, the pointed poplars ever bending this way or that, in the breezes, and in selected localities elms and box elder vary the artistic ornamentation. On the lawns, evergreens cut e.xceedingl)- prim, "make and mar" the beauty of the scene. As is common to weak and suffering humanity, the idea that to attain beauty a plant or tree must either be bloated or shorn out of its natural form, has here, as elsewhere free course. Passing down the hill on Jefferson street, back to the river, one discovers the palatial seat of W. S. L,add and J. N. Dolph, with those of James Steel and Senator Corbett and Henry Failing, so near as to seem to belong to the locality. South of Yamhill street, on the river front, there are no notable buildings, and out to South Portland, while the city is fairly well built, there is nothing striking, unless it be the iron works, as far as the Marquam gulch, notable for big bridges. South Portland, on a romantic high level embossed upon the angle of the hills, which here round off in strangely retrousse points, circles about its fine school houses, and has many ambitious homes and cottages. There is a pecular air of thrift and neatness about this quarter which speaks volumes for the future.

gulches. The buildings are yet largely of wood, and the streets are likewise of cheap material, and usually in ill repair. But 'casting an eye of pity on this first front of the place one finds the further streets nicely improved, a large number of neat cottages and some few handsome houses, good school buildings and a number of homelike churches. The lay of the land is very fine, that portion on the north, known as Holladay Addition, being exceptionally high and handsome. Toward Mt. Tabor, for nearly three miles, the surface is rolling, excellent for building, and is laid ofi" in an indefinite number of additions and parks. Sage real estate dealers insist that this plain will in time be the most dense portion of the city of Portland. Extending to the eastward half way toward the mount is Sunnyside, a small place, situated directly on the Mount Tabor Motor Line. As for motor lines this section is gridironed with them, and from the preparations made by capitalists for the accommodation of population, this basin has the right to look up. But Tabor itself is handsomely improved and delightfully still, with an atmosphere at the summit of the most healing and balsamic purity. South of East Portland is Brookland, a fine ridge looking down on the deep Willamette and Ross Island. Farther south are Sellwood and Willsburg. Back from the river on a tract of rolling land is Waverl}\

With proper improvement the east side of the river has the greatest possibilities and when Portland needs the space of Philadelphia, can furnish sixty square miles for her use. It is as vet crude - with much that is fine - not being wholly out of its swaddling clothes.

The cemeteries, to close our view as ends the brief scene of life, are located on the east side of the river, or on the hills to the south. The oldest now used is Lone Fir, one mile east of the Willamette. The significance of the name is from a solitary fir tree of large dimensions overlooking the grounds. The company, incorporating for purposes of sepulture, was organized in 1866, and the sight was then far removed and ver>- quiet. Some forty acres are set oflf and the tra(?t is well improved. It is for the most part thickly set with graves, and proper monuments commemorate those laid here to rest.

A number of the stones, shafts, vaults and ornaments are costly. But once so quiet in its thickets, the place has now become crowded by the residence portion of East Portland, a much frequented highway being on one side, and the Mt. Tabor Motor line, with frequent trains on the other. St. Mary's Cemetery (Catholic) lies across the way north, but is no longer used.

In 1882, a large and beautiful cemetery was provided, and a company organized, embracing the most wealthy men in the city, ex-Senator H. W. Corbett and W. S. Ladd being of the number. The site chosen was on the hilltops, four miles south of the city, above the macadam road. The grounds extend to the east of the eminence where there is a perfect view. The spot is now, as it ever will be, peaceful, near the sky, and if the departed still care for the beauties of earth, affording them the best that Portland can give. By special provision the grounds are to be tastefully and even elaborately improved; nothing unsightly or uncouth to be allowed, and the graves of those whose friends are absent still to be kept green and adorned with flowers. It is a graceful feeling of the human heart that would make a little border land between this world and the unseen, and in this place cemented to this purpose by the people of Portland, are found all the elements appertaining to this interest. To -the same interests are the other cemeteries, Greenwood (Masonic) west of Riverview; the new Jewish cemetery on the Boone Ferrj' road, four miles south; the Ohavi Sholem and the B'nai B'rith cemeteries lie one-half mile further.

From this brief view of our city, indicating opulence and prosperity it is not to be inferred that the career of Portland has all been easy and plain sailing. Aside from the envy of other cities, great calamities, the casualties of nature, or the carelessness or destru(ftiveness of man, have not been unknown.

Water has a double chance in the city, coming down the Willamette in the winter, and up the Willamette from, or rather backed up by the Columbia, in the summer. The winter freshets are seldom at all troublesome. Even the most violent floods seldom raising the river more than twenty-five feet above low water mark - the water rushing swiftly by to fall into the Columbia, which rarely rises during the winter, or early spring, its sources then being ice-bound. In 1861, the time of the great flood, which carried away old Chanipoeg near French Prairie, and many houses and other buildings along the Willamette, gave our city a slight reminder, taking away Lownsdale's wharf and perhaps other structures. This flood was repeated in 1890. The main trouble came from logs and great drift shooting by, endangering bridges, ferries and their cables, and causing steamers to skip hither and yonder. Some of the small crafts have suffered at such times, being sunk, or compelled, as in one case at least, to jump over a log to avoid being rocked and perhaps upset. It is only rarely, however, that any difficulty occurs, and by proper precautions all may be avoided. The rise of the Columbia, while not so violent, is much more of an occasion. It often brings our river up twenty feet and sometimes as much as twenty-nine above lowest water. It is not the turbid Columbia water, but the clear blue fluid of the Willamette, yet when the rise is very rapid the current is sometimes thrown back, making the water run slowly up stream. In old times, before the lower part of the city was raised to its present level, the rise of the Columbia was looked for with great anxiety. If a flood was reported on the way, the lower stories of the warehouses, the cellars of the stores, and even the lower stories of the houses in the north end were hastily cleared of goods. As the water rose into the streets, as it did a number of times, the lower city was abandoned by business. The steamers came up to the upper docks, and temporary walks for the accommodation of pedestrians were made of planks on trestles. The Nicholson pavement became a great care, for it showed a disposition to rise and float off", and to be kept in place had to be freighted down with rocks. The R. R. depots became useless and the cars stopped up town. While the people of the north end were in the throes of such a disorder, like mice threatened with inundation, the south siders looked on with none too much commiseration, deeming it a just recompense for going to the swamps below town, in preference to the highlands on the south. In 1876 the flood was particularly high, and stood for weeks. It was deemed useless to trifle any longer, and the grade was raised to a point above danger, and the streets paved with Belgian blocks. The city is not yet rid of the trouble, however, for although the water seldom comes up to the streets at high times, the cellars are filled, leaving them foul and noisome wi-th dirt, and the refuse of dead water as the flood subsides, and the sewers are rendered useless. This breeds an infinite amount of malaria, throws a multitude of bad odors into the dwelling houses and streets, and works vast injury to the health of the population. A dyke of masonry should be extended across the entire river front, excluding the water, and the sewers within should be kept clear by a system of steam pumps. In no other wa>' can the trouble be removed. As population increases and the wastage is multiplied this will become imperative.

Storms have occasionally interrupted business. The Oregonians pay no attention to rain and there is no diminution of traffic or travel or in the number of vehicles on the street, even for the most drenching showers. Cold, freezing weather, however, drives draymen and hackmen to their quarters, and the finest, clearest days may pass with but the smallest possible work done. Snow sends even,-- one to shelter. The winter usually passes with but little of this. Some vears, however, the fall has been considerable, and in 1883 it came so suddenly as to catise a genuine blockade. It fell on December 16, with east wind and a temperature of 19° above zero. The storm shifting, threw down a vast depth of eighteen inches from the southwest, mingled with rain and hail. The east wind finally getting the mastery, brought clear skies and a low temperature, converting the mass of slush into ice. Business and travel were impeded for six weeks. The walks and streets were unfa^'orable for ordinary' vehicles; street car tracks were useless; railroad lines were blockaded east and west, north and south. The city hibernated. To an eastern man the sight was quite ridiculous, since this was nothing more than ordinary weather on the Atlantic coast. But the Portland people preferred to wait cosily in their homes and let the snow bank up at their front doors, expecting the south wind to come any night. Their expectations were finally fulfilled, and if another such a blockade should come, our people would go home, build up the fires, and wait again for the south wind.

Occasional!}' the Willamette freezes over, as in January of 1887, snspendino- navigation for a few weeks. This has happened no more than four times in fift\' years. \'iolent winds and showers have sometimes visited the cit\-, as in January of 1880. But owincr to our light wooden buildings there has l^een small injur\', the damage being chiefly confined to sign-boards and the loss of hats. Slight shocks of earthquakes have been felt, but with no damage beyond fright and stopping of clocks.

The first large fii'e was in 1853, the burning of the old steam saw mill at foot of Jefferson street. The loss was probably upwards of $25,000. The great fires were in December, 1872, of over $100,- 000, and of August, 1873, of about $1,250,300. The latter was a great catastrophe and .should be spoken of somewhat particularly.

The fire of December, 1872, which was started at the foot of Alder street, had left at this point a spot not jet occupied by buildings of any kind. This circumstance is thought to have prevented the burning of the whole city, when fire was once more loose in the dry season. The great fire began at about 4:30 o'clock A. m., Aug. 2, 1873, while the summer drought was on, and, by popular opinion at the time, was due to incendiarism. It began in the furniture store of Hurgren & Shindler on First street near Taylor. Fastening on the oils and varnishes in the work room, the energy of combustion was so great as to throw up a shaft of flames through the building far into the air, with dense smoke accompanying, which soon burst into sheets of fire, and involved the entire structure. The alarm of the bells and the cries of the firemen aroused the city, and the streets were soon crowded with men. There were wooden buildings close bv, the Metropolis Hotel, the Multnomah Hotel, the Patton House and a saloon, carpenter shop and foundry, on the same block; and within a quarter of an hour the whole was under the flames. The fire passed through these buildings with extraordinary rapidity, our fir lumber proving to be excellent kindling wood, and burning with the violence of tinder. Although promptly on the ground, the firemen were unable to check the devastation, and under a breeze from the hills the conflagration was so extended as soon to include .six blocks, reaching to the river and between Taylor street to Main and back' to Second.

The front of the fire, moving northward, making a blinding light and a scorching heat, leaped easily across the street, advancing on three blocks, sweeping down four dwellings on Second street and catching upon the Portland Hotel on Taylor. The Fashion stable on the west side, a saddle shop, saloon and a market and some four frame buildings on Front street were next seized and the fire bent toward two hotels, the Lick House and Kellogg' s, which lay directly in its path. Seeing the iiselessness of trying to save these buildings, the eiforts of the firemen were directed toward the St. Charles Hotel, then reckoned as one of the grandest buildings in the city, and located at the corner of Morrison and Front streets. Ascending to the roof and covering the side threatened with blankets, upon which they kept constant streams of water, and working often in an air of scorching heat, as the flames bent toward them they held on most bravely and manfully, keeping their post until the Kellogg house had sunk down. With the crash of this building a torrent of fire was rolled up which threatened to sweep e\-erything, and swaying out toward the river front overwhelmed even the engine of one of the companies (Columbia No. 3), working there on the edge of the water. But the open space left from the old fire intervened between this and the buildings on the north, and after this last burst had been driven back, it became apparent that danger was past in that quarter. It was the Salem compan>- that had come from the capital early in the morning on a train which made the fifty-three miles in an hour and fifteen minutes, that held the roof of the St. Charles.

from a block on the west, or northwest, in the rear of the store occupied by Powers and Burchard, from about the centre of the pile, thereb)- suggesting incendiarism. A crowd quickly surrounded the block to seize the perpetrator of the deed as he should pass out to escape the flames; but, as usual, nobody was found, or in the general excitement easily escaped. The block was soon in uncontrolable flames, and the north side of the street was again in great danger, but b>- the prompt destruction of the awnings and other inflammable materials on the north side of Yamhill street this was relieved. By this adlion the spread of the fire farther north was prevented and the largest portion of the city was saved.

Toward the river it was found impossible to stay the element, the breeze coming from the northwest, and it became evident that the fire must run until it reached the water. It passed on, successively sweeping over the block on Taylor and First streets consuming a saloon and a number of tenements, occupied for the most part b}- Chinese, and the costlier brick structures occupied by Emil Lowenstein, C. S. Silver & Co. and P. Selling. It swept through the produce and commission house of Cohn and Rosenfield, and caught upon the stores of Walter Moffitt, J. A. Strowbridge, Dr. Weatherford, and A. Meyer. These buildings were speedily swept under and left to burn down.

To the southward the flames ran with great speed, pressed upon by the wind, and met with no effedlual resistance so long as there was material to burn. A large number of dwelling houses, store rooms, a foundry, frame buildings, saloons, the ice works, Love's hotel and McGinn's bakery succumbed, and the flames leaped across Madison street, burning, among other things the engine house of the Protedlion fire company. As a sort of dramatic incident, one of the members of the company ran under and tolled the bell until the string was snapped by the hot air and flame. Vaughn's flouring mills, the steam saw mills of Smith and Brothers, cabinet shop of W. F. Wilcox, Jones' coffee and spice mills, Moffit's wharf and brick buildings, Sykes' brewery, a number of hotels, saloons and restaurants, and the extensive sash and door fa(5lory of John T. Walker, together with many lesser buildings went down successively in ashes or up in smoke. A most determined fight was made to save the steam saw mill of Smith Brothers, at the foot of Clay street, and, although it caught in a hundred places it was finally saved. At Clay street, having passed over a distri6l of eight blocks along the river bank, and for the most part back to Second street, and having consumed about $1,200,000 worth of property, the conflagration met with a number of shade trees, and came upon a less densely built sedlion, where the dense foliage arrested the sparks and defeated the flames - demonstrating, as has so often has been done, that green trees are the best of prote(;:T;ors against fire.

Various wild and ill-ordered individuals, either a little turned by excitement, or allowing their love of destruction to exceed all bounds, or else in hope of plunder, were found setting fires in other parts of the city as the day advanced, but these were quickly extinguished. During the whole terrible destrudlion the steamboats on the river rendered most efficient service, taking on vast quantities of goods that were hurried out from the stores and other threatened places. As ma}' be supposed, the excitement, the rush of the crowds, the rage and terror consequent upon reports of incendiarism, and the curiosity of people from the suburbs, bringing them in from all sides, reached a great pitch. But, nevertheless, in all this turmoil and in the hasty work on the part of firemen and others, there were but few accidents.

Great jjraise was accorded to the firemen who certainly fought bravely and sagaciously. Invaluable aid was rendered by the Salem and VancoTiver companies. To provide for those rendered homeless nearly all the churches fitted up their basements for sleeping and eating accommodations, and much provision was sent in from abroad. Great sympathy was felt for Portland throughout the East, and contributions were .sent from many points; General Grant, then President, among others, lending his influence to raise means at Long Branch. Portland, however, I'ather surprised the country and herself by accepting but little of this proposed aid, trusting to her own vio-or to rise again from her ashes.

The loss, however, proved exceptional!}- high, there being no more than $250,000 insurance, leaving the net loss something over $900,000. Parti)' from the fadl that the heavy business center was then moving toward the north end and partly that the lo.ss fell upon manv of small means, the burnt districft was verv slow in rebuilding.

Chapter Xvii Social Fe.Atures And Noted Public Events

The Cosmopolitan Character of Portland - Changing Character of its Earl\- Popnlation - Their Vices and Habits - Moral and Social Conditions of Early Days - General Stability of Present Societ}* - Culture and Refinement of the People - Public Ainnseinents - Excursions, Public Festivities and Celebrations - Events Connected with the Celebration of the Completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

AS may be inferred from the foregoing pages, the staid residents who made the city were men and women of a moralitj', religious conviction and sturdy force of character not exceeded b\- any class of people in America. But it must be noted, in any just estimate, that Portland has been a most cosmopolitan spot. P'rom the first it was the landing place for ships, and they came from all ports. French and English as well as Americans tied up at our docks. Sailors coming ashore from long voyages, whereon they had lived on salt beef, some of which had been well apostrophized in seafaring song, as "old horse," and upon a very limited supply of grog, felt the usual jubilation of the jolly tar off duty, and sought whom and what he might devour. To meet the wants of such men, came the abandoned wretch with his "blue ruin" and in latter times with his scorpion juice. More infamous means of satisfying the long denied passions of the seafarer, were sought and supplied.

Immigrants from across the plains, naturally an honest and moral class, reached Portland destitute, eager, and without the restraints of their old home about them. During the time of gold, men acquired a directness and bluntness, often leading to bravado.

especially in those naturally ill-balanced or light. The "luck" of the mines bred a feverish unrest, developed abnormally a love of excitement and speculation, and magnified the desire of gambling. The gamblers of the Mississippi River flocking to the Pacific shore, brought with them their manners, morals and tone, and set up on the Columbia and Willamette ver\' much their former methods of business. They were a class of hard drinkers, stimulating themselves for successive nights of indulgence in their games, and among the excitable and feverish people who came from all parts, their example was a sort of law. The perverse notion that friends meeting must drink together, that a bargain must be sealed by a drink, that any big luck must be celebrated by a drink all around, that a good story could not be very well told, or ver}- well listened to without a drink, that going off on a "prospect," or a safe return home, or good news from the folks, or bad news either, or getting well, or feeling sick, or in fact almost every occurrence or mental state, must be accompanied by a little social drinking, became all but universal. This was mixed up with so miicli of good will and human feeling, and anything else seemed so sour and graceless and was referred to as a niggardly desire of saving one's mone)-, and keeping to one's self what belonged to the "crowd," that even men trained in temperance, accepted it as the rule of the West. The inevitable tendency of men from all parts of the world, adopting a course of life common to all, which would eliminate many former ideas of religion and morality, moved the masses toward a recklessness of health and life not before known. The comparative absence of women stimulated grossness and coarseness of speech and manners, and the temptation toward immorality was greatly intensified. Portland got the full benefit of all this, and from early da}'s was a place where drinking was carried to a most ruinous extreme, and men of the finest capabilities sank under the blight, not living out half their days. Gambling, and other indulgences were carried to the same violent and wild excess. Bloody affrays or murders were not so frequent here as in the mining camps. Even with all these unfavorable influences, however, there was a high moral tone in the early days, and it is said that the bagnio was so discountenanced as to be obliged to leave the city. The young men of the place were all in good fellowship, and in time of distress, as in the winter of 1852, bonded together to care for the sick. With the coming of the Chinese, however, further inducement to brutal indulgence was added. With the building of railways a large floating population of men away from, or without homes, and not on their best behavior, came on pleasure excursions to our city, crowding the low hotels, and saloons, the theatres, and places of popular amusement. To satisfy the thirst of such men, came the cormorant cla.ss, who live chiefly on the disease and death of their fellows. To increase their business and swell their profits, these caterers to public vices added attractions which swept in the young, imstable and thoughtless, as well as satisfied the cravings of those already indurated. Thus the demand of the vile for vile pleasures led the way to the establishment of a kind of trade, which in its turn bred still further corruption.

With the increase of foreign commerce, in 1868, and onward, the foreign sailor class became much larger. With the rise and growth of the salmon fishing business, the fishermen of the Columbia River, man)- of whom were of low character, made periodical trips to Portland to spend their earnings, as did also the miners, and to some extent the ranchers, from east of the mountains. Men of their class, from a life of hardship and peril, and social privations, frequently made their trip to the cit}- for nothing but amusement, which meant dissipation of the most violent description. Opium joints from the Chinese appeared, and the variety theatre was set lip. A passionate sort of existence without purpose, unguided by principle, reckless of money and health, and even destructive to life, was followed by these migratory crowds. It is always observable that in a time or place, where men are shifting about, and come upon others with different religious views, doubt is thrown upon the fundamental ideas of life, and especially to those of slight conviction who see in religion chiefly an irksome restraint, a general insensibility and prodigality spring up. Life becomes easy, free, generous, impulsive, careless, intense and self destructive.

since to a large extent the manner of life which first brought the evils is passing by. The mining camps, the ranches, the fi.shing stations, the logging camps, are not now occupied as they once were by men away from home. The home has been taken to those places, and the fathers and sons do not feel the craving for, not being without, social life, as when away from all such privileges. The railroads will never again be built by armies of men gathered lip from the four winds. The main lines have been put down, and the others will be provided with workmen from the laborers living along the line. More than all, other towns divide with our city the rude classes. Portland is not so much as formerly, the headquarters of amusements. The ' ' rough crowd ' ' will not flock here from all points, since they find what they want nearer home. As oiir city grows in population, in the steady laboring classes, in families, in large business, in extensive wholesale connections, and in the pursuits of the higher classes, the transient and vicious element will at least become proportionately less.

There has been a noticeable improvement in the tone of the people as to temperance since the earlier years. It is not now, as then, the fashion for the leading public men to drink to the point of intoxication, and to excite the entire place by their excesses. There is at least much more conventional, and probably much more actual restraint of the appetites.

Along with this state of private vice, public corruption exists only too extensively, crime against the ballot and complaint against the officers of the law, being onl\- too common.

The above is a fair, concise statement of the immoralit)- of Portland. We have preferred to thus sketch it boldly, thinking it improper in any one attempting to write a histon,' to omit any fa6ls which go to work up a complete view of the subjedl. Pei'haps the worst feature of it all has been a weak acquicsence in all this on the part of the better classes as something necessary and ine\itable, or at least profitable.

On the other hand there is much liope for future improvement. - The general stability and growth of the State, and the fashion that reprehends excess have already been spoken of. A strong effort to improve the sanitary conditions of the city; an intelligent interest in education; great activity on the part of benevolent societies and the churches; and at least the dawning perception that that which is destrucftive of human life, happiness and a(5livit\- cannot be of any use, in any way, to a great and flourishing cit\', are signs of progress toward the higher civil order, not only of the old East, but of the great new West of the future. A general denunciation of political corruption and official negligence and connivance with crime, goes to the same end.

It must always be remembered, in charity, that a commercial city has great evils to contend with, not of its own seeking, and most difficult to eradicate.

In the face of all that has been said above, the general quiet and tranquillity, and good order of the place is quite marked. Affairs of blood are not common; house breaking, violent robbery, or affi"ays are biit few. Popular tumults are unknown. The order in processions, or excursions, or in public a.ssemblies is good. A general spirit of urbanity and civility prevails, and the \'irtue of hospitality is nowhere more marked.

For particulars in the special field of schools, churches, and societies, the reader is referred to the chapter under these headings. He will find by such reference that large and wide endeavoi's are made toward mental culture and moral melioration.

Public Events Of Ixtere.St

While the people of Portland are not mercurial or exciteable, and by Californians, or people "east of the mountains," are even accused of being lymphatic, if not somnolent, they are much -given and have been from the earliest times inclined to recreations and public amusements. The two forms in which all ai"e ready to unite as obnoxious to the feelings of none are the excursion and the procession. Oregonians having crossed the plains or doubled the Cape early learned the pleasures of traveling, and it is almost universal custom to take an annual trip here and yonder.

From Portland, excursions by water are easily made to points up and down the river. In the Cascade Mountains, and on the coast are nooks and corners of the rarest beauty and scenery upon the most ample and lofty scale. As the summer comes, picnics for the Sunday schools and churches follow each other week after week, preferably on Saturdays, loaded steamboats or trains speeding out in the clear of the morning and returning in the cool of the evening, or by moonlight. Sunday excursions are exceedingly popular, particularly among the foreign population, and these usually have their accompainment of music. Rides on the river boats or on the trains to near points are much indulged in as a recreation of a few hours. Points thus frequented near at hand are, Vancouver, Mt. Tabor, Ross Island, and The White House, a few miles south on the Macadam road, a particularly popular terminus for carriage drives; River View Cemetery on the southern boundary of the city, Oswego and Oregon City. These places are frequently thronged Sundays, not so much by large companies, as by individuals, small parties and families. The young men of the city quite generally spend the Sabbath day in driving, boating, hunting or fishing, at a distance of 5 to 40 miles from town and the transportation companies favor them with reduced fares.

The regular summer vacations are spent chiefly at the seashore. The beaches at the month of the Columbia River are the places of most frequent resort. These are: the Ilwaco or North Beach, in Pacific County, Washington, on the weather shore from Shoalwater Bay, and Clatsop Beach, leading down to the seaside near Tillamook head. Both are magnificent expanses of wave-beaten sand with delightful surroundings of meadows and grasses. Each has its advocates and advantages. They are reached by steamers on the Columbia and both are supplied with railroad facilities from the point of debarkation.

As the heat of summer becomes oppressive in the Willamette Valley, and the freshet of the Columbia threatens malaria, the coast-bound steamers are loaded with men and women, and particularly children. At the sea-shore they live largely in tents. Many own lots at the ephemeral cities and have their own cottages, although there are accommodations at the hotels. A few weeks or months, breathing the salt air and of salt water bathing are certainl}' of great advantage to the health, and those thus spending the hot months preserve their strength throughout the year. This is particularh' the family method. Yaquina Ba\-, reached by the Oregon Central Railroad and by the Oregon Pacific, is also sought to some extent for the same purpose. To those desiring more exciting recreation the peaks of the Cascade jMountains prove inviting; they afford all the beauties of precipices, crevasses, snowfields and glaciers, and the perils of Alpine climbing. I\It. Hood is the greatest attraction, being the nearest and most familiar. Rev. Dr. Atkinson, of Portland, and Prof Woods, the botanist, were among the first to make the ascent. Many others from Portland have followed. Rev. Mr. Izer, pastor of the Taylor Street Methodist Church was the first to carry to the top an iron chest for holding papers, names of those ascending, etc. Several young ladies of this city, among them Miss lyibby Vaughn, have stood upon the summit. This is no small feat, the mountain being about 11,000 feet in height, and the last 1,000 feet of the climb very heavy. Rev. Dr. T. L. Eliot, of Portland, is much at home on this old volcano, and one of the glaciers bears his name: Some of the young men of the city have been in the habit of illuminating this mountain with red fire on the night of July 4-th. As this is earh- in the season to climb the snowy sides, the lower peaks not yet being wholh- denuded by the hot suns of summer, the enterprise is quite difficult. Nevertheless, it has been done quite successfully, a party consisting of Messrs. Yocuni, J. M. Breck, Jr., Dr. J. M. Keene, and several others first accomplishing the task. The fire was seen over the valley to the intense admiration of the people and illustrations of the mountain thus lit up were made in leading papers of the east.

The gorge of the Columbia, with its Latourelle, Multnomah, and Horse-tail Falls, and its Oneonta canyon, with the Cascade Mountains themselves, are most inviting, and to the artist no less than to the common excursionist, prove wonderful. ]\Iount St. Helens has been an object of attraction to the Alpine Club of this city, the members of which recently played snow-ball upon its mosque-like top. Mount Adams and Rainier, although the finest and most curious of all, are too much removed to be frequented b)' the men of Portland; they will ultimately, however, come into due appreciation. For those bent on wider exploits, Alaska offers immense attraction, and is not unknown to our citizens, many visiting its shores on business or pleasure. The Sandwich Islands have also been a spot of popular attention b\- our people. Regular trips are made to California, and to the old Eastern and Southern homes; while as elsewhere among Americans, the more wealthy take an occasional journey to Europe. The health, culture, refinement and mental and moral quickening, derived from these less and greater evolutions and revolutions, probably more than balance the dissipation, hardening of the heart, and the restlessness that the\' induce.

As popular festivities and celebrations iu the city, the ordinary homely American feasts and jubilations are observed. The New England fasts have been suffered to lapse, and the Carnival and Mardi Gras, although sometimes tried a little, have never been general. There is something that sticks in the throat of our dignitv to deliver ourselves up to uncontrolable mirth, unless first unbending by the mellowness of drink; but this is held to be disreputable, at least to the point of intoxication. No more than other Americans or Teutons can Portlanders abandon themselves gracefully to their animal feelings; but if attempting it, fall into gro.ss riot and rude license. Washington's birthday, by balls; Decoration Day, by military parades, speeches and floral displays; the Fourth of July, by explosives, processions, orations and pyrotechnics; the Autumn harvest, by fairs, or particularly the Exposition, lasting twenty days; Thanksgiving day, by sermons in the churches, and family reunions at home; the Christmas time "The Holidays," by special decoration of the shops and stores; by "trees" at home and in the churches, and by musical festivities - these all come around in order and in truth afford a refined source of pleasure. There is not an excess of rudeness connected with even the most noisy, and on the whole they are profitably enjoyed. Probably there is little that is unique or peculiar to Portland in any of them, but as a part of the culture of the people, they show no sign of dying out. The reunion of the Oregon Pioneers in June, which usually takes place in Portland, may become a special feature of the countr\-, as the Pioneer Association pa.sses on to the descendants of the earlv Oregonians. The " Native Sons," "The Alpine Club," the "Indian War Veterans," or other organizations peculiar to this State, ma\- give some day a feast that will add to the usual stock of American holidays in our citw

A remarkable Fourth of July is spoken of as having occurred in 1S61. This was during the days when the fires of patriotism burned brightly, and a general depression of spirits and anxiety of the public mind, as well as an imagination e.xcited by constant reading of preparations for war, led the way to a great celebration. The firing of cannon during the day and orations by able speakers, was succeeded at night by a display of fireworks, which was regarded by every one with respect. To most of the spectators it was magnificent, being far superior to anything they had ever seen even in " Old Missouri." Country people came in for miles around to witness the views, and the woods were thick with their camps.

Since that day the demand for rockets, roman candles, etc., has been sufficient to keep at least one resident pyrotechnist in the city, and the burning of fizzes and red fire, and illumination of the river at night by fire-boats, has been a more or less regular circumstance of the day. In 1869, Geo. Francis Train was present on Independence Day, and his oratory, and the man himself, as a specimen of a great man of the East, brought in crowds to see and hear, and excited a vast deal of old-time curiosit}-. In recent years, as mentioned above, the illumination of Mount Hood has been added as a sort of good night at 11:00 p. m., and in the near futui-e we may expect to see electric lights, the power of some millions of candles, touched off on each of the great snow peaks at the close of the exercises.

Portland has an enviable reputation for processions. Scarcely a dav passes but thick or thin files of men, accompanied by drum and brass band and banners, march to and fro. The most of these are of orders or combinations of men who work, and of those who do not, who desire to emphasize some feature of their political or economical creed as to wages, or the Mongolian, or else of showmen or of religious enthusiasts, as the Salvation Army.

On occasions, however, the city has made processional displays of such a character as to excite high encomiums from all. The celebration of the completion of the N. P. R. R. , in 1883, and the welcome to Villard and his guests, was an affair of great good taste and significhnce. No history of the place would be complete without giving it a fair place; accordingly we insert the- salient features as they were depicted at the time by the Oregonian:

The main thoroughfares of Portland never presented a more animated appearance than on 3-esterda3'. Flags and garlands fluttered from hundreds of buildings, and a small arm}- of men and boys were engaged in decorating and beautifj-ing stores and dwellings in all parts of the town. Myriads of ladies and children in gaudy colored dresses materially heightened the effect of the gorgeous scene. The main attraction was First street, from A to Salmon, where regular collonades had been established, flanked on either side with garlands of evergreens and elaborately festooned bunting, which had been arranged in an artistic and picturesque manner. Near the corner of First and X streets an arch representing the entrance to a fuedal castle had been erected with such fidelity' to nature that it elicited expressions of admiration from visitors and residents alike. The arch is surmounted with towers, and is elegantly adorned with evergreens, streamers, flags and bunting. On either side the word " Welcome " in evergreen stands out in bold relief. Statnes emblematical of Europe, Asia, .Africa and .\merica are placed in such a way as to give the spectator the idea that the statues are standing in niches. The whole is elaborately finished, and reflects great credit on the artist.

The middle arch on the corner of First and .-Vlder streets is a specimen of pure Gothic architecture, and is also finished and decorated in an elaborate manner. It is surmounted by beautiful -American flags.

The arch at the corner of First and Salmon streets is of the Roman order, and is ornamented in an elaborate manner with flags, battle-axes, bunting, etc. Banners have been suspended along the whole line, bearing upon them the names of gentlemen who are either officers or directors of the Northern Pacific Railroad, or guests of Mr. Villard.

The coming of the visitors was in the nature of a triumphal march, and Villard had taken the greatest pains to secure the presence of distinguished men from all parts of the Union and from England and Germany. The journey from vSt. Paul to Portland is described as a continuous ovation. At every point of importance the citizens made demonstrations of welcome, speeches were made, and compliments of all kinds were exchanged. The honors of

Caesar Augustus were lavished upon the man who had performed the work of finishing the road. As the train sped by througli the Dakotas, cow-boys followed along racing with the train and exhibiting feats of horsemanship and daring. It was especially arranged for Indians to be present at stopping places along the way and they were inspected with great curiosity by the visitors. The scenery was passed at the best advantage, and the party was conve\-ed in four different trains, running severally about half an hour apart. The first section contained Mr. Villard, his private car, and the private car occupied by his most distinguished foreign guests. The second consisted of eight private cars, two of which belonged to Mr. Robert Harris, a director of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company ; another was occupied by Geo. M. Pullman and party, and the car of ex-president Billings was attached in the rear. General Grant occupied a car with Secretary Evarts, General Cass, General Haupt, and various others. The third section was made up of ten cars, for American guests; and the fourth of ten Pullman cars was occupied by representatives of the newsiJaper press.

Full accounts of the progress of the trains were dispatched to our city, and at the prospect of men of such positive ability and standing as the guests mentioned coming to see the end of the work and to congratulate our State, all our citizens rose to the full requirement of the occasion. It was one of those rare times in the historjof a place when the entire population was drawn out by one sympathetic impulse and most cheerfully did each do his best to show his appreciation of the hour. There has been much discussion of Mr. Villard's abilities and general caliber. But in nothing did he show more perfect good taste and administrative facility than in the conduct of this excursion and celebration. The Northern Pacific had been for more than twenty years a subject profoundly interesting to the people of the Eastern States, upon grounds of economics, of politics and patriotism. With the best of judgment Villard concluded that in no way could the consummation of the building of this road be better celebrated than by the presence here of representative men of the nation. To give still further emphasis to this idea he invited noted men of England, and of his own native

Germany. His own efforts were confined to securing the presence of these men and affording them the privileges of guests upon his trains, and making the completion of his work the occasion of the meeting and acquaintance of great men of the three great Teutonic nations.

" If Portland was filled with people Mouday morning, she was overflowing \esterday. It was a veritable Fourth of Juh-. on a grand scale, without any of the deafening noise or disagreeable features. I-'rom early in the morning until afternoon the country folk pressed into town through every entrance, and, as if to welcome them, merry bells and loud mouthed whistles sounded forth upon the morning air. Everything on wheels was brought into service, to transport the holiday seekers through the streets of the city. Business was almost entirely suspended and everybodv thronged the streets along the line of march. From across the river came the whole population of East Portland. Street cars on all the lines were crowded; restaurants ran a double force of waiters to feed the hungry- populace. Every one was moving after the usual .\merican .style of rushing. .\ny estimate of the number of people in the city would either be considered the wildest kind of a guess, or fall far short of the truth. Not to be enthusiastic, the display yesterda)^ was the grandest sight that Portland ever witnessed; not one of the grandest, l)ut the very greatest of them all. As for the weather, it was simply perfect. The light rain of the past few days had effectually subdued the summer dust, and the streets were in fine marching condition. The air was clear, bracing and mildl}' warm, while light fleecy clouds obscured the sun just enough to afford a gentle screen, for which every one was grateful.

.'\s the hour for the parade grew nigh, the crowd packed most densely along Fourth street, up to the corner of Court House square. Here was the grand stand for the distinguished guests of Mr. \'illard, before whom the entire procession was to march and counter-march in review. .\t this point the eyes of the people were fairly <livided between the great men and the parade gotten up in their honor. Ropes stretched across the street kept back the crowd from the main entrance of the Court House, where the carriages stopped with their load of guests. Ranged along the side walks across the street from the .grand stand were three rows of benches, and upon them were seated families of the members of the City Council, of the city oflicials, and manv old pioneers, who would otherwise have had no chance to view the great scene which their earlier labors had done so much to bring about. Of the whole procession, their husbands and fathers formed the most noticeable part. " Those against whose familiar names not yet The fatal asterisk of death is set," upon the records of the Oregon Pioneer Societv* - a handful of men, fine, sturdy and full of vigor, but now for the most part grey and bent with age - fitly led the van of the parade, as years before they had led the van of civilization, of which the Northern

Pacific Railroad is the outgrowth. Honored veterans of frontier life, all of them, and representatives of the near past, but without which the present would be impossible. Among those whose faces were familiar to thousands as thej- led the greatest parade ever witnessed on the northwest coast, were Nesmith and Crawford, Gray and Pettygrove and Parrish, and many others whose names may be less known, but not less prized among them all. Tears came to many eyes as these men, with beard and hair whitened by the frost of time filed slowly by, and the thoughts of many reverted to lowly mounds which swell above the honored dust of Lane, Meek, Payne, Fletcher, Scott, Newsome, Geer and Kinney, a host not less honored th^.n the remaining handful who still answer to the pioneer roll-call, and vastly more numerous.

Renewing these thoughts, although in a far lighter vain, was the picturesque outfit that closed the whole procession. These were the train of emigrant wagons dilapitated and worn, the mud-splashed oxen and a dozen bare-footed and dirty faced cliildren to each pater thmilias. That the picture was true to life none knew better than the old pioneers in the van, and when the two divisions passed each other on the counter :narch, the shout of recognition which went up from each was loud and long. That a band of painted savages - genuine Indians of the Warm Spring tribe - should follow the train of emigrants, seemed correct and proper, and when the bloodcurdling veils rang out as it did occasionally, the realization was complete.

As the pioneers passed the grand stand the second time, they halted in a group before Mr. Villard and gave a rousing hurrah ! C. H. Dodd, who was on the stand, rose to his feet and called for three cheers for the pioneers of Oregon. This was reponded to heartily by hundreds of people, including the invited guests."

Somewhat more particularly, the procession was made up into five divisions with the special division of pioneers in the lead. There were about one hundred of these, under the lead of Capt. Medoram Crawford, of Dayton, who came to Oregon in 1842, but is one of the strongest, most hearty, and least worn in appearance of any of the others of the pioneers. Very interesting in this group were F. W. Pettygrove, one of the founders of Portland, from Port Townsend; and W. H. Gray, who came in 1836, and wrote the first comprehensive history of the Northwest. To the visitors, both from the East, and from Europe, these men were of the greatest interest, and by the later Oregonians they were looked upon with many feelings of emotion.

The first division was made up entirely of officers and soldiers of the United States army from Fort Vancouver. They drew marked attention for their neatness of appearance and precision of march.

The second division was led by Mr. Geo. H. Durham, of our city, a gentleman of military training, and consisted of emblematic cars of the interests of the city, led, however, by a band of Oregon militia from Dallas, together with children of the Indian training school, then at Forest Grove. A notable feature of this division was the lumber and timber display - fir, cedar and spruce timber of large dimensions. A section of a fir log, eighty inches in diameter, and the stump of a forest giant which a woodman was chopping upon as if in process of felling a tree, being among the number. This proved universally attractive.

The third division was made up entirely of the Oregon militia led by Brigadier General Wm. Kapus. Tliere were some eight companies, led by the Second United States Infantry band, and they proved to be in exceDent drill, and made a striking appearance.

The fourth division consisted of emblematic cars of Oregon products and industries. One very pretty piece was a large boat, representative of commerce, decorated with red, white and blue streamers, with sail set, manned with youthful sailors, while at the helm sat Miss Marquam, a handsome illustration of the fleet-winged goddess. Cars of flour, coal, saddlery work, lime, stone, cooper work, and spice mills followed this. This division was led by Dr. S. J. Barker.

The fifth division, marshaled by Captain N. J. Morris, one of the Grand Army, and of Mexican War veterans; a troup of cowboys, the fire brigades, and a large number of emblematic cars with furniture, ice, a company of stevedores, specimens of iron work from engines and boilers; and much other interesting work. In this the German citizens made a most interesting and characteristic display; and of all the trains, this was the most extensive.

At the end were the immigrant wagons led by a woman riding on a pony in the same manner that she had crossed the plains two-score years before; and these were followed by the Indians - all most true to life.

This was all, so to say, the greeting and welcome of the city, and was kindly and generously received by Villard and the guests. As the president of the road and the real hero of the occasion, the former bore himself with remarkabh- good taste and modesty, seeming, although much gratified by the results of his labors, somewhat oppressed by the credit given him, and as if but little desirous of so much appreciation. Nevertheless, in all points he was responsive and gracious to these attentions.

In the evening the scene was transferred to the old Mechanic's Pavilion on Third street, the largest building then in the city, which was very gaudily, but tastefully, decorated, having also a large display of wealth and art. A crowded house here formally welcomed Mr. Villard and his guests; Hon. H. W. Corbett, presiding. An address of welcome was delivered by Hon. M. C. George, of our city, an Oregonian by education, and for two terms congressman from our State. His address was well and strongly written, comprehensive and perspicuous. It dwelt at considerable length upon the greatness of the work accomplished, the energy required to finish it, the preeminent advantages of the route, its value to the country, and its utility as a hand-maid of civilization. He accorded it a place alongside of the great works of the age, the St. Gothard tunnel, the Biscay canal, the opening of the Mississippi at its mouth and the Nicaraugua ship railway or the Panama canal.

Mr. Villard responded somewhat briefly, in a conversational style, noting the friendship extended to him in the Northwest, and recalling that it was at Portland, in 1874, that he got the inspiration to do what was here completed. He commented pleasantly upon what Portland could do in the way of a celebration of the event in comparison with that of St. Paul, and wished to disclaim too much of credit to himself personally, but to let it go to others also.

Upon concluding, he introduced Hon. Chas. Russell, of the Queen's Bench, and member of the British Parliament, who spoke for the British visitors. Being an Irishman, he was a fluent talker; nevertheless, followed in a line of ideas that seem to us something like platitudes - probably from his desire to follow speaking in a vein such as he supposed was in accordance with x\merican feelings.

He noticed the fact of our great continent, nature on a vast scale, and a hopeful and sturdy people following in a line of development originally sketched by nature. He referred with much feeling and power to the familiar fact of the amazing growth of the country, and the churches and schools, which indicated that the people were mindful of the higher things. He closed with good wishes to our people and to the nation of which this railroad was the latest eflFort.

Hon. Horace Davis, Queen's Coimsellor, and member of Parliament, followed in much the same strain, speaking of having traveled six thousand miles from home to find here a civilization much like that he had left, of Anglo Saxons; and a city whose name recalled the English Island on the coast of Dorchester. Tlie remarkable hospitality of the people of the West was in full keeping with the other delightful things experienced. The things he had seen here furnished thought for serious reflection, supplying all of the elements out of which the histor\' of a people was to be made.

Senator Dr. Albert Greoning, of Bremen, continued in a quiet, pleasing style, speaking on the part of the Germans. He expressed himself as struck with admiration of the greatness and fertility of the country, and the energy, activity and sagacity of the inhabitants (a sentiment which the "inhabitants" heartily applauded.) He spoke with pride of Mr. Villard as a native of Germany, and expressed the belief that this was but the beginning of a new expansion for Portland, and closed with the words that "The development of the United States will always be observed without envy, but with the deepest interests and warmest s}-mpath}-. ' '

The Americans, being somewhat more free to express themselves, and to score criticisms, or suggest ideas of improvement, as it is very instructive to observe by their remarks, mostly framed their expressions in a setting of liumor, but, nevertheless, struck out constantly advanced ideas and bright scintillations of thought. Hon. John A. Kasson, of Kansas, saw in the procession an epitome of American history, and closed with the fervent hope, in the name of God, that American civilization on the Pacific shores would not be forced back, but rolling across the Pacific, bring the ancient millions of Asia into harmony with the civilization of oiir age, and with the religion to which we adhere.

Senator Conger, of Michigan, spoke with much fraternal spirit of the pioneers of the Pacific, passing into the unknown of the Rocky Mountains, and then being lost to all their old friends as if by the separation of death; and the long waiting for the closing of the cliasni between the west and tlie east, that they might once more see each other. He also spoke of the intense interest of the east in the religious welfare and improvement of the west, and that it be a land of homes. He said that after looking he had no fears for Oregon. He closed fervently with the words, " God bless you, God speed you," and expressions of the pride that he felt in the acomplishment of the great work.

Carl Schurz spoke with much wit of the German part of the affair, expressing his pride in Villard, and how his respect for the other speakers had risen, becoming to him as men of marked discrimination in discovering the eminent qualities of the German- Americans. He referred with pleasure to seeing the Indian boys and girls there, and emphasised the thought that even in the west it was recognized as better to educate than to slaughter the red men. He also cast out a few bright ideas as to the value of our forests, and the unwisdom of their wanton distruction - as here was the great store-house of timber of which the rest of the continent stood so much in need.

William M. Evarts, known quite largely over the country as a writer of exceedingly long and complex sentences, surprised the audience by his gleeful spirit, referring American progress to Plymouth Rock, not even excepting the German Villard, who did nothing great until he had married his New England wife. He also read a lecture - for the benefit of the foreign visitors probably - from the texts in the Bible with reference to beating plowshares into swords, and swords back into plowshares, as the proper, and indeed the American way of preserving liberty and the national interests; calling attention to these hardy, independent ranks of men as fit either for defense against violence, or for manning the cars of industry.

Indeed, from the earnestness with which the Americans dwelt upon the moral aspect of the case, one might have taken them to be a party of clergymen. Their words were, however, sound and weighty, and strongly illustrative of the bent of the American mind toward ideal right and good.

Other railroads soon came. The Union Pacific, through the Oregon Short line and connection with the Oregon Railway, reached Portland in 1885, and the Southern Pacific came in 1888. The adv'ent of either would have been hailed as the event; of first importance had it been first in point of time.

This history of Portland is the product of research and labor extended in all directions that promised i^esults; it is probably as complete as any that is likely to be prepared, and )-et not so complete by any means as it would be, were it practicable to gather, to sift and to compare all facts of interest that are yet retained in the memory of living persons or set down in documents remaining in private hands. Unfortunately, the mass of these materials is beyond the reach of those who undertake to prepare a work like this, and writers or editor must be content with such records and recollections as can be gathered by diligence, though knowing that more has been missed than obtained.

The retrospect of the history of Portland shows steady growth, consciousness of destiny, development of character and assimulation thereto of the forces gathered and gathering here. It shows a society knit together by long intercourse and by community of interest, developing characteristics that give Portland an individuality recognizable by all who come in contact with her, establishing the homogeneity of her people, and advancing them to the conditions of well regulated and orderly municipal life. Portland has the experience and conservatism of the past blended with the activity of the present and the inspiration of the future. From her past she has a basis of solid strength; from her present, the hope and purpose of enterprising spirit. The two united give the propliecy of her history.

This prophecy is founded in conditions that make it impressive and give assurance of certain fulfillment. So much has been done and gained that the future is no longer problematical. Destiu)- is so far advanced that prophecy cannot miss its mark. Portland, no mean city already, is destined to be a great one. Who can guess with how curious an interest this account of beginnings of the city of Portland; this record of the city of Portland of to-day, will be read in the great city of Portland, forty or one hundred years from to-day! Individual life is short and in the main unimportant, but the collective life of men is long and important, and its development through secular periods, largel)- under the stimulating variety of city life, makes the soul of history, whose record gives dignity to the career of the human race.

Men Ok Portland

AS a fitting and even necessary part of the present History of Portland, biographical sketches of a number of the men prominent in the founding and building of the city and in the conduct of business and affairs at Portland, are given in the succeeding pages:

CHAPM.\N, Col. W. W. Among men now living there are none around whom clusters so much of the history of Portland as the one whose name heads this memoir. He is the strongest link between the infant days and the stalwart manhood of our cit}-. But the results of his labors in behalf of Portland, great and far-reacliing as they have been in good, by no means complete the record of his long and useful life. Years before .\merican civilization had gained a foot-hold in this portion of the Pacific Northwest, he had borne a leading part in laying the foundations of the State of Iowa, projecting and formulating measures which have since become established to the western limits of the continent. As one of the earlier pioneers of Oregon he found a new arena for his powers, and here for nearly a half a century he has exerted an influence upon political and business forces eminently beneficial, while his whole public career has been singularly free from personal or selfish motives. A hard fighter in everything, a man of direct methods and perfect integrity, he has maintained his opinions fearlessly, honestly and sincerely. No one can read the story of his public endeavors without feeling his heart warm toward this venerable man of over four score years, who upon many occasions in days gone by, when others were timorous or doubtful, dared to. stand alone, and with admirable courage, and at times with seeming obstinac}-, to do valiant service for the city and State of his adoption.

Preceding pages of this volume treat so largely of Col. Chapman's part in the progress of important events in Portland's earlier history that much uecessar\- to a distinct sketch of his career will be omitted here. For a more complete biography of this prominent Oregon pioneer, and one of the founders of Portland, it is necessary to refer the reader to the history of Portland, as told throughout this work. We now produce the plain story of his life, not with any purpose of lauding a man who cares little for praise, and is in little need of it, but with the simple aim of doing justice to one whose varied efforts have done so much for this portion of the Pacific Northwest.