Portland, Oregon - Portland, Oregon, Its History and Builders : in Connection with the An (part 14 of 25)

On the 8th of November, 1877, at Salem, Oregon, Mr. Crosman was united in marriage to Miss Linnie McCully, a daughter of Hon. A. A. McCully, and unto them have been born three children: Alice Louise, who in 1899 became the wife of W. H. Harder; Lillian; and Allen B., but the last named died in November, 1909.

For forty-six years a resident of Oregon, Mr. Crosman is well known and is an exponent of the progressive spirit which has led to the rapid and substantial development of this section of the country. He has firm faith in Oregon and its future and is quietly but none the less surely taking an active part in promoting those interests which are building here a commonwealth that in all of its possibilities and its advantages rivals the older states of the east.

Andrew Friberg

When one looks at a great and beautiful city like Portland, with its many substantial business blocks, its fine residences and its more modest homes, he seldom stops to consider all that lies back of it - the great industry of building the city and of manufacturing the materials used in construction. A most important element in the life of every community, however, is that which constructs its buildings, giving to them not only solidarity and utility but also symmetry and beauty. -With the building interests of Portland as a contractor and also as a brick manufacturer Andrew Friberg is closely identified.

He was born in the northern part of Sweden in 1863 and in 1868 was brought to America by his parents, Eric O. and Anna (Anderson) Friberg. His father was a stone-mason and bricklayer, having learned the trades in his native country. On leaving the old world he made his way to Boone, Iowa, where he remained for about two years, or until 1870. He then went to Clay county. South Dakota, and in that locality took up a claim, from which time on he continued to devote his energies and attention to general agricultural pursuits.

Andrew Friberg was largely reared upon the old home farm in South Dakota, and as his age and strength increased he assisted more and more largely in the work of developing and cultivating the fields. His youth was a period of earnest and unremitting toil, in which he learned the lessons that industry and perseverance constitute the safest foundation upon which to build prosperity. As opportunity offered he attended the public schools and in this way gained a knowledge of those branches of learning which are deemed essential to a successful business career. He continued with his parents until about seventeen or eighteen years of age, when he started out in business life on his own account and has since been dependent entirely upon his own resources.

In January, 1897, Mr. Friberg came to Portland, where he joined his brother, William Friberg, in a contracting business. They formed a partnership and have since been closely associated with building operations in this city. They are the builders of the Commercial Club, the Henry building, the Seward Hotel, the old Young Men's Christian Association building and other structures of equal importance. In fact, they have been awarded the contract for twenty-five or thirty of the finest buildings of Portland, including the Friedner building on Washington street, and the Elks building. In connection with their operations as contractors they are also conducting a brick manufacturing plant on Barnes road with a capacity of thirty thousand bricks per day. In this way they largely furnish the material used in the construction of buildings which they erect. Their standing in business circles in Portland is indicated by the nature of contracts which have been awarded them, showing that they are regarded as among the most prominent and capable contractors of the city.

Mr. Friberg belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and has gained many friends in the social circles in which he moves. In his life are manifest many of the sterling characteristics of his race. A noted American lecturer who has traveled and. lived in all parts of the world has characterized Sweden as "the home of the honest man." Mr. Friberg and many of his nationality bear out this reputation and in all of his work he is, moreover, actuated by a spirit of enterprise and progress that is manifest in the readiness with which he takes up any new idea that will work for improvement in his business.

General Joseph Lane

General Joseph Lane was born in North Carolina, December 14, 1801. His father, John Lane, was a descendant of Sir Ralph Lane, who came to America to be governor of the first English colony in America and who on returning to England, on the failure of the colony, married. It was his grandsons who, settling in America, founded the American branch of the Lane family. John Lane, with his father, Jesse Lane, and his brothers, enlisted in the Revolutionary war, John being at that time but seventeen years old. The last battle he took part in was the battle of King's Mountain, which was fought near the close of the Revolutionary war. John Lane was married late in life to Elizabeth Street, whose father was also one of the Revolutionary patriots, who gave his service to his country in her hour of need. There were born to this couple eight children, Joseph being the second. The family migrated in 1804 to Kentucky and settled in Henderson county. Educational facilities were very poor and Joseph learned his letters and to read from the Bible, receiving his instruction from his grandmother, who was a finely educated English woman, whose maiden name was Winifred Aycock. He went to school only four months in his life. The teacher told his pupils that the one who should reach school first and build a fire should receive special attention, and Joseph was the one who did it despite the fact that he had to walk several miles through heavy timber and cane brake.

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The weather was bitter cold and he carried hot rocks in his pockets to keep his hands from freezing. His thoughtful mother put up his lunch the evening before and he started to school before daylight. The teacher gave him the promised attention and after that winter he got his education by his own exertion. So successful was he that by the time he was seventeen he was deputy clerk of the court under Nathaniel Hart. Not the least valuable were the lessons of patriotism that he learned from the elders who surrounded the hearthstone of his boyhood. He was also for a time a clerk in the store of the subsequently famous John J. Audubon. He divided his attention between selling goods in the store and writing in the clerk's office. In 1820 he was married and settled on a farm on the banks of the Ohio river in Vanderburg county, Indiana. It was while living there that he saw the first steamboat on the Ohio. He v/as a great admirer of the inventor, Fulton, and afterward owned a steamboat.

Young Lane soon became a man of the people with whom he had cast his lot, and when barely eligible he was elected a member of the Indiana legislature and took his seat to the astonishment of many older worthies. Mr. Lane was a fearless legislator, always acting from a conscientious belief in the truth of his views and following them up with spirit and vigilance. He continued to represent his district in the state legislature in one branch or the other for the period of twenty-four years, or until the Mexican war in 1846 called him to the field of battle. During that year a call was made in Indiana to furnish volunteers for the war. Lane was at that time a member of the state legislature and he immediately resigned his seat and entered as a private under Captain Walker. The companies, having rendezvoused at New Albany, selected Lane from the ranks as their colonel. In a few days further testimony of his worth was manifested by his receipt from Washington of his commission of brigadier general, a favor unsought and unexpected by him. On the 9th of July, 1846, he wrote a letter of acceptance and entered on the duties of his command. On the 24th of the same month, only two weeks after the receipt of his commission, he was at Brazos with all his troops and wrote to General Taylor communicating his arrival and concluding thus : "The brigade I have the honor to command is generally in good health and fine spirits, anxious to engage in active service." At length he was ordered to Saltillo and was made civil and military commandant of that post by Major General Butler. Here he established a vigilant police, protecting life and property, and built a strong fortification to provide against the threatened descent by Santa Ana. While in command at Saltillo, Lane personally visited each picket nightly, thus presenting to his men a faithful example of vigilance. After the battle of Monterey, Lane was ordered to join General Taylor. The famous battle of Buena Vista was fought on February 22 and 23, 1847. General Lane was third in command and served on the left wing. From the beginning to the end he was in the hottest of the fight. On the morning of the 23d Lane had the honor of opening the continuation of the battle on the plain, where he was attacked by a force of from four to five thousand infantry, artillery and lancers under General Ampudia - while at this crises Lane's force was reduced to four hundred men. But Lane's men, though few, were undismayed and defended their position with a gallantry worthy of the highest praise. As Lane commenced the fight on the 23d he also closed it in the evening, when, though wounded, he led the Indiana regiment, which, with the Mississippi regiment under Davis, came to the support of Bragg's artillery. Failing to pierce the American center, Santa Ana retired from the field. In this battle, where all were heroes, it is honorable to find Lane particularly noticed. Here is a picture of him : "When the grape and musket shot flew as thick as hail over our volunteers, their brave general, though wounded in the left shoulder by a musket ball, could be seen fifty yards in advance of his lines, waving his sword and encouraging his men by his impetuous bravery." General Lane remained encamped near the battlefield until June, when he was ordered with his brigade to New Orleans, where the latter was disbanded, its term of service having expired. On his return home he was greeted wherever he went by public manifestation expressive of the enthusiastic admiration on the part of his fellow citizens. After a short time at home he returned to join Taylor's lines. Having been transferred to General Scott's line of operation, he reached Vera Cruz with his command on September i6. On September 19, having lost but two days in organizing for his march, he set out with a small supply of provisions on that tour of duty which has perhaps no parallel in history, if we take into consideration the rapidity of his movements, the number of battles fought in a given time and his invariable success - a success so marked that he was not inappropriately styled by his brother officers and soldiers "The Marion of the Mexican War." In two months after his departure from Vera Cruz for the interior he had fought seven well contested fields besides innumerable skirmishes with guerrillas, whom he had entirely dispersed. It was during this expedition that he fought the first battle of Flascala and on the loth of November encountered Generals Rea and Torrejon at the same place, and recaptured a train of thirty-six laden wagons belonging to merchants in Pueblo and Mexico. In thanks for this service the merchants presented a splendid sword to General Lane. Reporting himself to the commanding general on the i8th of December, he received with marked emotion by General Scott. It was the intention of the latter to send Lane at the head of a brigade on a forward movement. Waiting impatiently for four weeks. Lane asked and obtained leave to take three hundred mounted men with Hays, Polk and Walker, and chase the guerrillas under the notorious Lenobia. In this expedition he almost succeeded in capturing Santa Ana. All he got of him, however, was his swords. He fought a number of battles, confiscated a large quantity of government property for the benefit of the United States, and returned to the capital, having been absent but twentyfour days.

Leaving the city of Mexico on the 17th of February, with the same brave and hardy comrades to arrest and punish Jaranta, a noted robber chief who had been perpetrating atrocities against Americans, Lane learned that Jaranta, who was a wiley rogue, was at Tehualtaplau, and to throw him oflF his guard Lane remained a day and night at Talancingo, gave out that he was returning to Mexico, set off in that direction, but about dark changed his course and arrived at a ranch on the road to Tehualtaplau and reached that place February 24th. There were one thousand lancers and guerrillas under Colonel Montana and Jaranta, and as the Americans entered Tehualtaplau at sunrise on the 25th the bullets came whistling from every house. Jenkins, in his history of the Mexican war, says: "Headed by General Lane, Colonel Hays and Major Polk, the dragoon dashed upon the enemy, fighting their way hand to hand. Part of the Mexicans rallied and formed outside the town, but a vigorous charge led by General Lane and Colonel Hays quickly put them to rout. Jaranta, who was wounded in the conflict, again escaped but Colonel Montana was killed with about a hundred men. General Lane lost but one man and four wounded. Quiet" was soon restored in the town after the fighting had ceased and the Americans returned to the capital, taking with them their prisoners and a quantity of recovered property that had been plundered from different trains." The battle of Tehualtaplau was the last fought in Mexico. Peace was soon declared, but General Lane remained some months, directing the movements consequent upon the return of our troops.

About the ist of August, 1848, General Lane reached Indiana. His fellow citizens were rejoiced to see him, but he had not time to respond to the favors extended to him, for on the i8th he, without any solicitation on his part, was appointed governor of Oregon. On the 28th his commission reached him, and on the next day he set out for his post. He arrived at St. Louis August 31st and called on General Kearney and asked for his escort, one company of rifles, ordered by the president. General Kearney endeavored to dissuade Governor Lane from undertaking the trip, as the season was so far advanced it would be hazardous. General Tane was not to be dissuaded from the trip, as he was not the man to be easily turned from facing any difificulties that were presented in the discharge of any duties. So he pushed to Fort Leavenworth, where his escort had preceded him. When he reached Fort Leavenworth, where his he found the company very unwilling to attempt what was considered by all the officers, many of whom were old mountaineers, as an impracticable journey. He was determined, however, to go and proposed to Captain Roberts to take twenty or twenty-five men with Lieutenant Hawkins, as it would be easier to get along with a small number. On September lo, 1848, he left Fort Leavenworth with twenty-two men, including guides. It may be remembered that this was the year in which Colonel Fremont, who followed General Lane by a few weeks, lost almost his entire party in the mountains. The journey to Oregon then was always an arduous undertaking and doubly so in the winter. The adventures and sufferings of Lane's command would make an interesting narrative but cannot be dwelt upon here. After striking the Rio Grande, which was reached through eight days of blinding snow storms, when neither grass nor fuel were to be had. Lane advised to leave the old commonly traveled route and strike south, but the guide insisted on following the old route. They parted General Lane undertaking to pilot himself to Oregon and the guide turning back, insisting that all would end in disaster. If Lane had followed the guide's advice the entire party would have met the same fate of Fremont's men. For more than twenty days he kept south until he came to the Mexican village of Santa Cruz in Sonora, where he took the regular trail. On reaching the Gila seven men deserted and killed two of the best men that were sent back after them, and shortly five more, with a corporal, also deserted, fearing starvation and death if they proceeded. The rest of the party pushed on, reaching San Diego the early part of February, where they took the boat for the remainder of the journey. Arriving at Astoria, he secured a row boat and men to help him row up to Oregon City, reaching there March 2, 1848. The last one of this party died in this city two years ago. The entire journey cost the government nothing. General Lane not making any charge for his expenses, besides aiding largely in subsisting his men with the products of his rifle, as he was both pilot and hunter for the party.

On the evening of March 2d General Lane wrote his proclamation in the newspaper office of W. G. T'Vault, and took the oath of office and entered upon the discharge of his duties. He immediately ordered a census preparatory to the election of a legislature. He quickly perceived the necessity of quieting the Indian tribes in order to secure the prosperity of Oregon. He left Oregon City about the middle of April to go to the Cayuse country to arrest the murderers of Dr. Whitman. Not being able to procure the assistance of troops, he was accompanied only by an interpreter and Dr. Newell. Arriving there, he told the chief "that he came alone, for the purpose of showing his friendship, for he wished to owe the surrender of the murderers to the chief's sense of justice and not to his fear ; that the murderers must be given up, if Cayuse nation wished peace, that he had the kindest feelings for the nation, and desired to live in peace with them and benefit them. But this would be impossible while the murderers lived ; that retaining them showed that the Cayuses defended the act of those lawless men and would be so construed by the whites." A great impression was made on the chief who asked time to consider. The governor then left them, telling them that the only alternative was war or the surrender of the murderers. On his route he visited the Walla Walla's, the Yackames, the Dalles and the Columbia Indians, with all of whom he made peace, besides stopping a bloody war raging between the first two nations. There is on record in the department at Washington a long communication from General Lane, dated Oregon City, October 22, 1849, in which a full account is given of all the Indian tribes and their number. Of this report Professor Schoolcraft says it is the only accurate account that has yet been published of the Oregon Indians and that he shall use it to extract materials for publication. Finally the Whitman murderers were arrested and word was sent to the governor to come or send for them. Accordingly he called on Major Tucker of the rifles for troops to proceed to the Cayuse country to bring the Indian prisoners. Major Tucker told him he was about to call on him for assistance to pursue his men who had deserted to go to California. Lane immediately raised a few volunteers, pursued the deserters and brought them back. He was gone five weeks in pursuit and on his return he, with an escort of ten men, again went among the Cayuses and brought back the murderers, five in number. Some of the citizens, exasperated with the Indians because of the crimes they had committed, waited upon the governor and demanded the prisoners for immediate execution. He reasoned with them and assured them that the Indians should be tried and punished. They replied that through the difficulty of procuring witnesses, etc., the Indians might escape punishment, that they wished to make the thing sure and that they would have them. He answered that if the law acquitted the Indians he could not help it; that it should be submitted to an Oregon jury to be decided according to the law and the evidence. They still insisted the Indians be turned over to them. He mildly but firmly told them that the Indians should have fair trial and the benefit of counsel. He had pledged his word to the people from whom he had received them to that effect and that his promise should be fulfilled, and that the citizens could not take the Indians except over his dead body. This firm stand prevented lawlessness and the Indians were left in the hands of the law. Another time when some lawless whites had robbed the Columbia Indians of several horses he left Oregon City alone, followed and overtook the thieves and brought back their booty, which was restored to the Indians, thus showing the Indians that they were to be treated as fairly as the whites. He had scarcely returned when news reached him of the massacre of Wallace by the Snowquelamie Indians at Puget Sound. He went there with two or three persons, gathered the Indians together and gave them to understand that the murders must be given up. The Indians subsequently turned over the murderers, two in number.

In June the legislature convened. After the delivery of his message, full of sound views relative to the wants and interests of the people, he started on a tour among the coast Indians in the southern part of the territory. General Taylor's administration came into power, an administration which went to the extreme of proscription notwithstanding that he had declared before election that "he had no friends to reward and no enemies to punish." One of the proscribed was Governor Lane, and without cause, then or since alleged, other than his democracy. He received a letter in April, 1850, notifying him of his removal, though his successor had not arrived. He had placed our relations with all the Oregon Indians on a friendly footing, except with the Rogue River Indians. They were a predatory and warlike tribe. The safety of the future border citizens required decided terms of peace or war with them. Governor Lane preferred the former and was about to visit them to obtain restitution of stolen property and to treat for future relations when the news of his removal reached him. What could he do? His successor had not arrived; should he abandon all and leave confusion to reign and the Indians to rob and murder at pleasure? Had he consulted his private interest such would have been his course. But that was not his character. A duty to the government, to Oregon and its citizens was to be performed and since his successor was not there to perform It, he felt it should be done by himself. Supposing he could complete the treaty he desired to make by the i8th of June, and being anxious to attend to his private business as soon as duty would permit, he determined to return his official power to the source whence he obtained it - the government and Washington - and notify them that his discharge of its duties would cease on that day. In the ab^ sence of his successor to receive the responsibilities of the office from his hands and discharge its duties, this was the only course which accorded with his sense of duty. Accordingly he addressed the following letter to the secretary of war:

Oregon City, O. T., May 27, 1850. Sir: I have the honor to report that I have succeeded in bringing to justice five Cayuse Indians, being all that are now supposed to be living who were concerned in the murder of Dr. Whitman, family and others. I am happy to say that our relations with the Cayuse as well as all other tribes with the exception of the Chasles or Rogue River Indians, are of a most friendly character. I shall set out this day for Rogue river for the purpose of placing our relations with these Indians upon a proper and friendly footing. In sending on my resignation I have given myself until the i8th day of June, in which time I hope to accomplish this most desirable arrangement. I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant,

He did not conclude the treaty with these Indians until the middle of July but accepted no pay for his services after June 18, 1850. His successor, Major Gaines, did not reach Oregon until August, 1850, although he was commissioned October 2, 1849, and drew pay from that date.

Governor Lane, on the day of the date of the foregoing letter, started for the country of the Rogue River Indians. He entered their country with twelve or fifteen men. The Indians had fiercely spurned all advances from the whites and rejected all attempts at conciliation. With some difficulty he succeeded in assembling them to the number of four or five hundred warriors for a "talk." During the "talk" one of his attendants recognized two horses that had been stolen from them in possession of the Indians, and two pistols then in the belts of two chiefs. The governor demanded restitution of the property, telling them that they couldn't better evince their willingness to treat and preserve peace with the whites than by returning stolen property. The head chief stepped forward, took one of the stolen pistols from the Indian's belt and returned it to the owner, and was about to take the other pistol when the Indian having it in possession presented his gun and raised the war whoop. Instantly four or five hundred guns and arrows were presented at the small party of white men. A single false step would have led to bloodshed then and after. But Lane's coolness and promptness were equal to the emergency. He was heard to say that small as his party was, with their superior weapons they might have made a successful defense. But he had gone there to make a treaty of peace, not to fight. Promptly stepping to the side of the principal chief, pistol in hand, he told them that if a single drop of blood of any of the whites was shed it should be avenged by the destruction of the entire tribe. This had the desired effect. The chief told the warriors to cease their hostile demonstrations and to retire across the river. The governor then stepped among the foremost, took the arrows from the bows and returned them to the quivers, or uncocked the guns and knocked the priming from the pans. The trouble thus quieted, the Indians went back across the river, while the governor kept the chief with him all night. In a few days afterward the tribe again congregated. After a "big talk" a treaty of peace was concluded and presents distributed. The governor left with them strips of paper, stating that they were at peace with the whites and requesting that no man should do them injury. These strips were signed with his name ; and the Indians for a long while after, when they approached a white man, would hold out the paper and say "Joe Lane, Joe Lane," that being all the English they had learned.

Governor Lane held his office but about sixteen months. One Oregon history speaks of him as having been Oregon's first and by far her most distinguished executive. And we may add, without belittling the work of his successors, her most efficient, when we consider the vast amount of work he accomplished in the brief time he occupied the office, despite the great difficulties to be over- come in traveling over so large a territory and the many hardships that he endured, that we of this day of railroads, telegraph and numerous other conveniences cannot conceive. The following resolutions explain themselves :

Be It Resolved By The Legislative Assembly Of The

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE TERRITORY OF OREGON THAT the course of General Joseph Lane, as superintendent of Indian affairs, meets with their fullest approbation and that his extraordinary energy in the department merits the thanks of the people of Oregon. That the just policy, coupled with the great firmness he has exercised toward the numerous Indian tribes within the territory, has secured the most peaceful relations with them; and that few could have accomplished so successfully what his kindness, integrity and firmness has done to secure the bonds of a lasting peace with the tribes surrounding us.

RESOLVED THAT in the discharge of his executive duties as governor of Oregon he has uniformly acted with a view to the best interest of the whole people and that his demeanor in office has afforded no ground of just complaint, but on the contrary has been such as to meet the best expectations and warmest wishes of the people.

RESOLVED THAT they regret sincerely that the president of the United States has deprived the territory of Oregon of the future services of one so eminently useful and whose usefulness was enhanced by the unbounded confidence of the people over whom he was placed.

RESOLVED THAT the conduct of General Lane in his private life has been such as to secure the warmest friendship of the people. And the purity of his private relations has not been less than his energy has been great in the discharge of his official duties.

The people of Oregon whose happiness he had secured proved their gratitude to General Lane by electing him their delegate to congress by an almost unanimous vote (nineteen hundred out of twenty-four hundred). This honor came to him as had come the other honors that had been bestowed upon him, entirely without his solicitation. The election occurred on the 3d of June, 1851, and on the 12th General Lane left Oregon City for the mines, expecting to be gone about five weeks. The Rogue River Indians were again giving trouble to the miners who, as their numbers increased, had grown careless of the rights of the Indians under the treaty of the year before. Several atrocities had been committed by the Indians, one being the treacherous murder of a man named Dilley. On his way to the mines General Lane met a party of men who told him what had happened and that war had begun, that a severe battle had been fought between the Indians and two companies of regulars under Major Kearney, who fortunately, was passing through from the fort at Vancouver to that of Benecia, California, guided by W. G. T'Vault, and that Captain Stuart in command of the dragoons had been killed. Lane pushed forward at once to overtake Kearney, which he did by forced marches, and he with his volunteers took an active and important part in the events of the succeeding days. After giving battle the Indians fled and were pursued by the regulars and volunteers who scoured the country for days, sometimes coming upon an Indian camp, but the warriors would usually escape. The women and children, however, were taken prisoners and held as hostages. Major Kearney was anxious to turn these prisoners over to the people of Oregon to be delivered to the superintendent of Indian affairs; but no citizens could be found willing to take charge of them, so the Major determined to take them to San Francisco and return them to Oregon by water. A few days after General Lane had reached the mines he determined to return to Oregon, so he sent work by messenger to Major Kearney, telling him that if he so desired he would take charge of the Indian prisoners and return them to Oregon. The Major promptly accepted the ofifer.

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About this time Governor Gaines of Oregon, disquieted by the reports of Indian outrages, set out with the design of using his executive authority to form a treaty with the offenders ; and the task was made an easy one by the prompt and energetic action of Major Kearney and General Joseph Lane who cleared a way for executive diplomacy, whereas, without their help, his excellency would most certainly have failed in his mission and possibly have lost his scalp besides. General Lane had to travel slowly with his Indian prisoners. On his way down Rogue river he had a talk with a considerable number of Indians across the river "who gave him a terrible account of the invasion of their country by the whites ; that they had come on horses in great numbers, invading every portion of it; that they were afraid to lie down to sleep for fear that the white men would be upon them before they could awake ; that they were tired of war and now wanted peace." He told them that the governor was at the crossing of the river and that he would leave his prisoners with him and for them to go and make their offers of peace to him ; that the governor would be glad to see and talk to them of peace. The Indians took his advice and Governor Gaines made a treaty with all but one tribe, the treaty being signed by Governor Gaines and eleven Indian chiefs. This ended the first war with the Rogue River Indians. General Lane reached Oregon City July 17 to prepare to start for Washington city on the next steamer. On July 22 a large and enthusiastic meeting took place at the Oregon House for the purpose of taking leave of General Lane and to give expression to their high regard, and without distinction of party they thus indorsed him :

RESOLVED THAT as friends of General Joseph Lane, without distinction or party, we tender to him our hearty and sincere approbation of his acts as governor of Oregon territory, and devoutly wish his reunion with his family may be a crowning happiness to a safe and pleasant journey home ;

RESOLVED THAT while we remember General Lane's agency in bringing to trial and punishment the Weilaptu murderers, in bringing back to duty the deserting soldiers, his efficient aid in the late Indian difficulties, and the ability, energy, fidelity and purity of purpose, which has characterized all his public acts among us, it is but fitting that we express our approbation and admiration of his course.

RESOLVED THAT General Lane came to us covered with military glory and he leaves us upon the business of the territory clothed with our confidence and attachment.

The committee who were appointed to draft the resolutions were Hon. W. W. Buck, A. E. Waite, Armory Holbrook, William K. Kilborn and James M. Wair. After the resolutions a committee was appointed to present a copy of them to General Lane and to solicit his presence in the hall. The committee introduced General Lane and he made a short speech, thanking and pledging his highest endeavors to continue to merit their confidence and esteem. The meeting then adjourned with three hearty cheers for General Lane. He was met upon his arrival at Astoria by a procession of the citizens and was addressed in their behalf by John A. Andrews. He replied briefly and appropriately. By a happy coincidence General Lane went from Oregon City to Astoria in a boat named the "Willamette," and from Astoria to Panama on the "Oregon," arriving there August 20, intending, when he reached Chagress, to proceed directly to Washington.

At Chagress, however, he learned of the invasion of Cuba by Lopez and of the capture of Colonel Crittenden and his command, and his desire to know the facts caused him to go to Havana, where he stayed two days collecting authentic information concerning the invasion. From Havana he proceeded to New Orleans and on his way to Washington he stopped for a visit to his old home in Indiana, on the Ohio river, about eight miles from Evansville, where he visited his family and received visits from many of his old friends who welcomed him again to their midst. At Indianapolis a public reception was given General Lane and the vast crowd that assembled was addressed by Governor Wright and the speech was replied to by General Lane. After General Lane's address the troops were reviewed by General Lane, the governor and staff. A banquet was the next proceeding- of the day and among those who sat down with General Lane were Senator Bright, Governor Wright, Messrs. Robinson, Dunham, Gorman and Hendricks, members of congress and members of the supreme court.

In the meantime, while General Lane was in Oregon, he was without his knowledge named for the presidency of the convention assembled at Indianapolis to revise the state constitution, and February 24, 1852, the democratic convention at Indianapolis presented him to the people of the United States as "tried and never found wanting," and therefore the man to advance the interests of our common country.

General Lane brought his family to Oregon in 1853. They left Indiana on a beautiful Easter Sunday morning, March 27, for New Orleans, and the isthmus, and thence up the Pacific coast, arriving at Oregon City May 14. They remained at Oregon City for a short time, thence removed to the claim that General Lane had taken in the Umpqua valley. In the summer of 1853 John Fullerton and I. B. Nichols, prominent residents of the South Umpqua and Cow Creek valleys, came to the home of General Lane, telling him of the outbreak of the Rogue River Indians and asking him to go to the defense of the settlers. He instantly set about raising volunteers. Fifty men joined his party and with these he set out and traveled rapidly to the scene of hostilities. On arriving at Camp Stewart he found the main part of the troops there together with Captain Alden and his regulars. The command of all was tendered to General Lane and by him was accepted. Preparations for moving on the enemy was made and an active campaign resolved upon. From August 15 to 24 several small engagements and sharp skirmishes occurred between the whites and Indians. The troops finally came upon the Indians encamped on a branch of Evans creek in a thick wood filled with underbrush. General Lane decided to attack immediately. While directing the fight General Lane approached within thirty yards of the nearest Indians and was severely wounded in the left shoulder. Still exposing himself, he was forcibly dragged back behind a tree where he continued to direct the fight until, feeling the loss of blood, he retired for a short time to have his wound dressed. The savages still held their strong position and it was thought that they could not be driven from it. At this juncture the Indians, having found that General Lane was in command of the whites, began to call to him and to the soldiers, professing their readiness to treat for peace. Robert Metcalf, sub-agent to the Indians, went to their camp and through him and others negotiations were commenced. General Lane did not wish the Indians to know of his wound so when he went among them he threw a heavy coat over his shoulders .so as to conceal his arm. In spite of the pain he conversed with the Indians throughout an interminable peace talk and finally agreed with them upon terms for a cessation of hostilities. No definite arrangements were made, but it was agreed between Chief Joe, who was in command of the Indians, that a final peace talk should be held at Table Rock, within a few days, and that the Indians should go there in a body and await the result of the conference. As soon as the terms of the armistice were arranged the troops took up the march homeward, going into camp at Hailey's ferry, giving the location the name of Camp Alden for Major Alden. On the loth of September the whites and Indians met at the appointed place on the side of Table Rock and discussed and agreed upon terms of peace. This was in some respects the most remarkable occurrence that ever took place in southern Oregon. An eye witness wrote of it:

"The scene of this famous peace talk between Gen. Joseph Lane and Chief Joseph - two men so lately met in mortal combat - was on a narrow bench of a long, gently sloping hill lying against the noted bluff called Table Rock. The ground was thinly covered with majestic pines and rugged oaks. About half a mile below sat the two chiefs in council. General Lane was in fatigue dress, the arm which was wounded at Buena Vista in a sling from a fresh bullet wound received at

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Battle creek. Chief Joseph, tall, grave and self-possessed, wore a long- black robe over his ordinary dress and by his side sat Mary, his favorite child and faithful companion. A short distance above on the hillside were some hundreds of Indians in fighting garb reclining quietly on the ground. To the east rose abruptly Table Rock and at its base stood Smith's dragoons, waiting anxiously with hand on horse, the issue of this attempt to make peace without their aid. After a proposition was discussed and settled between the two chiefs, the Indian would rise up and communicate the matter to a huge warrior who reclined at the foot of a tree near by. Then the latter rose up and communicated the matter to those above him and they belabored it back and forth with many voices. Then the warrior communicated the thought of the multitude back to the chief and so the discussion went on until an understanding was finally reached. Then we separated, the Indians going back to their mountain retreat, the whites to the camp." Those accompanying General Lane to the council were : Captain A. J. Smith, First Dragoon; Captain L. F. Mosher, Adjutant; Colonel John Ross, Joel Palmer, Samuel Culver, Captain J. W. Nesmith, Lieutenant A. V. Kantz, R. B. Metcalf, J. D. Mason and T. T. Tierney.

General Lane left for the north on or about October, 1853. ^^t before taking leave of the people of the valley he made a visit to Tipsee Tyee, hoping to induce that much feared warrior to join the Rogue River chiefs in amity to the whites. Tipsee had taken no part in the recent hostilities, but as if to signalize his independence of both white and Indian influence he sent word to Jacksonville that he did not recognize the peace of September loth and would not subscribe to its terms. As for the other chiefs, they might do as they chose ; he was on his own land, came upon it first and should remain upon it. It seemed to the people and the Indian agent that the insolence of Tipsee Tyee needed to be punished. But to punish such a wily old Indian as Tyee was an undertaking of considerable difficulty and very few cared to attempt it. The chief stayed in his lair and General Lane, who to great fighting qualities added a heart that was capable of feeling for even the most savage of God's creatures, paid him a visit in the interest of peace and humanity. Accompanied by two men only he went into the mountains, found the chief and entered upon an agreement with him by which the rights of tlie settlers were to be respected and grievances to be settled satisfactorily; and returned safely from a journey which most men regarded as infinitely dangerous.

With the Indian war of 1853 ended General Lane's military career. He served the people of Oregon territory as their delegate in congress until the bill admitting the territory as a state was passed, largely by his instrumentality in 1859. He was warmly congratulated by his fellow members in congress on the passage of the bill and when the president signed the bill, the president, vice president and General Lane were all tendered a serenade. He then took his seat in the senate, to which position he had been elected in 1857, the state thus showing her appreciation of his services by honoring him by the election to serve as one of her first senators. He remained in the senate until 1861. In i860 the democratic convention at Baltimore nominated the popular general and senator for the office of vice president of the United States on the ticket with John C. Breckenridge. In 1861 General Lane retired to private life and returned to Oregon to make his home on his farm in the Umpqua valley. While making the trip from Portland the wagon containing his books and other personal belongings mired and in helping to unload the wagon one of the hunting guns, of which he was bringing three, one for himself, one for a son and one for a neighbor, was accidentally discharged and General Lane was wounded in the left shoulder, where he had been wounded twice before, at Buena Vista and in the war with the Indians in 1853. A boy with the party, without the knowledge of General Lane, had loaded the gun, hoping to see some game, and when the General drew it toward him it was discharged. He v.'as disabled for months and was for years more or less of an invalid from the efifects of this wound, and it finally caused his death some years later.

General Lane was married, in 1820, to Polly Hart, who was a woman whose high courage, integrity and steadfastness of purpose was fully equal to that of her distinguished husband. She was born in Kentucky on the banks of the Ohio, but soon after her birth her parents moved across the river and made their home in southern Indiana, excepting during the year 1812, which was spent under the protection of the fort at Vincennes. While still a young girl she was left an orphan and had to depend upon herself, thus early forming those excellent habits that rendered her so truly a helpmeet to her husband. Their family consisted of ten children, six sons and four daughters. The sons were: Nathaniel Hart Lane. who became the father of Dr. Harry Lane, an ex-mayor of Portland ; Ratcliflf Boone Lane, who took charge of the home farm for a while but died of cholera in 1849 at the age of twenty-two years; Joseph Samuel Lane, who served with his father during the Mexican and Indian wars and who passed away on the 6th of August, 1910, at Myrtle Creek, Oregon, at the age of eighty-three years; Simon Robert, a well known resident of Umpqua valley ; Colonel John Lane, a West Point graduate, who served in the Civil war and now makes his home in Idaho ; and La Fayette Lane, who served one term as a member of congress from Oregon and who became the father of Father Arthur Lane, a Catholic priest of Albany, Oregon. The eldest daughter, Melissa, who came to Oregon with her father and husband, A. J. Barlow, passed away in 1895 at the age of seventy-four years. Mary, who became the wife of Aaron Shelby, a pioneer merchant of Portland, yet makes her home in that city. The third daughter, Emily, married J. C. Floud, a merchant of Roseburg, Oregon, and died in November, 1907, at Boise, Idaho. Winifred became the wife of L. F. Mosher and makes her home in Portland.

After retiring from public life General Lane lived for several years on a beautiful farm in the hills overlooking the Umpqua valley, and when failing health made it impossible to continue this life, he secured a little home in Roseburg near the home of several of his children and passed his declining years in study and contemplation. He died in April, 1881, from the effects of the repeated wounds he had received in his left shoulder. He was laid to rest in the cemetery that overlooks his first home in Oregon - the state he loved so dearly.

Captain Josiah Myrick

The year 1852 is one of the most memorable in the history of the northwest. It was the year which brought to Portland and to Oregon many of the substantial settlers, who became the founders of this commonwealth. Almost a half century before Lewis and Clarke had carved out a path to this section of the country, being the original explorers here, but it was not until the '50s that there was much done to colonize and settle this portion of the country by those who wished to make it a permanent home. Their predecessors had come hither in the interests of trade but without expectation of taking up their permanent abode here. \yhat it meant to the settlers of New England, the east and even of the Mississippi valley to undertake the long journey can scarcely be imagined in this age when one can cross the entire continent in four days. It was seldom that one could make it in as many months at that time. There were but two methods of travel - one was to follow the old Lewis and Clarke trail, as nearly as possible, the other to make the long journey by way of the seas.

Captain Myrick chose the latter. Throughout his entire life he had been more or less closely associated with maritime interests. He was born in New Castle, Maine, on the 17th of February, 1833, and when he decided to establish his home in the northwest he made the trip around Cape Horn to Oregon and in 1852 took up his abode in this state. Soon afterward he became connected with steamboat interests on the Willamette and Columbia rivers in partnership with Jacob Kamm of Portland and the late Captain J. C. Ainsworth. He sailed the

Josiah Myeick The City Of Portland 451

Jennie Clarke and other boats as captain until 1870, when he and his associates in the Oregon Steam Navigation Company became interested in the gold mines of eastern Oregon, and from that time until his death he was closely associated with the development of the rich mineral resources of the northwest. While he maintained his residence in Portland, he died at the Conner Creek mines on the 26th of December, 1906.

Captain My rick had been married in 1858 to Louisa Rae, a granddaughter of Dr. John McLoughlin, the distinguished Scotchman who became so prominent in the early development and Christianization of the northwest. At his death Captain Myrick left a widow and two daughters residing in Portland and a son living in Los Angeles, California.

In the early days Captain Myrick knew not only almost every citizen of Portland but also many of those living along the Willamette and Columbia rivers. His close connection with the shipping interests at a time when railroad transportation was comparatively undeveloped enabled him to contribute in large measure to the substantial growth and upbuilding of this district.

The Pacific Stoneware Company

The Pacific Stoneware Company is the outgrowth of the Pacific Pottery Company, which corporation was organized in 1890 by Charles Hegele, L. P. R. Le Compte and C. W. Borders. The first and last named retired in 1900, at which time Thomas S. Mann, now president of the company, became connected therewith. The other officers are L. !W. Scott, vice president, and Thomas Mann, secretary and treasurer. Thomas S. Mann, the president, is a native of Victoria, British Columbia, who came to Portland in 1869 and was educated and married here. He and his associates are making of the business an enterprise of extensive proportions, bringing a substantial profit. The most modern processes of manufacture are employed and their output is one which for durability and finish is unsurpassed. Reasonable prices and promptness in delivery are also factors in the success which is attending the undertaking. The business was reincorporated in November, 1909, under the name of the Pacific Stoneware Company, at which time Mr. Mann became its president. The plant is devoted to the manufacture of stoneware and flower pots and the business has enjoyed a wonderful growth, the trade having increased four hundred per cent over what it was ten years ago. The factory contains over twenty-five thousand square feet of floor space and about twenty men are employed. The product is sold all over the northwest and California with occasional sales in Alaska and Honolulu.

Joseph Wood Hill, widely known as one of the distinguished educators of the northwest, having founded and promoted the Hill Military Academy of Portland, was bom May 28, 1856, in Westport, Connecticut, a son of Joseph Wakeman and Ann R. Wood Hill. The father, who was born June 20, 1832, at Easton, Connecticut, became a merchant at Westport. He traced his ancestry back to William Hill, who came from Lyme Regis, England, in 1632, and settled at Dorchester. Massachusetts. He lived at Windsor. Connecticut, in 1639, and was prominent in the early history of that state, as was his son and namesake. The first William Hill was a member of the general court of Connecticut in 1639 and served as deputy from Windsor in that year and for several years thereafter. On the maternal side. Dr. Hill comes from the Wood family, which is of English origin, the first representatives of the name arriving from Carlisle, England, in 1822 and settling at Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Dr. Hill prepared for college in the Selleck school at Norwalk, Connecticut. He was graduted B. A. from Yale University in 1878, and M. D. from Willamette University in 1881. He was a member of Gamma Nu. He also served as a member of the Gamma Nu campaign committee ; rowed on the freshman crew in the fall regatta ; and received several honors in college.

His entire life has been devoted to educational interests. In 1879 he became lessee and head master of the old Bishop Scott grammar school, one of Portland's oldest landmarks, founded by Bishop B. Wistar Morris in 1870. Dr. Hill continued in that position until 1887, when the school became the Bishop Scott Academy, of which he served as principal until 1901. In the latter year, he severed his business connection with the school board of the Episcopal diocese of Oregon, controlling the Bishop Scott Academy, and founded the present Hill Military Academy, situated at No. 821 Marshall street. Dr. Hill retains the principalship of the school, while his oldest son, Joseph A. Hill, became head master and later vice principal. In 1908 the school was incorporated, and Joseph A. Hill assumed the vice presidency and in 1910 became the manager of the affairs at the academy, while Major Von Egloff stein, commandant and instructor of modern languages in the Bishop Scott Academy and Hill Military Academy from 1896, became the head master.

On the 1 8th of November, 1878, Dr. Hill was married to Miss Jessie K. Adams, a daughter of George S. and Polly M. Adams. Mrs. Hill died February 3, 1901, at Portland, Oregon, leaving three sons: Joseph Adams, born August 19, 1880; George Wakeman, July 28, 1885; and Benjamin Wood, February 18, 1890, who are yet residents of Portland. In this city on the nth of February, 1902, Dr. Hill was married to Mrs. Laura E. MacEwen, a daughter of J. C. and Martha McFarland of The Dalles.

Dr. Hill originally gave his political support to the democracy, but, believing in the gold standard, severed his connection with the party in 1896 and has since been a consistent republican. In Masonry he has attained the Knights Templar degree of the York Rite and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Episcopal church. He has been a close student of governmental problems and sociological and economic conditions, and he casts his influence where reform, progress and intellectual and moral development lead the way.

Joseph Adams Hill

Joseph Adams Hill, the present vice principal and actual head of the Hill Military Academy, was born in Portland, August 19, 1880. He is the eldest son of Dr. Joseph Wood Hill of Westport, Connecticut, Yale '78, former principal and lessee of the Bishop Scott Academy and present principal of the Hill Military Academy, and his wife Jessie Katharine Adams, of Westport, Connecticut. His one surviving brother, Benjamin Wood Hill, is of the class of 19 12, Sheffield Scientific School.

Mr. Hill received his preparatory school education at the Bishop Scott Academy. Upon his graduation in 1899 he entered the biological course at Sheffield Scientific School with intention of preparing for a medical career. During his senior year the sudden death of his mother completely changed his plans and he gave up the study of medicine for a commercial career. After his graduation in 1902 he entered the employ of the American Steel & Wire Company. He became a salesman in their Boston office and a year later was transferred to their electrical and wire rope department at Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1904 he accepted a position as salesman with the Lake Erie Wire Nail & Supply Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and later was appointed traveling sales manager of the Clifton Nail & Supply Company of St. Louis, Missouri; the Grant Nail

The Lewis & Clarke Exposition in 1905 caused him to resign his position and to return to Portland, where he entered the service of the United States geological survey, who were then investigating the black sands of the Columbia river under the direction of David L Day, the noted geologist, and assisted in the operation of the electrical furnace used in smelting the iron ores found in the black sands.

Subsequently he accepted a position with the Tualatin Alill & Lumber Company and then entered into the corporation of the East Side Slab Wood Company. He filled the position of secretary-treasurer of this corporation for a number of years and then sold out his interest and departed for the Nevada gold fields. Here he visited the camps of Goldfield, Tonopah, Wonder, Fairview, Goldbanks, Dixie and Hike, and became actively engaged in mining. Later on he visited the camps of Florence, Dyke, Veryville, New Goldfield, Rebel Creek and Fortuna in the northern part of Nevada and in 1908 returned to Portland in order to accept the position of vice principal of the Hill Military Academy. He soon assumed the actual management of the institution and his progressive spirit united with the broader experiences of liis father was largely instrumental in making the academy one of the strongest and most thorough preparatory schools in the Pacific northwest, an accomplished fact proven in the well established reputation of the school, and in the liberal patronage accorded it. Mr. Hill is an active republican and a member of the University Club and the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club.

The Hill Military Academy

The Hill Military Academy, a boarding and day school for boys and young men, was founded in 1901 by Dr. Joseph Wood Hill, who for twenty-three years previous to that time had been lessee and principal of the Bishop Scott Academy, one of the pioneer educational institutions not only in the city of Portland but in the state of Oregon and the Pacific northwest as well. Dr. Hill, who during his career in Oregon as an educator has had more than two thousand pupils under his charge and whose "boys" can be found in every section of the northwest and in many other parts of the country at large, successfully engaged in professional pursuits or occupying responsible positions in the commercial world, had long cherished the desire of establishing an academy of his own, in which he might embody and perfect his own ideas and principles of education, developed throughout many years of experience, and the Hill Military Academy is the culmination and realization of this desire.

The academy is located in a beautiful and quiet residence portion of Portland and within a few blocks of its two best and largest hospitals that can be reached in twelve minutes by electric cars from the business center. It therefore enjoys the benefits of the exceptionally pure Bull Run water, municipal lighting and all other conveniences found in a large city, yet it is sufficiently remote from the heart of the town to be free from influences that would distract from study.

The buildings are commodious and carefully planned and constructed throughout. The main building, four stories high, is built in the English baronial style, with castellated walls, and accords in appearance with the military idea. It is of slow burning construction, without the old fashioned hollow wall, floor and air spaces, and by way of further precaution is supplied with a sufficient number of easily accessible fire escapes, thus practically eliminating all danger of fire. Its internal arrangement is thoroughly modern, its sanitary system is perfect. The private rooms for the cadets, heated by hot water and adequately lighted, are designed for two occupants and possess unusual facilities for comfort. The armory, two stories high, contains the spacious drill hall, fifty by one hundred feet, and the fully equipped work shops of the academy.

For nine years the educational work of the academy was carried on successfully and with a gradually growing patronage under the management of Dr. J. W. Hill, principal, and Mr. John W. Gavin, vice principal and headmaster. In 1910 Dr. Hill, though retaining the principalship, turned over the management of the academy to his eldest son, Mr. Joseph Adams Hill, Yale '02, S, who became its vice principal. At the same time Mr. J. W. Gavin accepted a call to the principalship of the Skagway (Alaska) high school and was succeeded as headmaster by Major G. C. Von Egloffstein, who had been commandant and instructor of modern languages of the Biship Scott and Hill Military Academies since 1899.

Mr. J. A. Hill upon assuming the management immediately brought about many important changes. The academy was incorporated under the laws of Oregon, the building thoroughly overhauled and renovated from top to bottom, the faculty increased, and the educational and disciplinary system reorganized to meet the most exacting demands. As a result, the academy soon found itself in better condition in every respect than ever before, its standing with the leading universities firmly established and its diplomas accepted by practically every college in the United States that accredits preparatory schools. Its policy endeavored to reach the individual student, by means of a large force of competent, live instructors and extremely small classes, so as to enable him to advance a& rapidly as is compatible with efficient work. Its military discipline just and administered without fear or favor, as maintained was made considerably stricter and boys not amenable to discipline or otherwise undesirable, were not retained. The military department now emphasizes every advantageous feature of military training without encroaching upon the time reserved for studies. Clean athletics of all kinds are encouraged and strictly and competently supervised. An annual summer session was added to its regular curriculum, which is held in a camp, either at the coast or in the mountains, and promises to become one of the most important features of the school. Its watchword became "Thoroughness and Results," and the Hill Military Academy, a success from its inception and developed along the most practical lines of modern education, has now become one of the leading preparatory schools of the northwest, with a firmly established patronage crowding its capacity so that an enlargement of the plant will soon become a necessity.

Thomas Benton Killin

To say that Thomas Benton Killin was an Oregon pioneer of 1845 is to indicate that he was a witness of almost the entire development of the state. Prior to that period Oregon's resources were little developed. Fur trading had been carried on with Astoria as the headquarters from the early part of the century but mile upon mile of the state was as yet an unexplored country and practically nothing had been done toward utilizing the opportunities offered in its rich mining districts, its extensive forests and in the alluvial soil. Mr. Killin, only six years of age at the time of his arrival, was reared amid an environment that tests the metal of men and proves their true worth, for, far removed from civilization, the individual must adapt himself to difficult surroundings and prove his adaptability by using the resources at his command.

Mr. KilHn was born in Springfield, Illinois, May 10. 1839. His father, John Killin, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1792, while the mother, who bore the maiden name of Frances Ulam, was bom in 1813. Removing westward, the father became superintendent of the construction of the Illinois and Michi- gan canal, residing for a time at Springfield. He resumed his westward journey, when in 1842 he went to Iowa, where he purchased land and engaged in farming until the spring of 1845. From time to time from the few settlers who had penetrated the northwest, reports were received concerning the rich country that was awaiting the development of man to yield rich returns. Mr. Killin resolved to cross the plains to Oregon and try his fortune in the northwest. At that time his family numbered three children, Martha, Thomas Benton and G. Benton. The daughter afterward married and had four children but is now deceased. Thomas became the owner of a part of the home place. The party left Iowa in April and by slow stages proceeded across the plains and over the mountains, reaching their destination in October. While on the Platte river they were corralled by the Indians but secured their release by giving oxen to the red men. Leaving their teams at The Dalles, they made rafts and floated down the river to the Cascades. After passing the troublous stretch of water there encountered, they continued their journey by boat down the river and spent the winter on the Tualitin plains. From that point they went to Linn county, where Mr. Killin secured a donation claim and in the summer of 1846 raised a crop. Their nearest neighbor was twelve miles away and the family seemed indeed isolated and far from civilization. Subsequently they removed to a place near Gervais, in Marion county, and in March, 1847, they came to the donation claim in Clackamas county, upon which the two sons resided for many years. The father traded a yoke of oxen for six hundred and forty acres of choice land. It was entirely destitute of improvements save for a little cabin but the labors of the family soon wrought a marked transformation in the place and in later years two fine farm residences were erected thereon. For twenty years John Killin made that property his home, carrying on general agricultural pursuits up to the time of his death, which occurred in October, 1867. He was a man of unassailable business integrity as well as indefatigable energy and enterprise. In antebellum days he gave his political support to the democratic party. He was acquainted with Abraham Lincoln while a resident of Springfield and after the organization of the republican party became one of its stanch advocates and was unfaltering in his loyalty to the Union cause during the Civil war. His widow long survived him, passing away December 15, 1909, at the age of ninetyfour years.

Thomas Benton Killin was the second in order of birth in his father's family and was a little lad of six years when the journey was made across the plains to Oregon. Throughout his life he remembered many incidents of the trip as well as of the period of early residence in this state. He was sent to the primitive schools of Clackamas county until sixteen years of age and then put aside his text-books to make his own way in the world. His life was one of untiring industry and intelligently directed efifort. When the Civil war broke out between the north and the south, like his father, he entertained strong Union sentiments and on the 21st of April, 1863, enlisted as a member of Company G, First Oregon Cavalry. The troops were stationed for a year at Fort Vancouver and afterward among the Snake Indians, being engaged continuously on the frontier in a warfare that was even more difficult than that which was being waged uoon the battlefields of the south, for there the foe were evenly matched and each had been trained in the same system of warfare, but in the northwest and along the frontier the white soldiers must learn the wily and treacherous methods of the red men and must fight according to their custom, making an unexpected attack upon the enemy. Not far flung battle line did they form but under cover of bush or tree or rock, wherever a hiding place was afiforded, they waited in silence for the enemy.

In April, 1866, Mr. Killin was honorably discharged, having in the meantime been promoted to the rank of first sergeant. Returning to his home, he purchased a quarter section of land from his father, constituting a portion of the donation claim, and on the 3d of December, 1867, he completed his arrange- ments for having a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Mila A. Adair, who was born in IHinois, January 8, 1849, ^ daughter of WilHam R. Adair, who in 1852 came west with his family. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Killin began hfe on the farm, where they continued to reside until 1907, when they removed to Silverton, Oregon. In 1880 he built a fine frame residence there and from time to time made other substantial improvements, developing his place into one of the best farms of the county and scarcely surpassed in all the state.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Killin were born two children : May, now the wife of Wallace Durant, a resident of Woodburn, Oregon; and Benton, who is living in East Portland. Mr. and Mrs. Killin are members of the Congregational church. In politics he is a stanch republican, never swerving in his allegiance to the party and the cause it represented, yet he never sought or desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his individual business interests. However, he served as commissioner of Clackamas county for a number of years. He enjoys in large measure the respect and confidence of all who know him and the family, too, are prominent in this part of the state.

In financial circles Finlay McKercher is well known, his enterprise and ability leading him into important relations. He was born in Flint, Michigan, March 21, 1847. His father, Daniel McKercher, was a native of New York and followed farming as his life work. He died at Sioux City, Iowa, in 1900, having long survived his wife, who passed away during the childhood days of their son Finlay. Mrs. McKercher bore the maiden name of Florence McCandlish and was also a native of New York. Both the paternal and maternal grandparents were natives of Scotland. The family of Daniel and Florence McKercher numbered six children, of whom Finlay is fifth in order of birth. Two of his sisters are yet living: Mrs. Jennie B. Gilbert, of Sioux City, Iowa; and Mrs. Susan A. Brookings, of Portland.

In the public schools of New York, Finlay McKercher pursued his education. He removed to the Empire state during his childhood and made his home with his grandparents until fifteen years of age, when he started out in life on his own account. Returning to Michigan, he located in Bay City, where he engaged in clerking until 1862, when he responded to his country's call for troops and entered the military service. He was attached to the quartermaster's department of the Army of the Cumberland at the headquarters of General Thomas and remained in that branch of the service until 1866, when he left the army. In the same year he secured a position as teller in the bank of Ware & Ellison of Sioux City, Iowa, there remaining for two years, after which he spent two years in the general mercantile business in Vermilion, South Dakota. The grasshopper plague made times so hard, however, that he was obliged to discontinue his business, and, going to^ Chicago, he entered the employ of a wholesale hardware house, for which he traveled for six years. At the end of that time he became credit man for a wholesale jewelry house, which he thus represented for six years. Subsequently he became vice president and manager of the Minneapolis Jewelry Manufacturing Company, which he assisted in organizing. After two years Mr. McKercher sold out and sought the opportunities of the northwest, going to Portland with Frank Peavey, a prominent grain man. He assisted in building elevators on the line of the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company from this point to Spokane and also the million bushel elevator at Albina, in which enterprise he was financially interested. Shortly after his arrival in Portland he also organized the Oregon Building & Loan Association, of which he became the first secretary. After two years he severed his relations with the Pacific Coast Elevator Company, of which he was president during the period of organization.

The City Of Portland 459

while later he became secretary. He afterward concentrated his entire attention upon the building and loan business and was active in establishing the Equitable Savings & Loan Association, which is a reorganization of the above company and was reorganized in March, 1899. He continued as secretary of the company. This is one of the leading financial institutions of the city, of which further mention is made in connection with the chapter of business interests in this history. He is also vice president of the Butler Banking Company of Hood River, Oregon, and is the owner of an apple orchard of seventy acres in White Salmon valley, where he has his summer home, there enjoying rest and recreation from the onerous business cares that are imposed in the supervision of his extensive interests in Portland.

On the 19th of July, 1870, Mr. McKercher was married in Moingona, Iowa, to Miss Sarah Julia Hooker, a daughter of Morgan L. Llooker, a merchant and banker of that place. Mrs. McKercher passed away July 17, 1894, leaving five children, Ethel Crosby, at home ; Jean, who is a piano instructor at Yankton College, Yankton, South Dakota; Paul Riggs, who is an orchardist at White Salmon ; Hattie Florence, who died in 1898, and Emma Lucile, who died in 1907. The family reside at No. 355 East Eighth street. North, in Holliday's addition.

Mr. McKercher has been identified with the prohibition party since 1884 and is recognized as one of its most active and efficient workers. He has been a candidate for nearly every local and state office save that of governor. He has for some time been working hand in hand with U'Ren in securing for the state the initiative and referendum, the direct primary law, the recall on public officials, the proportional representation law, the corrupt practices act and other measures of a reform character. He is an earnest worker in behalf of any movement to abolish personal privileges and political abuses and stands for all that is highest and best in citizenship. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and has attained the Knights Templar degree. He also belongs to the Odd Fellows society, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the First Presbyterian church, associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct. His entire life has been marked by progress and he stands as an advocate of all that is most worthy in material, intellectual, political and moral lines.

John C. Cordano

This great republic is founded upon the principle of equality, no man being considered superior to another according to law and there is no one point of which the American people are more proud than the fact that he who is born amid the humblest surroundings may attain the highest positions of prominence, success and power. One is thrilled with the story that a boy who walked the towpath, barefooted, became president, that another who spent his youth in railsplitting, was made the nation's chief executive. There are thousands of incidents where young men reared in equally humble surroundings and with the most meager advantages have attained to prominence in business circles and the American public is always thrilled by such a story of achievement and success. Blacking boots on the streets of Portland when a boy. John C. Cordano is today one of the prosperous residents of the city, his earnest labor constituting the basis of his advancement to a position among the prosperous business men here, his wealth being represented by extensive realty holdings.

Mr. Cordano has lived in Portland for twenty-eight years, coming here about 1882. He arrived directly from Genoa, Italy, where he was born on the 23d of July, 1869. He was therefore a lad of thirteen years when he crossed the Atlantic. His parents. Peter and Teresa Cordano, both died in Italy. In that country their son John began his education but when only thirteen years of age sailed alone for the new world, landing at Castle Garden in New York. He made his way at once to Portland and as it was imperative that he have an immediate income, he began blacking boots. Gradually he built up a good business in that connection and later, when the financial resources at his command made it possible, he established a fish and poultry business. Subsequently he was appointed by George C. Sears to the position of deputy sheriff, serving during the last two terms of Mr. Sears' incumbency in the sheriff's office. He was then appointed city detective under Mayor W. S. Masons and filled the position for seven years. He served as chief deputy under Sheriff Thomas M. Ward for two years, and was chief criminal deputy during the Lewis & Clarke Exposition, being awarded a diploma for specially valuable service during that time. During his experience as deputy sheriff and with the detective departments he apprehended many of the most desperate criminals known on the Pacific coast, including Castro, the murderer, and the notorious desperadoes, Merrill and Tracy, James F. Muse, Nick Haworth and Eugene Roberts, of San Francisco.

On leaving public office Mr. Cordano became connected with the Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company and the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in the tax and right of way department, having charge of all their property. This was about 1898 and he was with the corporations at various times for three years. He has since done special work for the state and has been employed as court interpreter for the past twenty years, for he has intimate knowledge of the various dialects employed by the Italians, French and Spanish. As opportunity has offered he has wisely made investment in property and is today the owner of Portland real estate valued at one hundred thousand dollars. All this displays his keen business ability, his enterprising spirit and his commendable ambition.

On the 3d of March, 1891, Mr. Cordano was married to Miss Jennie Raffetto, whose parents, Louis and Rose Raffetto, were both natives of Italy, but her birth occurred in San Francisco. They were early settlers on the Pacific coast, arriving before the period of railroad travel, making the voyage on a steamer which rounded Cape Horn and proceeded up the western coast of South and North America to the Golden Gate.

Mr. and Mrs. Cordano are prominent socially in the city, among people of their nationality, Mr. Cordano having for fourteen years been president of the Italian Society which is composed of the best Italian citizens of Portland. He also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Druids, the Red Men and the Mazzini, an Italian society. In politics he is an earnest republican, and both he and his wife are members of St. Michael's Catholic church, to which they contributed the main altar when the church was erected. Mr. Cordano has every reason to be proud of what he has accomplished and his prosperity proves the strength of his character, his strong purpose and his unfaltering determination.

William W. Catching

William W. Catching, an Oregon pioneer, whose identification with the state dated from the 20th of November, 1845, was at the time of his death, which occurred in 1874, engaged in agricultural pursuits in Douglas county. Kentucky numbered him among her native sons, his birth having there occurred March 12, 1813. His parents, John and Jane (Warren) Catching, were southern people and in his native state William W. Catching pursued his education and learned the trade of a millwright and carpenter. In fact he displayed great mechanical skill and ingenuity, so that he had in a knowledge of his trades the foundation for success in later life. He was only about ten years of age when his parents removed to Missouri, and continued a resident of that state until 1845, when he came to Oregon.

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In Ray county, Missouri, Mr. Catching met Miss Angeline F. Yates, a daughter of WilHam B. and Sarah (Parker) Yates, and they were married on the 15th of May, 1839. They continued to Hve in Missouri until 1845, when they started for the west with their small family of three sons, who in the meantime had come to bless the household. They made their departure from Savannah, the county seat of Andrew county, Missouri, on the 20th of May, 1845, with a team of oxen and such supplies as were necessary in making the long trip across the plains where for many a weary mile nothing was to be obtained from the habitation of settlers who had preceded them. The party would travel for days without coming upon any indication that white men had previously gone that way. There were seven hundred wagons in the train which was in charge of Solomon Tetherow, and all went together as far as Wood creek, about four miles from Omaha, Nebraska. Then the party divided into various sections on account of water and feed for the cattle. Mr. Catching and his family were still with the number under the command of Captain Tetherow. The journey was not fraught with any incidents of particular note beyond the experiences which fall to the lot of the majority of emigrants. There were many days of tedious travel, however, across the plains and over the mountains, following roads that were never very good, while at times the trail was almost obscured. At length the Catching family arrived at Cornelius, Washington county, on the 20th of November, 1845. It was a wilderness district in which the Indians were numerous. Hunting and fishing could be indulged in, for the woods abounded in fur-bearing animals and wild game, while the streams were rich in fish. As one speeds across the country today in a Pullman, looking over the highly cultivated farms, vineyards and orchards, it seems hardly possible that it is within the memory of living people when this was almost an uninhabited region, the forests being uncut while much of the land was still unclaimed. Mrs. Catching, however, well remembered the day when such conditions existed. She became an esteemed and worthy member of the Oregon Pioneer Society, with which she was connected until her death.

On reaching this state Mr. Catching secured a claim of six hundred and forty acres near Forest Grove in Washington county, and the family took up their abode upon that place on the i8th of May, 1847. Previous to that time they had lived for a brief period in a small cabin near the claim. Their second home was also a log house, and upon the farm they resided for about twenty-two years, Mr. Catching giving his time and energies to general agricultural pursuits. At the end of that time, because of his health, he removed to Douglas county, Oregon, where he arrived on the 5th of October, 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Catching then sold their old home place and purchased two farms in Douglas county, but the cause of their removal was not attained, as Mr. Catching did not improve in health but soon passed away, after which his widow sold the farm property there. It was on the loth of October, 1874, that Mr. Catching died, his remains being interred in the cemetery at Riddle in Douglas county beside his mother. While living in Missouri he had served as deputy sheriflf for six terms. He did not seek to figure prominently in public life here, but concentrated his energies upon his private business affairs and his capable management of his business interests enabled him to leave his family a good property and comfortable competence.

After her husband's death Mrs. Catching devoted herself to the welfare of her family. She was born in Estel county, Kentucky, January 9, 1825, and was married at the age of fourteen years, becoming the mother of thirteen children. John, now deceased, married Rhoda Leverage and unto them were born six children, Sidney, William, Elbie, Benjamin, Jessie and Caroline. Joe P., who has also passed away, married Maria Evans, also deceased. Their children were Lillian and Elmer. William R., the third of the family, has also departed this Hfe. Sarah J., the wife of Richard Balda, had three children, Millie, Elizabeth and Carrie. Ephraim and James are both deceased. Benjamin married Sarah

Simmons and they have six children, Mabel, Maud, Edna, Gladys, Mark and one deceased. Caroline is the wife of William Levens, and they have three children, Curtis P., Clyde and Angeline. Watson married Florence Burch, who died leaving one child, Eva M., and for his second wife he chose Rose Ketchem, by whom he has one child, Cecil. Charles H. is the youngest living member of the family, for the others died in infancy, and he is now living in Montana. During the latter years of her life the mother made her home with her daughter Mrs. Levens at 185 Sixteenth street, Portland, where she died during the last week of September, 1910, at the age of eighty-five years.

William Boyd Steele

'William Boyd Steele is well known to the leading business men of Portland by reason of his long and active connection with building operations. His work in that direction has been of an important character, marked by a spirit of enterprise and progress that quickly recognizes and utilizes the opportunities for advancement. He was born in the north of Ireland, near Glenarm, County Antrim, May 5, 1848, of the marriage of George and Jennie (Boyd) Steele. At the age of sixteen years he left the Emerald isle and crossed the Atlantic to Wilmington, Delaware. His education, which was begun in the schools of his native country, was continued in the United States in a three years' course in night school. He served his apprenticeship at Wilmington, Delaware, and workecl on the Edgemore Iron & Steel Works under Captain Kendrick, to whom was awarded the contract for the construction of the plant which was the property of the Sellars Brothers. It required five years to complete the plant.

For fifteen years after coming to America he remained a resident of Delaware. The press, as well as private individuals, gave account from time to time of the growing business opportunities of the northwest and, hoping to benefit by the advantages to be obtained in Oregon, Mr. Steele sailed from New York to the isthmus and after crossing Panama took a steamer on the western border for San Francisco. From that city he sailed for Portland and immediately sought work here at the brick-mason's trade. He was employed by Mr. Richardson and by Thomas Mann, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. After being employed for a time as a journeyman he took up contract work on his own account and has since made steady advancement in the field to which he directs his labors. He built all of the plant for the Pacific Coast Biscuit Company and was the builder of the first cracKcr ovens constructed on the Pacific coast. He also did the work of remodeling when these were converted from coal burners to oil burners. He likewise built the plant for the same company at Sacramento, California, and in connection with J. S. Seed he built the first pressed brick building of Portland, its location being on First street. This was constructed for Mr. Carney and was of red pressed brick, trimmed with white granite. It was built about the year 1882. Mr. "Steele was one of the first to introduce the plan of using horse power to elevate the brick and mortar, thus doing away with hod carriers. On one occasion the rope that was elevating the brick broke and the racket of the elevator coming down at a rapid rate frightened the old horse Prince so that he ran out of the building and down the street, but just at that time the noon whistle blew and appetite proved stronger than fear, for old Prince turned and ran back to the building for his oats. Mr. Steele also erected the entire block on Morrison between Fourth and Fifth streets. While doing that work he became a candidate for county commissioner and the old horse Prince had a card hung upon him which was inscribed "I am pulling for W. B. Steele for county commissioner." The horse in this way became a historical character of the election.

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Mr. Steele has been married three times. He wedded Annie Irving, a native of Delaware, and they became the parents of four children, of whom the living are : W. B. and David E. Steele, who are carrying on the contracting business at the present time; and Jane. Mary, the wife of Claud Heslin. One son, Samuel Morris, died at the age of thirty-eight years. Mr. Steele's second wife bore the maiden name of Cora Murphy. His third wife, Mary Morrow, is a native of Ireland but when five years of age was brought to the United States, and their marriage was celebrated in Portland. They have five living children : Ida May; George; Nancy, the wife of Homer C. C. Woodward; Gladys Mary; and Rose. They also lost one daughter, Rosetta, who died at the age of ten months. The family reside on the farm where Mr. Steele settled when he first came to Oregon. After living for twenty years in Portland, they again took up their home in the country on his retirement from active business.

In politics Mr. Steele has always been a republican and where possible has conserved and promoted the interests of the party. About 1900 he was elected county commissioner and later was made road master. While filling that position he built all the bicycle tracks in Multnomah county and used the first crushed rock put upon the county roads. He also purchased the first rock crusher that was used in the county in the building of good roads and his work was a most important factor in the improvement of the public highways. Mr. Steele is a Scottish Rite Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree, and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. In religious faith both he and his wife are Presbyterians. They have many friends in Portland and the hospitality of many of the best homes is freely accorded them. The life record of Mr. Steele is an evidence of the opportunities that lie before ambitious, energetic young men. Placing his dependence upon his own efforts from the age of sixteen years, he has steadily progressed in the business world until his labors have placed him with the men of affluence in Multnomah county.

Edward Francis Riley

Edward Francis Riley, senior member of the law firm of E. F. & F. B. Riley, and president and general counsel of the Clackamas Title Company, has speciaHzed in the department of real-estate law and so broad has been his experience and so thorough his study that he is largely regarded as an authority on that branch in this city. Lie has made his home here since 1891 and has not only been closely associated with the legal profession but has been the promoter of interests which have had important bearing upon the general progress and development of this section. He was born in Delaware county, Ohio, September 17, 1839. His parents, Ezra and Louisa (Potter) Riley, were of German and old Puritan stock, the latter a kinswoman of the late Bishop Potter of New York.

After acquiring his preliminary education in the public schools, Edward Francis Riley, in 1861, entered the University of Michigan law school and was graduated therefrom in 1863, receiving the degree of B. L. He was admitted to the bar of Ohio in that year, to the bar of Iowa in 1864 and to the Oregon bar in 1892. From the time of his admission he engaged in practice in Mount Gilead, Ohio, until 1864, when he removed to Osceola, Iowa, where by industry and integrity he became a successful banker and lawyer, widely known for his business and professional success and for his high and progressive qualities of citizenship. He v/as the founder of the banking concern bearing his name, and later when the business expanded, under the firm name of Riley, Simmons & Company, he remained as the senior partner.

Interested in the growing northwest, with its almost Hmitless possibiHties and opportunities, Mr. Riley removed his family to Portland in 1891 and has since been closely identified with the growth of this metropolis. He has remained continuously an active member of the bar and is a specialist in the law of real estate. In 1893 he founded the Clackamas Title Company, which was incorporated in 1902 and is one of the sound concerns of its character in the state, with departments of abstracts, trusts, law, investments and loans.

A man of scholarly attainment, he has ever read broadly and thought deeply, his knowledge concerning many vital questions being far in excess of the great majority who have discussed through the press and on the platform matters of wide-spread significance. He has always been a republican and has made a special study of social and economic conditions of the peasantry of Europe while traveling abroad.

On the i6th of September, 1868, Mr. Riley was united in marriage to Miss Martha Smith, of Osceola, Iowa. Their children are : Allen Ezra, who followed the profession of architecture but is now deceased ; and Frank Branch Riley, an attorney at law of the Portland bar and junior member of the law firm of E. F. & F. B. Riley.