Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/465



THE CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON :!05

■■ I knew Dr. Wliitiiuni wi'll; I first siiw liiiu ;it tlu> rendezvous near the west- ern line of Alissouri in Way, 1843; saw iiiiii aiiaiii at Fort Hall, and again at his

own mission in the fall of that year I saw him again at my home

in Tualatin Plains in 1844. He called at my house and finding that I was in the woods he came to me there. This was the last time I ever saw him. Our relations were of the most cordial and friendly character, and I had the greatest respect for him. I considered Dr. Whitman to have been a brave, kind, devoted, and intrepid spirit, without malice and without reproach. In my best judgment he made greater sacrifices, endured more hardships, and encountered more perils for Oregon, than any other man, and his services were practically more efficient, except perhai)s those of Dr. Linn, United States senator . from Jlissouri. I say, perhaps, for I am in doubt which of these two men did more in effect for Oregon."'

AVhitman's work for Oregon had little to do with its internal affairs. He had little or no part in organizing its scattered settlements into a civil com- munity. But in the work of bringing Oregon into close connection with the states of the Union by oi^ening the door through the barrier of the intervening mountains, be was among the foremost. Others contribnted to this end, but no one seems to have seen as early as did he the supreme importance of finding, or making this highway, nor to have seen it with so single and unclouded an eye. He saw almost from the first that if Oregon was to become the territorj- of the United States ; if England was to be brought to acknowledge the right- fulness of the American claim; if the American government itself was to be brought to take any serious and effective steps toward pressing its claim to that to which it pretended to have a just title, American families must be brought through the mountains into the region claimed, and the way be shown beyond all doubt to be open for others to follow. To this end Whitman ad- dressed himself with tireless purpose, and when he discovered that the supreme moment for action had arrived, acted with heroic daring. He succeeded, but liis very success was his undoing.

Joseph R. Wilson.

ni!. ,7oiix JicLorciiiUN

Dr. John ]\icLoughliu. his title having been for years used as though a part of his name, is the most conspicuous man of Oregon's true pioneer period. He was born in Parish le Riviere du Loup, Canada. His paternal grandfather, born in Parish Desertagney, Ireland, immigrated to Canada, married there, and his son John was the father of Dr. John ilcLoughlin. The maiden name of the mother of Dr. John MeLoughliu was Angelique Praser, born in parish of Beau- mont, Canada. Her father was Malcolm Fraser, a Scotch highlander. a member of the well known Scotch family, or clan of that name. A relative of hers was General Fraser, one of Burgoyne's principal officers, w-ho was killed in the bat- tle of Saratoga, October 7, 1777. Her father, as a lieutenant in the regular Brit- ish army, took part in the capture of Quebec, under General Wolfe. At the time of his retirement from the army and .settlement in Canada, he was the captain in the Eighty-fourth regiment of the British regular army. He was the first seigneur of ^It. ^Murrav. Ciinada.