Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/478

 this the im-

migrants did with a hearty good will. The government had prohibited slavery and whisky, had resolved to treat the Indians justly, and made peace with the Canadian settlers, so that the outlook for the colony was full of hope and pros- perity. M. M. McCarver, one of the 1843 immigrants, writes a letter under date of November 6, 1843, from "Tualitine Plains, Oregon Territory" to the Iowa Gazette, and among other things says : ' ' The emigrants are all as far as I know satisfied. Wages for a common hand is from one dollar and a half per day, and mechanics from two to four dollars. Wheat is quite abundant and sold to ship or emigrants, at one dollar per bushel. Flour is from nine to ten dollars per barrel; potatoes and turnips fifty cents per bushel; beef from six to eight cents per pound ; American cows from sixty to seventy dollars, California ( Span- ish) fifteen to twenty dollars. Nothing is wanted but industry to make this one of the richest little countries in the world. ' '

Another letter dated 1846 from Tallmadge B. Wood to Isaac II. Nash of Sara- toga, New York, furnishes the following extracts:

' ' I am now improving me a farm on Clatsop Plains. I have a splendid claim of six hundred and forty acres of land, about fifty acres timber, the rest prairie — - laying immediately on the Pacific. We are all very anxious to hear the result of the treaty (if one is made) between the U. S. and John Bull. AVe are very much afraid Uncle will fool away the north of Columbia ; if he does we shall be Solux (mad). We are very anxious the U. S. should extend her .iurisdiction over our valuable country, and we are nearly out of patience vnth the delay. We are not all thieves and runaways, as represented by the Hon. Mr. J\IcDufSe, nor our country a booty. Boy, if it is, it's inferior to none in point of beauty, pleasant climate, natural resources, and advantages of wealth; and if the settlers were ever thieves they have wholly reformed, for it is generally believed that no other colony has ever equaled this in point of braverj', enterprise, hospitality, honesty, and morality. There are men who arrived here in October last who have at this time one hundred acres fenced and sown to wheat. Now, all we want is a little of Uncle Sam's care, that, capitalists may be safe in investing their money.

"Merchandise is generally high here, owing to the scarcity and great demand Salt $1 per bush. ; sugar 12^/20 per lb. ; coffee 25c per lb. ; molasses 50e per gal. ; tea 50c to $1.50; nails 18c; window glass 10 to 12c per light; dry goods in pro- portion ; beef, pork, hides, tallow, and most kinds of produce taken in payment ; beef $6 per h. ; pork $10 ; hides $2 apiece by the lot ; tallow 8 to 10 e per lb. ; but- ter 20 to 25 c per lb. ; wheat 75c to $1 ; oats 75c ; potatoes 50c per bu. ; lumber from 15 to $25 per 1,000 feet; shingles 4 to $5 per 1,000; common laborers $1 per day; and mechanics $2."

William L. Smith and John Holman wrote two letters to friends in the east in 1844, from which the St. Louis Reporter printed the foUomng :

' ' The prospect is quite good for a young man to make a fortune in this coun- try, as all kinds of prodiice are high, and likely to remain so from the extensive demand. The Russian settlements in Asia ; the Sandwich Islands : a great por- tion of California, and the whaling vessels of the Northwest coast, procure their supplies from this place.

"There is as yet but little money iu the country, and the whole trade is carried on by orders on an agent or factor. For instance, when I sell my crop of wheat, the purchaser asks me where I wish to receive the pay. Vancouver is as yet the