Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/488



Vancouver a bushel of spring wheat, a bushel of oats, a bushel of barley a bushel of corn and a quart of timothy seed, all of which had been packed on ponies from York Factory on the east side of the Rocky Mountains. From this start in grain there was enough wheat to supply the H. B. Co. and succeeding settlers with flour after the year 1828. Flax was cultivated first in Oregon in Yamhill county in 1845, in Clatsop county in 1847, and in the vicinity of Salem, about the year 1866, for the purpose of producing paint oil from the seed ; and a linseed oil mill and presses were erected not far from the Southern Pacific station at Salem in 1866.

The importation of live stock was commenced by the Hudson's Bay Co., in 1830, so that they had cattle, sheep and hogs for their own use, and was using rape for feed as early as 1832. The first large importation of cattle for general supply and sale was made by the Willamette Cattle Company organized by Jason Lee and others in 1836. Of this company Lee was financial agent, P. L. Edwards, treasurer, and Ewing Young (who had been denounced when he came to the country as a horse-thief) was made superintendent and sent to California to buy the cattle. Dr. McLoughlin took one-half the stock in the Company, Jason Lee and the settlers raised $1600, U. S. Naval Agent Slacum put in $500, and Mc- Loughlin the balance of about $900. "With that sum, after deducting expenses of getting and driving the cattle from the Sacramento valley to Oregon, Young purchased about seven hundred head of long horn Spanish cattle at three dollars a head, and forty horses at twelve dollars a head. The drivers got free trans- portation to Monterey on the government ship, and had to drive cattle and fight Indians through Northern California and Southern Oregon and take their pay in cattle at actual cost.

The importation of sheep for the production of wool commenced in 1842, when Joseph Gale of Oregon and his associates bought up 1250 head of cattle and 600 head of horses and drove them to Oregon for sale. That cattle drive broke up the cattle monopoly in Oregon ; and strange as it may seem there was a monopoly in Oregon in those Arcadian days. And along with and in the wake of Gale droves of cattle and horses came the first sheep for sale to Oregon settlers. On account of the wolves and other predacious animals, this first large flock of sheep was a great venture by a very venturesome man. Jacob P. Leese got his start in Belmont County, Ohio, a few years before the writer of this book got through the log school-house college in the same county. Leese conceived the idea while yet a young man, that if he could get a small ship by hook or crook, he could en- list a company of congenial spirits, and sailing from New Orleans around th( south end of South America they could land on the coast of California, capture the Mexican government, and set up an independent republic after the manner of Sam Houston in Texas. He was successful in recruiting his company, but he was unable to raise the money to buy a ship, and finally gave up the idea of eon- quest and fame as an empire builder. But he was so infatuated with the ac- counts he had read of the California Eden that he came out to that Mexican prov- ince in 1840 in a trading vessel and went into sheep industry among the Mexi- cans. This first flock of sheep — 900 head — was brought to Oregon by this man Leese, and was, according to John IMinto — a good jiidge — of very poor quality, being thin and light of bone and body, coarse wool of all graduations of color from white to black. One of the drivers of that flock told Mr. Minto, that al-