Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/535

, Humphrey and Hugh, the latter of which became the first mayor of the city in 1851, a notice of whom will appear with that of the other mayors; and about the same time with O'Bryant, came in J. L. Morrison, a Scotchman, a contractor and builder, who built the first frame house on Morrison street, thus giving his name to the street.

L. B. Hastings and family came across the plains in 1847, and stopped a while in Portland. He is remembered as an active, pushing business man, and stayed with the fortunes of the town for four years. But imagining he could see a larger city at the entrance to Puget Sound, joined with Pettygrove in building a schooner, and loading it up with all their worldly belongings. Pettygrove sold out his interests in Portland, and the whole party sailed away in 1851, for Puget Sound, where they founded the city of Port Townsend, and where they spent the remainder of their lives and strength in building up a city to eclipse Portland. Port Townsend has about two thousand population today, and Portland has one hundred and twenty-five times as many.

And now Portland got its first politician and statesman in Colonel William King, landing on the river front in 1848. Colonel King was an unusual man. He would have been a man of mark in any communit,y. He was needed by the new city, and he made his presence felt from his very first day in town. Nobody seemed to know from what corner of the earth King came, and he took no pains to enlighten them. But he was a valuable addition to the city, as he was familiar with all sorts of scheming, and by that early day the new town had to look out for its interests at every session of the legislature; and King was always on hand to see that there was a square deal with possibly something over for Portland.

If King's advice had been followed there would have been no question as to the ownership by the city of Portland of its water front east of Front street in the original townsite.

King made enemies as well as friends. His positive disposition and his love of fair play did not always tally with predisposed politics. It is remembered that at the time Governor Curry had selected officials for the militia without respect to party affiliations, a petition was gotten up by some democrats to have the whigs (republicans) removed or their appointments cancelled. When it was presented to King to sign, he read it over carefully, then as if not understanding it, read it a second time, and then vehemently tore the document to pieces, and proceeded to denounce the authors in words more forcible than polite: "That such men would rather see women and childi-en slaughtered by the Indians than to have a good mau of the opposite party hold an honorable position in the militia."

As great nations have been dependent on the sea, not only for their prosperity, but also their very existence—England for example—so it was with Portland, in the years of 1845 to 1851. And now the story turns from the land builders of the town to the hardy sea rovers working to the same end. And in this good work the name of Captain John H. Couch stands at the top of the list.

The first appearance of Captain Couch in Oregon waters, was in 1840, when he came out here from Newburyport, Massachusetts,—in command of the ship Maryland to establish a salmon fishery on the Columbia. The ship belonged to the wealthy firm of the Cushings of Newburyport, who had been induced to