Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/547

 lumber, and that could uot be shipped on the steamer. The farmers could not, and would not, haul their produce to St. Helens, and the Whiteomb would not stop at Portland to get it, and so the St. Helens ships were sailing away with little or nothing of freight. And thus it was made plain to the steamship owners that they were gnawing a file; and that sooner or later some other steamship would sail into Portland harbor and appropriate a profitable trade that they never could get by staying at St. Helens. And tlius forced, in March, 1851, the Pacific Mail Steamsliip Company abandoned its opposition, ran up the Portland flag and sent all its ships to the wharves of Portland. And from that day on the supremacy of Portland, as against all other points on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, was acknowledged everywhere.

Of the three men who made good the project of Amos Lawrence 'Love joy in the establishment of a city at this location, Daniel H. Lownsdale comes first in order for notice. Mr. Lownsdale was born in Mason county, Kentucky, in 1803. At the age of twenty-three he married Ruth, youngest daughter of Paul Overfield, Esq., and moved to Gibson county, Indiana. In 1830 his wife died leaving three children, two daughters and a son. That son was J. P. 0. Lownsdale, who for many years was an active and influential citizen of Portland, passing away in July, 1910, at the age of eighty years. After losing his wife, Mr. Lownsdale moved to the state of Georgia and engaged in mercantile pursuits. And there, losing his health, he took a trip to Europe and traveled through many countries. Returning to the United States in 1844, he found the southwest agitated over the "Oregon Question," and immediately made up his mind to come out to this unsettled region and grow up with the country. Joining an emigrant train in the spring of 1845, he crossed the plains with the usual luck and labor of other emigrants, and reached the Portland townsite late in 1845; and soon after, as has been stated, claimed the King donation claim, west of the city, and started the first commercial tannery north of California and w^est of the Rocky mountains. He died in IMay, 1862, and is buried in Lone Fir cemetery on the east side of the river.

Of General Stephen Coffin much can be said in his praise as a public-spirited man, and a most energetic and successful builder of the city of Portland. General Coffin was born at Bangor, Maine, in 1807, moved west to the state of Ohio early in life, and crossed the plains and reached Oregon City in October, 1847. Here he went to work with the industry and energy that characterized his whole life, and at the end of two years he had accumulated enough to enable him to purchase a half interest in the Portland townsite claim, as has already been stated. When the tug of war came up with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, Coffin was in the forefront of the battle. His whole being rebelled at anything like injustice. It was said of him that when the immigrants reached Oregon, of which party he was a member, some of those already here attempted to extort unreasonable prices for food and accommodations, and Coffin rebelled. To assuage his wrath, he was told that his treatment was the usual custom, and when he got settled in the country he could recoup his losses by' fleecing other immigrants in like manner. This only made matters worse, and the newcomer so bitterly denounced such conduct as to make enemies that never forgave him. But he was not the man to shape his conduct to placate enemies or please w-rongdoers. Fearless and courageous, he pushed his way over all opposition, serving the public faithfully in every act of liis life, and often at the sacrifice of per-