Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/66

54 valuable memoirs of McLoughlin, Nesmith, Applegate, Deady and other eminent pioneer writers, our libraries and this association are stored with a wealth, rich beyond computation.

To one who has the honor of addressing this valued association, the mind first reverts to the distinguished men and revered pioneers who have preceded 1 him in the discharge of the same duty. The contributions they have made to our pioneer history are a precious legacy to those who shall succeed us.

They were themselves all actors in the great drama of empire building, and have placed on record the parts they each have played. They have enabled us to see as in a moving picture the events long since past and the men and women who shaped them in the discovery, the conquest, and development of the vast empire of which we are a part.

Though the actors themselves have nearly all gone and those that remain are old and gray, yet their memories are embalmed in these reminiscences and in the grateful remembrance they have left behind them.

Lastly, let us not forget what we owe to the conservators and zealous keepers of these cherished records, for if it were not for them the accumulation we now possess in our pioneer library would not have been contributed, or would have been lost in the mutilations of time.

To this end let us weave a chaplet of thanksgiving and appreciation though in words far too poor, to one more than all the rest and while he still lives your honored curator, George H. Himes.

In other addresses more thought has been given to our pioneer history as a whole, or to some special event or individual relators composing a part of it. To me as a pioneer of the Territorial days and one who has made Southern Oregon his home and his study for much over half a century, the pleasant task has been assigned to address you upon that subject alone.

It was Caesar in his opening "Commentaries" without preface and very abruptly, who says: "Gaul is divided into three parts." So we may say of Oregon, that it too is really divided into three parts. All that portion east of the Cascade Moun-