Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/413

 Peter Skene Ogden 381 Ogden family occupied an honored place in society and in church circles. One of his brothers was a prominent attorney, another an officer in the British Army, and a married sister resided in Montreal, where it was not un- common for retired officers of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany to reside. Not so, however, with Peter Skene Ogden, as is clear from the following letter, which has been copied from the original : LaChine (Canada), Oct'r 18th, 1852 My dear Daughter : — I was indeed truly glad to receive a letter from you, and dear little Janette's kiss which you must mean for me; the tidings you report of all being in health, the Old Lady and all the children, was indeed good news for me. At present I shall not write you a long letter but merely say I am truly anxious to see you all again and hope to be with you before next spring. * * * * * You say in your letter I will find warm hearts ready to receive me, in you particularly. My Dear Daughter, I never doubted it, and you are indeed often the subject of my thoughts. Now do not for a moment suppose that your father will ever forget you ; if it has entered banish such an idea from your mind; but I do not think you ever formed such an opinion of me. ***** Now, my dear daughter, may God bless you and all your children, and your mother and children. Ever your affectionate Father, Peter Skene Ogden. The daughter, to whom this letter was addressed, was Sarah Jane McKinlay, wife of Archibald McKinlay of Hudson's Bay Company employ, who owned a land claim on the outskirts of Oregon City. This daughter was named after Peter Skene Ogden's mother, Sarah Hanson, of Livingstone Manor, New York. The mother of this daughter was a native of the Flathead tribe of Montana, who had been a faithful wife to Peter Skene Ogden dur- ing more than thirty years, and had accompanied him on long and perilous expeditions into the Indian country, and had, on one occasion, rescued him from drowning. Mrs. Ogden was then residing in a house called "The