Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/170

 had married Dr. James W. Boyle on May 12, '46, and Pauline Goff had married James Nesmith in June of the same year.

The supply of dishes and cooking utensils was very limited until after '49. Older housekeepers had managed to tuck dishes into feather beds and bring them safely across the plains but the first brides had rather sorry looking tables. A Dutch oven, a three legged skillet, a crane and kettle over good oak coals could broil grouse or venison, roast potatoes, boil wheat, brown hominy, bake salt rising and gingerbread, what more could one desire? However plain the fare might be the latchstring was always out.

Carey Embree presented Ellen Lyle with her first broom of broom corn, grown in his garden and made into a broom by his own skilful hands. She had been using one of those in general use—made of a hazel stick finely split and peeled back and bound together with buckskin and sinew, making a strong, coarse broom. Carey Embree had a famous garden in the lowlands by the creek. Eagerly accepted were his long handled dipper gourds. John Lyle had a fine garden there, too, and Ellen raised the fragrant "pocket melons" that the women loved to carry in their reticules. There were school and church and court and kindly neighbors and Ellen and John were so content that when they rode up through the valley and found that Mitchell Gilliam had decided to sell the rights to his claim they took it. A portion of that claim is the "Lyle Farm" now owned by Harriet Lyle Veazie, daughter of John Lyle and Ellen.

It must have been about this time that a store was located on that land, said to have been opened by a man named Moran. Bits of stone from the chimney still lie on a little mound in the oak woods marking where the old territorial road wound by.

The only articles in existence known to have been purchased at the store are two pictures treasured by