Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/29

Rh farming. Stock of various kinds was added. Cereals, fruits, and vegetables were brought to add to the necessities and comforts of an agricultural community. Tools, though heavy and often cumbersome, were carried across the plains or around the Horn by vessel. The agricultural life was fully established. Soon spots of cultivated land began to appear in various places. Roads were marked out and constructed between the different claims and settlements. Political divisions appeared upon the map. Groups of settlers collected at points most favorable for distribution. Supplies were secured at the warehouse of the fur company or from the merchants of Oregon City. Surplus crops were sold to the fur company at a regular price of sixty-two and one half cents per bushel. Population increased with every year and Oregon was fully transformed into an agricultural community. A form of industrial life had been started that has characterized the country ever since. It was established to last, and the only question of importance could be whether it would grow or stagnate. Far from the other centers of population, there was little to connect it with the industrial life of the rest of the country or of the world. It could easily exist, but the possibilities of development were not encouraging. The only market was the fur company. Destitute emigrants were continually arriving to increase the population, but to add little to the capital or the wealth. The dangerous entrance to the Columbia River kept out the few vessels that might otherwise have come. A critical period in the life of the colony was reached by 1847. Depression was the general feeling prevalent. The settlers organized among themselves a little company to build ships and seek by themselves to break the isolation of their position.

Such was the situation when an unforeseen event occurred that changed the whole aspect of affairs. In the