Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 4.djvu/160



A unique place in the industrial history of Oregon must be given to Joseph Watt, the first to undertake the manufacture of woolen goods on the Pacific coast and the first to send a cargo of wheat to the market at Liverpool, both of which acts mark the beginning of important industrial and commercial policies in the history of Oregon.

Joseph Watt, or "Joe," as he is more commonly called by those who mention him in connection with the history of Oregon, was born at Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, on the 17th of December, 1817. His earliest ancestor in America was a silk weaver of Scotch-Irish descent who came to this country about 1760, settling in the vicinity of Philadelphia. His grandfather, Joseph Watt, crossed the Alleghany Mountains in 1802 and took up a donation claim in western Pennsylvania. His father, John Watt, who had taken part in the war of 1812 and served with Perry in his first cruise on the Great Lakes, migrated to Knox County, Ohio, in 1815. Here he married and reared a family of ten children, of whom Joseph was one.

As a boy Watt seems to have been always a dreamer, building castles in the air and planning great schemes of business and adventure. Because of these dreams of