Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/178

 168 PETER H. BURNETT. but active and brave; and. seizing the plane, he wrested it by force from Dawson. Dawson at once turned around and picked up his broad-axe; but at the moment he faced Meek he found a cocked pistol at his breast. Meek, still laughing, said: "Dawson, I came for you. Surrender or die !" Very few men will persist under such circumstances; and Dawson, though as brave as most men, began to cry, threw down his broad-axe, and went with Meek without further objection. Dawson declared that, as lie had to submit, every other man must ; and he was no longer an enemy of our government. This intrepid performance of his official duty so established Meek's character for true courage in the exercise of his office that he had little or no trouble in the future; and the au- thority of our little government was thus thoroughly estab- lished. CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE HARDSHIPS ENDURED BY THE EARLY SETTLERS. We were a small, thinly settled community, poor and iso- lated from the civilized world. By the time we reached the distant shores of the Pacific, after a slow, wearisome journey of about two thousand miles, our little means were exhausted, and we had to begin life anew, in a new country. The wild game in Oregon was scarce and poor. The few deer that are found there seldom become fat. The wild fowls are plentiful in the winter, but they constitute an uncertain reliance for families settled some distance from their usual places of re- sort. Besides, we had no time to hunt them, and the weather was generally too wet to admit of it. Had the country con- tained the same amount and variety of wild game, wild fruits, and honey as were found in the Western States at an early day, our condition would have been better. But the only wild fruits we found were a variety of berries, such as black- berries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and cranber- ries, which were not only abundant, but of excellent quality. We only found one nut in the country, and that was the hazelnut in small quantities. There were no wild grapes or plums, and no honey.