Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/186

 176 PETER H. BURNETT. upon condition that I would permit him to have services there every Sunday. Our minister was always regular in his attendance, and the congregation consisted of about thirty persons. I could not well absent myself from church, as it was my duty to attend. I therefore quietly took my seat in one corner of the building, where my bare feet would not be much noticed. The congregation collected, and the services went on as usual, with the addition of some church business, which happened to come up on that occasion. The sea- breeze set in early that day, and before the church business was finished it became quite cool. Our minister was a thin, spare man, very sensitive to cold, and requested me to make a fire in the stove. I did not hesitate a moment, but went through the congregation and made the fire. They wore moccasins, and stared at my bare feet as I passed. There was no money in the country, and the usual cur- rency consisted in orders for merchandise upon the stores, or wheat delivered at specified points. Our community had an ample opportunity to practically learn the value of a sound circulating medium. No one who has not had the practical experience can fully appreciate the true importance of such a medium as a great labor-saving device. A savage people, who have little or no property to sell, find very few wants to gratify, may get along with a system of barter. An Indian generally has nothing to sell but furs and peltries, and wants nothing in return but arms, ammu- nition, blankets, tobacco, beads, and paint. All he wants he can find at one place, and all he has to dispose of he can readily bring to the same place. But the property of a civi- lized race of men is so various in kind, so large in amount, and the ownership and possession change so often, that a good circulating medium is a very great, if not an absolute, neces- sity. For example, a farmer may have a pair of oxen for sale, and may want a pair of plow-horses. In case there be no circulating medium, he will have great difficulty in making an exchange. He may find a number of persons who have plov-horses for sale, but none of them may want his oxen.