Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/27

Rh so in the matter of health, no sickness of any kind occurrinu r after tin- first few days of debt paying to the God of the Storm, save one case of child-birth, a baby girl having come to the wife of a gentleman passenger, who, with his wife and Continental baby, settled at Port Madison.

The young ladies comprising the party were selected with great care, and never in the history of the world was an equal number of women thrown together with a higher average of intelligence, modesty, and virtue. They are now going into the sere and yellow leaf of life with, as a rule, sons and daughters risen up to call them blessed. I have drifted away from them, hut I know that their influence upon the State has been, as a whole, for good. God bless them and theirs.

You did not ask for details of experiences during the trip merely for what might properly be termed the historic side of the venture. Hence. I have given you a running outline of the fads as they occurred. An incidental writing up of the trip and the formation of the party would be pleasant reading for some, but it would make too long a chapter for a busy newspaper of to-day. There were many trying and some amusing incidents in connection with the enterprise, one of which, no doubt, even the nervous, active reader of the day will appreciate.

One of the most enthusiastic supporters of my contemplated 'raid on the widows and orphans of the East,' as he was wont to call it. was Governor William Pickering. The day In-fore I started to New York the Governor met me. shook my hand warmly, and said: 'God bless you, Mercer, and make your undertaking a threat success. If you get into financial trouble and need money, do not hesitate to wire me and I will give you help. When I arrived in San Francisco I was broke—three lonesome dollars being my all. With the hotel bills of the party to pay and transportation to Seattle to secure, the situation was somewhat embarrassing, to say the least. Remembering the Governor's promise, I spent $2.50 sending him this telegram: 'Arrived here broke. Send $2,000 quick to get party to Seattle.' The next day I received a notice from the tele-