Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/380

374 374 W. D. FENTON. suits. The chief battles of the world are remembered be- cause they marked division of empire ; end of dynasty or surrender to the victors. The heroic deeds of the pioneers of Oregon will never cease to inspire new courage and new patriotism, and to merit unstinted praise and permanent renown. The histories of our country are replete'with the cruel butcheries inflicted by the Indians upon our ances- tors who settled and subdued the wilds of Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The annals of the Indian wars of New England, New York, and the Middle States continue to startle and thrill the American youth. But the pioneers of Oregon risked these dangers and shared with each other these experiences, thousands of miles from kindred and native land. They not only. faced the Indian foe, but they were the watchmen upon this far western coast, commissioned to do their part in the great international struggle between the mother country, the Union, and the British crown. When General Fremont overtook the emigrant train of 1843 at Bear River, near Fort Bridger, he found two brave, patriotic American women, who were moving towards Oregon with their hus- bands and little children. Mrs. Gyrene B. Carey, whom I have already mentioned, had just lost a little daughter, three years old, buried there in that Indian country. As the company of soldiers approached the alarm was given that the Indians were. coming. Some of the men in the train were without bullets, and while they corralled the cattle, she and Mrs. A. J. Hembree moulded bullets for them. Mr. Gray came to the Carey wagon wanting to borrow a gun, whereupon her husband, Miles Carey, told him. he could have hers. She replied, "No, you can not have my gun, for I am going to fight for my little ones and need my gun." Just then the American flag and the soldiers came into plain view, and the brave woman did not do more. A few da) s ago I stood in the cemetery at Jackson-