Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/128

 110 T. C. Elliott. "passengers own line. ' ' The subscriber begs leave to inform the public that he has well caulk 'd, gumm'd, and greas'd the light draft and fast running boats, Mogul and Ben Franklin, now in port lor freight or charter, which will ply regularly between Oregon City and Champoeg during the present season. Passage gratis, by paying 50 cents specie or $1.00 on the stores. Former rules will be observed— passengers can board with the Captain, by finding their own provisions. N. B.— Punctuality to the hour of departure is earnestly requested. As time waits for no man, the boats will do the same. Robert Newell/' These boats were among the first, if not the very first, keel boats placed in commission on the upper Willamette, and the business is said to have paid a profit of $300 during the four or five years they were operated. Why should not the owner have been a jo^y man! In the organization of the Provisional Government, Dr. Newell was a member of the Legislative Committee, and al- though evidently not sympathizing with all the measurers agreed to, did a large part in framing the organic law that was adopted by the people in mass meeting on July 5, 1843, and he continued to serve upon the most influential commit- tees of the House or of the people up to the time of the organ- ization of the Territory by Governor Lane in 1849. He was elected to represent the District or County of Champoeg (now Marion) in every legislative body up to that of 1849, and during two sessions he filled the office of Speaker. Any *ion- sideration of his position upon the measures adopted durjng those years is not possible in this paper, but it is to be ol- served that he did not sympathize with the opposition then existing toward the property and business interests of that grand old man, Doctor John McLoughlin. He was a firm friend of and enjoyed the confidence of Doctor McLoughlin. It is evident that he had ability to harmonize differences and to hold in check extreme measures, and that he accomplished this through his recognized sense of fairness and his jovial good will rather than by the vote-swapping methods of the