Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/138

 120 T. C. Elliott. This is our public record of his marital faithfulness up to the date of the death of his native wife, the Nez Perce woman ; the records of Marion County show that during the following- year he was married to Miss Rebecca Newman of that county, to whom one-half of his Donation Claim was afterward con- veyed by U. S. Patent. It would not be wise to mention this had the land been located in and subject to the community property law of the Territory of Washington, for fear some ambitious lawyer might even at this late day try to upset the title under some claim through the children of the first wife. The dower laws of the State of Oregon would render such an effort unprofitable. With this second marriage, his family responsibilities were notably increased, for eleven children were born to them, eight being boys and three girls; by his first wife he already had five boys. It is evident that Dr. Newell was a very early admirer of President Roosevelt's doctrines. In the year 1861 occured the turning point in his career as far as worldly possessions are concerned, for on December 4th to 10th, of that year, came the great flood in the Willamette River, which washed away his store and ware- house and covered the whole country around. His house was then the best in the community and stood upon high ground and above the high water. Mr. Himes is authority for this statement, which he has heard from many of the old residents about Champoeg: ''I do not know what I would have done had it not been for Doc. Newell. He broke himself up help- ing his neighbors. ' ' His property and business were gone but his hospitality reached out over weeks and months. In 1862 the mining excitement was drawing people into the country around the Clearwater and Salmon rivers of Wash- ington, afterward Idaho Territory. This country belonged to the Nez Perces and white men had no right to be there until treaties with these Indians had been made and ratified; the treaties of 1855-6 had never been fulfilled by the Government and the Indians were feeling very angry about it. There was trouble imminent and we read of special councils being held at Lapwai at which Dr. Newell and Col. Wm. Craig (another