Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 13.djvu/269

 REMINISCENCES OF SEVENTY YEARS 261 we will divide up so all should share alike who went with him. We had a young fat cow which he would kill and divide. In a few days the old gent got back from his preliminary survey and reported everything favorable as far as he went. He had been about sixty or seventy miles. By this time, W. H. Rector caught up with him and said he would go, too, if Cap- tain Barlow would let him. "Why, yes, you are just the man I am looking for; young, stout and resolute." Although his wife was a very weakly woman, she was anxious to make the venture. Well, in two or three days the start was made. All were stout and hearty, both old and young, except Mrs. Rector, and her lack of physical strength was somewhat made up by mental energy. Our teams were fresh and buoyant and walked right along. We made Tygh Creek the first day, it being twenty-five or thirty miles from our camp. Here we laid over one day to let the teams eat and rest, as we had a long steep hill to pull up and would have no water for about fifteen miles. A canyon had to be crossed that would require some pluck to cross it with a wagon. But when we had passed these barriers, we found plenty of wood, water and grass. The old gent said he would cross the canyon so our cattle could not get back. It was a deep bluff canyon and there was no other crossing for miles either way. Father had already examined the lo- cation on his first trip out, as a good point to start from. So the next morning the old gent said he would take Mr. Rector and go ahead, hunt and blaze out the best place to make the wagon road. The balance of us could follow up and cut out the road. We would leave a man or two in camp to look after the stock and attend to the wants of the women and children. There were about twelve of us who could do a man's work. Mother wanted me to stay, and Mrs. Rector wanted one of her sons to stay, the only one who was large enough to work. At this time we killed our heifer, so the men would have plenty of meat. Besides we had plenty of bacon and flour to