Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 14.djvu/164

 Let it be remembered that the American frontiersman and pioneer expected to overcome obstacles in their path, alone. In time of savage warfare, they united, but this necessity was only occasional. When a barn was to be "raised" they met together, but this was quite in the nature of a "social function." For mutual protection, they sometimes "crossed the plains" in organized companies, but with danger absent, they chose to travel in small parties or alone. They supported community schools, but it is testimony of survivors that children learned rudiments of education chiefly at home. The whole mode of life of the Pioneer West taught each person and each married couple to work out their own fortune and to be responsible for their own spiritual salvation. It never occurred to them that the community owed anybody a living. Government was not depended upon to give a "lift" nor to create a "job" nor to regulate health or morals or wages, nor to pension the unfortunate.

That this mode of life developed a hardy race needs but bare mention here. It brought out resourcefulness, initiative, selfreliance. It fostered the democratic spirit, raised high the level of public and private morals. It barred caste and discontent of older communities. It is manifest that best traits have come out of the West. Mr. Bryce has said "The West is the most American part of America." And a remark of another writer is equally true: "America was bred in a cabin"—a dwelling of logs, symbolizing the rough strength of the people.

Out of such life came the later Editor, Mr. Scott, in Tazewell County, central Illinois. His grandfather, James Scott, was the first settler in Groveland Township in 1824, from Kentucky. Mr. Scott's father, John Tucker Scott, twenty years later thought of moving to Texas, as James had moved to Illinois, but instead came to Oregon, in 1852. The six or seven-year-old son—the editor-to-be—wondered if Texas was a less chilly abode and asked: "Father, is Texas a tight house?" This question indicates the simplicity of the pioneer dwelling. With the family of John Tucker Scott came to Oregon sturdy principles of morality and industry, which invigorated the