Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 14.djvu/372



FRED LOCKLEY

"We took the rope up and succeeded in getting a loop over a rock. No sooner had we done so than the skiff was caught, dashed against a rock nearby, overturned and Jim and I were in the water. We went through that rapid at a terrific rate, sometimes under water, sometimes on top. We finally got through, swam to the overturned skiff and succeeded in get- ting back to the boat. We had fastened a piece of wood to the end of the line so that it floated down the river. We clam- bered aboard the boat, chilled through and pretty badly scared. Father said, 'Where are you going?' I told him I was going to get some dry clothes on. He said, 'There will be time enough for that when you have gone and secured the end of the line.' So Jim and I got into the skiff again, recovered the end of the line and brought it to the boat.

"It was October 30 when we finally arrived at Lewiston. Many a time on the trip up I had been so worried I didn't know what to do, for fear that we would wreck the Sarah F. Gray, for we took some desperate chances and I knew that if it was wrecked my father would not only lose his boat but he would lose all of his property and be in debt to his friends.

"Provisions were getting short in the mines and father sold his flour for $25 a sack or 50 cents a pound. Beans also brought 50 cents a pound. Blankets were eagerly bought at $25 a pair and we sold all of our bacon at 60 cents a pound. Father had made a very profitable voyage and had not only carried out his plan but came out with a handsome profit.

"We left Lewiston on November 2 with several passengers, and came down the river to Deschutes in seven days.

"I spent the winter of 1861-2 in Portland. I attended public school in Portland that winter. The school was located where the Portland Hotel now stands. Professor George F. Boynton was the principal.

"The winter of 1861-62 was one of the most severe the west has ever seen. The Willamette was frozen over at Portland so that teams could cross on the ice between Portland and East Portland, and of course the mule ferry was out of commis- sion. Possibly an adventure I had that winter on the Willam-