Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/75

 a Lieut. in Kansas and New Mexico before he joined the Con- federacy in '61. I knew him and served with him in Congress, but never heard him say anything about service in Oregon. Neither does Gen. Sheridan mention any Grand Ronde service by Wheeler in his Memoirs. If such a well known man served at Grand Ronde during Sheridan's time it would seem that Sheridan who knew him well and fought and fought hard with Wheeler's Cavalry at Missionary Ridge, would in all prob- ability have mentioned it in his Memoirs. Associated with Grand Ronde is also a long line of prominent civilians and Oregonians, among whom I readily recall your honored Joel Palmer, Hon. R. P. Earhart, Col. Chris- topher Taylor, Dr. E. R. Geary-a strong pulpit orator, Capt. Chas. Lafollett, who taught me my beautiful penmanship, Ex-Sen. Nesmith, Gen. Ben Simpson, Berryman Jennings, Jno. F. Miller, A. B. Meacham, D. P. Thompson, Father Waller, Rev. J. L. Parrish, and many others. I deem myself especially fortunate in personal acquaintance with all I have mentioned, also with Gen. Hazen, U. S. Chief Signal Officer, Gen. Ingalls, Gen. Sheridan, Gen. Wheeler and Gen. U. S. Grant. When I was in Washington City Sheridan had become the Lieut. General at the head of the Army, but his memory was still alert to the scenes of his Oregon experiences. He was especially fond of burnishing up his old Chinook, and took delight in carrying on our frequent conversations in the old Indian dialect. When he saw me passing in the corridor be- fore his open office door he would hail me something like this: "Klahowya tilakum, mika hyak chaho copa nika house. Spose nesika skookum klosh wa-wa. Nika hyiu cumtux, ancutty mika Grand Ronde illihee." Around us might have been sit- ting senators or judges or generals, but no matter. Sheridan would talk in classic Chinook, and I in rusty jargon-all to the consternation of those assembled, who cudgeled their brains over the strange language to which they were forced but inter- ested listeners, wondering whether it was learned Greek or pos- sibly ancient Sanskrit. Digitized by Microsoft ®