Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/63



The methods of the ancient Greeks and Romans in building their houses around an open court was adopted by the Spaniards and by them introduced into America, and today this custom is still found in Oregon where sometimes the livery stable, or corral, consists of a large central enclosure surrounded by sheds opening into it, which is one of the surviving memorials of the time when the southern boundary of Oregon was the northern boundary of Spanish territory.

Both the southeastern and the southwestern portions of the United States were once occupied by the Spaniards, and the flag of Spain once waved over St. Louis, Mo., and although the tide of Anglo Saxon civilization has flowed over their ancient dominions it is but natural that there should be found here and there much that reminds one of those earliest white settlers, and it is interesting to notice how certain Spanish words have become incorporated into our language,