Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/95

Rh The pastorate of the Santiam church continued until 1858, when Ezra Fisher and; the other anti-slavery members of the church withdrew and formed a church of their own near Washington Butte. They adopted the usual Baptist articles of faith, but declared also non-fellowship with those who in any way countenanced slavery.

While with the Santiam church, Ezra Fisher had a farm of about twenty-five acres, from which most of his livelihood was gained. Upon moving to Washington Butte, he sold or traded it for another farm of about the same size. In the summer of 1861, he sold this and, putting most of the money into live stock, moved to The Dalles.

Four miles from The Dalles, he bought a small place having for improvements little else than a poorly built log cabin and from which its former owner had not been able to raise enough to "feed the squirrels." Here with his wife and thirteen-year-old son, he spent the record-breaking winter of 1861 and 1862. With plenty of wood, it was all they could do to keep from freezing. With the opening of spring, only a few of their stock, which had been let out for the winter, remained. He was almost penniless and obliged to receive help from a daughter to buy food supplies.

He was sixty-two and Mrs. Fisher sixty, but they at once set themselves to the task of developing and making a living from their place. They set out strawberries and planted vegetables and fruit trees. After a few years, they were able to make a comfortable living.

While he was doing this, he did not forget to preach. There being no Baptist church, he frequently preached for other denominations. The one Baptist family in The Dalles at the time they came soon moved away. Two leading men from the church at Washington Butte moved with their families to The Dalles, and others began to come, so that about 1863 Ezra Fisher began to preach on Sundays to the few Baptists of the place, their meetings being held in the court house.