Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 17.djvu/478



470 REVEREND EZRA FISHER

The ladies' shoes and gaiters not received in the bill of goods referred to in another sheet are one pair women's Brogans, 90 cents; two pairs morocco, marked $1.00 each; one pair calf marked 70 cents; one pair kid marked $1.00, and one pair colored gaiters $1.38. Total $5.98. I presume they were overlooked and not put up. It is possible the box might have been opened on the way, but not probable During my absence the past three weeks, my family have been occupied with the family of Rev. Mr. Stevens 284 from northern Ohio. His wife and three of the children have had a severe attack of the camp fever. The affliction was deep- ened by the death of his eldest daughter of seventeen years. Br. Stevens goes to Marysville. I hope he will succeed there. His family left my house this morning in an en- feebled state. The immigrants are every day reaching our valley in large numbers. The number of immigrants for Oregon are variously estimated from five to twenty thou- sand souls. 285 There has been an unusual amount of suffer- ing on the way by cholera, in a mitigated form, and camp fever. Those who come by the overland route should in- variably start early, take the most wholesome kinds of food, drive regularly and make no forced marches, except in the absence of grass or water, and rest Sabbaths, except where water and grass is not to be found. I write this that fol- lowing immigrations may profit by the advice. No doubt many on the route have lost their lives through neglect either in providing a suitable outfit, or through too much haste and irregular habits on the way. It should be pro- claimed through the length and breadth of the States that food made up principally of rancid bacon-sides, shoulders and hams, hot biscuits mixed with the fats fried therefrom and water, hot coffee, as strong as it can be made, mornings, noon and night, with no vegetables and little dried fruit

284 Rev. Thomas Stephens (1803-1888) was born in Wales, where he was or- dained, lived later in New York and Ohio, and came to Oregon in 1852. He preached for the Shiloh and Corvallis churches for a time and later settled near Roseburg. Mattoon, Bap. An. of Ore., 1:14. See also the letter of Aug. 22, 1853.

285 See note 154.