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Colonel Henry Ernst Dosch is one of Oregon's most useful citizens. I spent several recent afternoons with Colonel Dosch and the more I talked to him, the more I was impresed with the versatility of his knowledge. He is not only an authority on horticulture, but he has a profound knowledge of history, literature and of the traditions of the Old West, of which he was a part.

"I was born at Meinz-on-the-Rhine, June 17, 1841," said Colonel Dosch. "My father's name was John Baptiste Dosch. My mother's maiden name was Anna Busch. There were seven children in our family, of whom I am the eldest. I was named Ernst after my father's brother, Colonel Ernst Dosch, who was Colonel of the Hungarian Blue Hussars. Another brother of my father's, my uncle Anton, was Colonel of the Red Hussars. My uncle was a government official in the Customs Department. My father was a classmate with Bismarck, which later proved to be a most fortunate thing for him, for in 1848, during the German Revolution my father organized a regiment to resist the Prussians. When the revolution was ruthlessly suppressed by the Prussians, the revolutionists had to run for their live—some went to Switzerland, while a great many emigrated to the United States. My father, on account of having been a classmate of Bismarck's, was allowed to stay in Germany. Many of the revolutionists, the best blood of Germany, came to the United States and settled at Belleville, 20 miles east of St. Louis. During the Civil War there were at least 10,000 German turners from St. Louis, Belleville and the country thereabouts, who enlisted in the Union Army and gave a good account of themselves, as they kept Missouri in the Union.

"I came to America in 1860, when I was between 18