Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 1.djvu/290



many positions of honor and trust, discharging every duty with scrupulous in- tegrity, an honor to the city and the state, and passed away with the universal respect of all citizens.

The battle to make Portland the land terminus of all ocean commerce was the first and greatest question to be settled. That settled in favor of Portland, the people would come fast enough. But before it was settled, the settlers and little businesses were slowly coming in.

The ferry across the river was started as early as 1845 consisting of one canoe.

The first blacksmith shop was opened by Terwilliger at the corner of First and Morrison streets, in 1846.

Henderson Luelling brought in the first grafted fruit trees in 1847. In this same year. Captain Crosby built the first frame house in the town bringing the materials for it from the eastern states in his ship around Cape Horn. Talk about carrying "coals to Newcastle," but don't forget Crosby's house, carried twenty thousand miles to build alongside the finest timber in the world.

In 1848, the first Methodist church was organized in Portland, and the erection of the church building commenced by Rev. J. H. Wilbur.

In 1855 the First Congregational Church was erected at the corner of Second and Jefiferson streets. The Rev. Horace Lyman, first pastor, clearing the ground of trees himself.

In 1849, Colonel Wm. King built a sawmill to run by water power, but it burned down before it could be made to do anything.

In 1850, W. P. Abrams, and Cyrus A. Reed erected a steam saw mill near the foot of Jefferson street. The main building was forty feet wide, and eighty feet long ; the timbers being hewed out of the giant firs growing alongside the mill site, and being sixteen inches square were so heavy that all the men in town were unable to put the timbers in place or "raise" the building, and General Coffin had to go up to Oregon City, to get men to help. But even with this assistance, they could not handle the timbers, and Reed was forced to rig a derrick and with block and tackle, and all the men to pull on the ropes, they hoisted the timbers to place, and erected the first saw mill at Portland, Oregon, a mill that would cut about ten thousand feet a day. Quite a change since 1850 to the town sixty years later, that cuts and ships more lumber than any other city in the world.

In those days, everybody worked and labored hard in building houses. In describing the work of J. H. Wilbur, (Father Wilbur) of the first Methodist church, a contemporary said of him : "Stalwart and strong, the great forest that stood where Taylor street church now stands, fell before his axe. The walls of the old church rose by his saw and hammer, and grew white and beauti- ful under his paint brush, tired bodies rested and listened to his powerful preaching on Sunday, poverty was fed at his table, and sickness cured by his medicines."

And now we reach the first business excitement at the new town. On the first of August, 1848, a little schooner from San Francisco pulled into the wharf at the little town of Portland, Oregon, and after unloading a lot of Mexican produce and goods began to load up not only with Oregon produce, but with al 1 the shovels, picks, and pans that could be secured at the two stores in town. And after making a clean up of all these necessary tools to mine placer gold, the captain made known the discovery of gold in California by J. W. Marshall. Marshall had come to Oregon as an immigrant, across the plains in 1844. And not getting anything to do here at Portland, went down to California in 1846, and was employed by General Sutter at his mill near where the city of Sacramento now stands. Marshall was followed in 1847 by Charles Bennett and Stephen Staats, and they w^ere there at the mill when Marshall found the first gold. And thus we see, that it was an Oregonian going from Portland and Oregon City, to California that made the discovery that gave to t