Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 1.djvu/672

 Oregon from Maine in 1843, at the age of twenty-three; in 1845 he was elected supreme judge of Oregon under the provisional government; in 1848, captain in the Cayuse Indian war; in 1853, captain in the Rogue river Indian war; in 1855–1856 colonel in the Yakima Indian war; in 1857 he was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs for Oregon and Washington, and held that position two years; in 1860 he was a candidate for presidential elector on the Douglas democratic ticket; that fall he was elected United States Senator; in 1873, he was elected a member of congress. He filled every position with conspicuous ability. He died June 17, 1885.

John P. Brooks taught the first school of any kind in Oregon City under the patronage of the late Sidney W. Moss, in the year 1844–5; when he came to Oregon is not known. In the late forties and early fifties he was in business at Oregon City. He died many years ago, date unknown.

George Abernethy was at the head of the provisional government. He was born in New York (Aberdeen, Scotland) in 1807, and came to Oregon in 1840. He had much to do with large milling and mercantile enterprises, and died in 1877.

Robert Newell was a typical "mountain man," and spent many years of his early life on the frontier in trapping. He was born at Zanesville, Ohio, in 1807. He came to Oregon in 1840, and brought a wagon from Fort Hall to Dr. Whitman's mission—the first to arrive there, and he brought it on to the Willamette valley, making it the first wagon in western Oregon. He was at Champoeg on May 2, 1843, and voted for civil government. He died at Lewiston, Idaho, in 1869.

John H. Couch was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, February 21, 181 1. In 1840 he brought the brig Maryland into the Columbia river, and up the Willamette to Oregon City. He made a second trip to the Columbia in 1843, and soon after engaged in the mercantile business at Oregon City. In 1845 he located a donation land claim near the then townsite of Portland, all of which was included within the corporate limits of that city many years ago. He was the treasurer of the provisional government, and held a number of places of trust in the city he helped to build. As early as October, 1849, in company with Benjamin Stark, he did a banking business in Portland, in addition to general merchandising. He died in January, 1870.

John Fleming, the first printer of the Spectator, came to Oregon from Ohio. He was appointed postmaster of Oregon City, in 1856, and held that office, until 1860. He died at that place, December 2, 1872, aged seventy-eight years.

In glancing through the pages of the Spectator numerous references are made to the primitive conditions then existing, some of which are here given.

As postmaster general, Colonel T'Vault was compelled to conduct affairs on an economical basis. Fifty dollars was appropriated by the legislature of 1845 to establish a postoffice department. Accordingly in February, 1846, postoffices and postmasters were appointed in the several counties south of the Columbia river, and full instructions published concerning their respective duties. The rates between any Oregon postoffice and Weston, Missouri, were fifty cents for a single sheet. Nine months later the postmaster general declined further responsibility in the matter of mail service, stating that the mail had been carried for three quarters, but the receipts had been insufficient to pay for the transportation of the mail for one quarter.

In the Spectator of April 16, 1856, the name of Henry A. G. Lee appears as editor. He was the choice of the Printing Association at the beginning, but he wanted a salary of $600, and that was considered too high. At this date there were one hundred and fifty-five subscribers, but an editorial item says there ought to be five hundred in the existing population. Lee's connection with the paper ceased with the issue of August 6, 1846.

Mr. Lee deserves more than a passing mention. He was a native of Virginia, and descended from Richard Lee, founder of the old dominion family of that