Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/356

338 of mills in California, and lumber and flour being no longer so much sought after, caused a sensible lessening of the income of Oregon. But the people of Oregon well knew that their immense agricultural resources would bring them out of all their troubles if they would only apply themselves in the right direction and in the right way.

The counties which led in this industrial revival were Washington, Yamhill, Marion, and Polk. The first county fair held was in Yamhill on the 7th of October, 1854, followed by Marion on the 11th, and Polk on the 12th. The exhibit of horses, cattle, and fruit was fairly good, of sheep, grain, and domestic manufactures almost nothing; but it was a beginning from which steadily grew a stronger competitive interest in farm affairs, until in 1861 a state agricultural society was formed, whose annual meeting is the principal event of each year in farming districts.

The first step toward manufacturing woollen fabrics was also taken in 1854, when a carding machine was erected at Albany by E. L. Perham & Co. Farmers who had neglected sheep-raising now purchased sheep of the Hudson's Bay Company. Early in the spring of 1855 Barber and Thorpe of Polk county erected machinery for spinning, weaving, dying, and dressing woollen cloths. In 1856 a company was organized at Salem to erect a woollen-mill at that place, the first important woollen manufactory on the Pacific coast. It was followed by the large establishment at Oregon City and several smaller ones in the course of a few years.