Page:The Round Hand of George B. Roberts.djvu/7

 by 1849-50, the farm's importance had declined. The California gold rush disrupted Oregon's economy and carried off the labor force—a labor force previously decreased by the epidemics of 1847-48, as far as Indians employed at Cowlitz were concerned. The Company's foodstuffs contract with the Russian-American Company fortunately lapsed in 1850, for it could not have been fulfilled. In 1847-48 there were nineteen regular employees at the Cowlitz Farm, but in 1850-51, near the end of Roberts' superintendency, there were only six. Gradually the flocks of sheep and herds of cattle were shifted to Nisqually or Vancouver Island, or sold to settlers.

Other events affected Roberts' position and feeling about his job at the Cowlitz Farm. He must have been aware of its decreasing function and the growing problems posed as the number of settlers in the neighborhood increased. Then his