History of the Pacific Northwest Oregon and Washington 1889

History of the Pacific Northwest Oregon and Washington. 2 v. Portland, Oregon: North Pacific History Company. 1889.

Biography of Henry Martyn Chase

HENRY MARTYN CHASE. – This gentleman was born March 28, 1831, in Philadelphia, from whence he moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1844. He is a descendant of Aquila Chase, one of the early settlers of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and also directly descended from the famous Hannah Dustin, who killed her Indian captors in the Indian war of 1689. Mr. Chase sailed from Boston for California January 11, 1849, in the brig Forest, and arrived in San Francisco July 6th of the same year. He earned his first money there by painting a ship. In August, 1849, he sailed for Oregon in … Read more

Biography of Henry Klippel

HENRY KLIPPEL. – Mr. Klippel has been intimately connected with the public business and measures of our state, particularly in Southern Oregon. Like the most of our successful men, his progress has been by hard labor, and even by hard knocks; that is, he has, out of the capital of his own hands and brain, gained point after point, and succeeded in stamping his mind and character upon public affairs. He was born in Hesse Darmstadt in 1833, and came to American five years later. After an industrious and active life in the old West, – losing his father by … Read more

Biography of Henry Hewitt

HENRY HEWITT. – Many differences have been developed in respect to the particulars of the immigration of 1843 which can be reconciled only by making allowances for the natural discrepancies of memory with regard to events long since passed, and to the fact that the different companies and sections of the whole immigration had different experiences, and that the few survivors are not likely to have seen nor heard precisely the same things. Each of the various accounts may be given as each pioneer remembers it to have occurred; and each will have its own interest and value. It was … Read more

Biography of Henry Heppner

HENRY HEPPNER. – This s the gentleman after whom the city, in which he resides, and of which he was one of the first proprietors, and the builder of the first brick building, has been worthily named. He was born in Germany in 1843. He came to New York in 1858 and in 1863 via Cape Horn to San Francisco. His first venture was in Shasta, California, in the mercantile business; but after two years he transferred his business to Corvallis, Oregon. Meeting with little encouragement there he opened a stock at The Dalles, doing well for six years. As … Read more

Biography of Henry H. Woodward

HENRY H. WOODWARD. – The life of a pioneer of any country is a hard one. But the pioneer of the Pacific coast had really more to contend with than his early brother of any other state east or west of the great Mother of Waters. His daily life was not only one of almost unendurable hardship and privation, with the eternal gnawings of want; but it was also beset with imminent danger; and he was in continued dread of death from the poisoned arrow of the red man, or his more fortunate fellow who used a gun. The pioneer … Read more

Biography of Henry Drum

HENRY DRUM. – Among the progressive, intelligent and enterprising business men who are lending their energy and strength to the constant and rapid development of the great resources of the State of Washington, no name stands higher, or is more widely known and deservedly popular, than that of Henry Drum. No more conspicuous example of the results of careful attention to business, probity of character and steadfastness of purpose, can be cited than the brilliant career of Tacoma’s ex-mayor. It is to this class of young, keen and active workers that the great Northwest is to-day indebted for its magnificent … Read more

Biography of Henry Buxton

HENRY BUXTON. – As we trace out, one by one, the variety of sources from which our pioneers are derived, and see the commingling of all lines of nationality and all kinds of business in our cosmopolitan population, we are more than ever impressed with the great problem which we, as a people, are working out, and the great destiny which we have. The subject of this sketch, of whom an excellent portrait appears herewith, is a representative of the Hudson’s bay Company régime in Oregon, and is one of the now few living members of the company by which … Read more

Biography of Henry Bowman

HENRY BOWMAN. – Mr. Bowman, universally known as a public-spirited and prominent citizen of Pendleton, was one of the earliest settlers of Umatilla county. He was born in 1833, in Tyler county, Virginia. He spent his early years in the old dominion, and his youth in Pennsylvania and Iowa, and in 1860 came by the well-worn Oregon trail to our state. In the train of thirty-six wagons there were some two hundred persons, eighty-eight of whom were men; and their numbers secured them from attacks by Indians. The train was under command of Mr. E. de Lashmutt, uncle of the … Read more

Biography of Heman J. Gerr

The name of Geer is so well known in our state that the following account of the father of T.T. Geer of the Waldo hills will be of interest to all. This now venerable pioneer was born in Ohio in 1828, removing with his parents to Illinois in 1840. In 1847 he crossed the plains to Oregon with General Palmer’s train. The large company forestalled trouble with the Indians. Peter Hall, who stopped with Whitman at Walla Walla was the only one who experienced any disaster. The crossing of the Cascade Mountains by the Barlow Road proved the worst of … Read more

Biography of Heman J. Geer

HEMAN J. GEER. – The name of Geer is so well known in our state that the following account of the father of T.T. Geer of the Waldo hills will be of interest to all. This now venerable pioneer was born in Ohio in 1828, removing with his parents to Illinois in 1840. In 1847 he crossed the plains to Oregon with General Palmer’s train. The large company forestalled trouble with the Indians. Peter Hall, who stopped with Whitman at Walla Walla was the only one who experienced any disaster. The crossing of the Cascade Mountains by the Barlow Road … Read more

Biography of Harrison Rittenhouse Kincaid

HARRISON RITTENHOUSE KINCAID. – This well-known journalist of Oregon, the emanations of whose pen have appeared either originally or as selections in almost every newspaper of the state, is the eldest son of Thomas and Nancy Kincaid, pioneers of 1853, and was born in Madison county, Indiana, January 3, 1836. At the age of seventeen he came with his parents to our state, and with them made his home in Lane county. Among his early labors was work on the mill-race at the present site of Springfield. In 1855 he made a trip to Southern Oregon to operate in the … Read more

Biography of Harrison B. Oatman

HARRISON B. OATMAN. – This gentleman, a pioneer of the early days, and at present one of the capitalists of Portland, was born at Cortland, New York, in 1826. As a child he moved with his parents to Ohio, and at the new home in Bellevue attended school, laying a good foundation for his later study and information. At twelve he removed with his parents to Rockford, Illinois, and was married there in 1847 to Miss Lucena K. Ross. In 1853 he made with his family the toilsome journey to Oregon, crossing the plains with ox-teams, and establishing his home … Read more

Biography of Haman C. Lewis

HAMAN C. LEWIS. – This dauntless pioneer of the earliest times in our state was born in New York City January 31, 1803, and was the son of a ship carpenter. He early was apprenticed to learn the trade of a cooper, but while only a boy of fourteen went to sea, serving six months as cabin boy, and later was apprenticed to the ship carpenter. At eighteen he went as sailor – or perhaps more strictly speaking as “fillibusterer” – to the Gulf coast, taking service on a Mexican privateer. For a number of years he followed a most … Read more

Biography of H. McDonald

H. McDONALD – Mr. McDonald, who arrived in San Francisco in August, 1849, in the ship Hopewell of Warren, Rhode Island, and reached Portland the first time in August, 1850, on the brig Joaquina of San Francisco, was one of the earliest residents of Portland and of our state, and in the capacity of architect and stair-builder has done some of the most creditable work on our coast. One of his more recent successes, and something of a test of his skill, were the plans and specifications for the buildings for the Indian school at Chemawa, which were preferred to … Read more

Biography of Green B. Smith

GREEN B. SMITH. – There are few names more widely known among the pioneers of Western Oregon than that which stands at the head of this sketch. Few lives have been more full of adventure. After a long life actively spent among the trials and vicissitudes incident to a frontier life, he finally yielded to the fiat of nature; and, in obedience to the summons that must come to all, he passed over the dark river. His death, which leaves but a comparatively small number of that old pioneer’s phalanx of 1845, who marched two thousand miles across a trackless … Read more

Biography of Green Arnold

GREEN ARNOLD. – One of the earliest pioneers of the country lying east of the Cascade Mountains is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He was born in Niagara county, New York, in 1919, and received his education at his native place. In 1833, he moved to Michigan with his parents, where he remained until 1850, when hearing of the wonderful stories of the rich discoveries of gold in California, he buckled on his armor of faith and started across the plains, landing in Hangtown (now Placerville) on the 6th day of August of the same year. He remained … Read more

Biography of George Wood Ebbert

GEORGE WOOD EBBERT. – A life of sixty years in and west of the Rocky Mountains, fifty of which have been passed in the Willamette valley, – this is the pioneer record of Mr. Ebbert. As such it is full of interest; and in its further character, as a career of exceptional activity and adventure, it is of thrilling fascination. Although now eighty years of age, somewhat bent and infirm, the fires of manhood still glow, and the mind is still active. He was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, in 1810. When a youth he was apprenticed at Louisville to … Read more

Biography of George W. Proebstel

GEORGE W. PROEBSTEL. – The subject of this sketch was born upon a farm in Missouri in 1842. When ten years old he crossed the plains with his father, Jacob Proebstel, driving an ox-team and experiencing the usual hardships attending such a trip. On one occasion he saw his mother pay a dollar a pound for flour, which was hard to secure even at that price. It was the Fourth of July that his party reached Independence Rock, and found there a large train celebrating the holiday with music and dancing. The behavior of the cowboys whom he saw made … Read more

Biography of George W. King, M.D.

GEO. W. KING, M.D. – The early life of Doctor King of Pendleton was made dark by the terrible days of the Rebellion; and the recital of his early efforts to work out the distressful circumstances into which he was thus thrown is full of pathetic interest. He was born near Glasgow, Howard county, Missouri, November 14, 1844, and when but a boy of five went with his parents to reside near St. Louis, Missouri, where he lived until the spring of 1854, when his father moved to Kansas Territory, then but a prairie wilderness. He settled on Pottawatomie creek, … Read more

Biography of George S. Brooke

GEORGE S. BROOKE. – This gentleman is the cashier of the First National Bank of Sprague, and is also a director and one of the largest shareholders. Mr. Brooke comes of cavalier stock. On his father’s side, he is a descendant of the Brookes of Maryland. In the year 1650, Robert Brooke, of England, having brought out a colony consisting of his wife, ten children and servants, forty persons in all, settled on the east shore of the Patuxent river. The settlement was called De La Brooke. The founder had a patent direct from Lord Baltimore. He was a member … Read more