[or-roots] From Somebody's Links

[Verdena Veelle]

You can see how far behind I am in reading my email and this is too late to purchase I
would imagine but this submission does contain some interesting bits about Oregon history.
Verdena Veelle

o 1849+ EGGLESTON, HICKS Letters (Oregon, Michigan)
Item # 2509472958; Seller: diaries
Auction ends: Feb-24-03 17:20:48 PST
Letters and ephemera from and to mostly Oregon and Michigan. I
found them all (21 letters, two small photos, a round metal
ring, and other pieces of ephemera) in a homemade wallpaper-
covered box at a "Paper Sale" some years ago in Oregon. Many of
the letters are addressed to Addie EGGLESTON and some to Clara
HICKS. I gather from the letters that this family grew up in
Michigan and then brother James moved west to Oregon. Soon after
Addie followed. The earliest piece of ephemera is an invitation:
"Cotillon Party. The pleasure of your company is respectfully
solicited on Thursday, Dec. 6th, at 4 O'clock, P.M. in the
Assembly Room of the Eagle Hotel, Dated Dresden Nov. 24th, 1849
Music by the Penn Yan Band." There are other pieces of ephemera,
such as a book THE TRAVELLER by J. W. HALES, dated 1874. Inside
the handwritten inscription says: "Clara J HICKS, R. V. Seminary
Winter term, '76." There are also "Raisin Valley Seminary Order
of Senior Exercises" dated 1873, several calling cards, two
photos--one very small tintype of a man and an oval paper one of
a woman, and other pieces. The letters are what I find so very
interesting, especially the ones from Clara's brother James. I
think maybe Clara might be James's sister and Addie his wife. It
looks like James lives in Portland, Oregon at that time, but
actually his first letter is dated July 24th, 1877 from Los
Angeles, California. That one is to his sister Clara. The next
four letters from him I believe are either to his wife or fiancé
as they start "Dear little lady," "Well little Darling," and "My
little Woman." They date between Dec. 8th, 1878 and June 29th,
1879 and are most interesting and very historical: "I received a
long letter from Sophia, which I shall answer today. She seems
to have a fever for immigrating to the land of the setting sun
and 'pioneer' it. She says in her letter that she means
business, but if she could come here, do well and get homesick,
it would be about the same as if she did not do well for go back
she would. Let me illustrate from life. A man who owned a small
farm in Kansas became involved in debt during the Grasshopper
years. His friend lent him money enough to bring himself and
wife all his family to Oregon. He was a good blacksmith and
located in a village where the roads which cross the Mountains
from the Willamette Valley into Eastern Oregon branch" (he goes
on for another page about it); next letter "Last evening the
city (Portland) was a blaze of lights and everybody with his
wife and children went out to see the display. . . The morning
broke fair and bright but long before the King of day had
touched the valley with his golden beams, our Eastern Sentinel
and Landmark, Mt. Hood was a blaze of light and for variety and
richness of color. . . Nearly all the vessels in the harbor were
dressed with evergreens and decorated with many colored flags
and the sailors in holiday attire" (he goes on to talk about a
boat race on the Columbia, all of Portland being alive with
people and his dinner downtown, drinking California wine); next
letter: "I took a trip up the river today, had a pleasant ride
on the steamer and visited the "White House" a place of resort
for Portland People. The distance is about eight miles by river
and steamer. . . The scenery along the river routes is fine
indeed both on the Columbia and Willamette. Steamers are
numerous and fares for the most part are low. . . I expect you
will have a strong desire to return in a year or two as most do
have after a short residence here. The works of removing Moses
and his tribe to their reservation has been done without any
trouble so there will probably be no Indian war up in the Yakima
County this season. Moses got the best of the bargain. I suppose
he is satisfied and the whites or the frontiers are glad to get
rid of the whole lot for Indians are very poor neighbors even if
they are good Indians. Wild Indians belong to the past so far as
the Willamette Valley is concerned, but East of the Cascades
Range of mountains they have been roaming about in small bands
almost . . ." (there is much more about the Indians). He also
writes about the home they are building and so much more. One of
the letters is from the mother of one of the girls, telling her
that she wants to get the courage up to leave her husband as he
always comes home in "that way." Another letter is actually
written "To Addie's Brother," telling him, almost begging him,
to let them keep Addie for a little while longer, as the woman
writing has been very sick. I believe Addie is living with this
family and has plans to head West to see James, and they are
trying to keep her there for a while longer. There is also an
envelope with a beautiful lock of hair wrapped in a paper that
says, "Granma McMILLION." As I reread my description, I think
Addie moved West with James and then went back home to the East
and now James is writing her in hopes she'll come back to
Oregon. There is much more with this lot, all of which is
wonderful Northwest history. Most of the envelopes were not
found with the letters, only a few are with this lot.
  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2509472958

PERMISSION TO REPRINT notices from SOMEBODY'S LINKS is granted,
PROVIDED: (1) the reprint is not used for commercial purposes;
and (2) the following notice, including the URL, appears at the
end of the message: Previously published in SOMEBODY'S LINKS
NEWSLETTER: Genealogical Treasures Found, Vol. 5, No. 6,
21 February 2003. http://www.petuniapress.com/