[or-roots] We went the Barlow route (1868)

[Cecil Houk]

More from Florence Courtney Melton


   They lost no time in packing their wagons.  [Jacob] Houk had sold his wagon.  He bought our light wagon.  That left us with one, so Molly and one of the boys rode the mules; some of the time a pair of horses.  We had seven head to one wagon.  It was on the twenty-fifth of September, I think, that we again started for Oregon. 
     We went the Barlow route, down through Pendelton then about the size of Pataha City [WA].  The big wheat ranches below the Penitentiary were a desert then.  I never put in a worse day on the road than we experienced from Pendelton to the foot of the Cascade Mountains.  The first day in the mountains was September thirtieth - my birthday, eleven years old - no cake with candles.  We broke the hind wheels of our wagon so they went to 
work to make the wagon over.  The wheels were like the drawing - oak grubs made the stays.  The wagon was overloaded, so Mother and I walked nearly all the way through the mountains.  We had no rain and it was warm.  We were in sight of the Columbia River at The Dalles and saw a steamboat there.  There were three memorable hills: Tighe Valley: this we reached after dark and we nearly had to spend the night there.  The Deschutes Hill and Laural Hill were both bad ones.  The ones who crossed first let their wagons down with chains.  The bark of the trees was scored and cut through.  I do no doubt but that they show today as plain as then.  We saw no animals of any kind, but we camped one night at a Frenchman's, old Mr. Revenous.  He lived about three days travel from Portland.  They had several children.  They were not allowed to go farther from the house than the back of the orchard for fear of the panthers.  They lost several head of stock by panthers each year.  They had several dozen California quail in coops feeding them to send them to the Portland market.  The first we ever saw.  They are prettier than the Bob Whites. 

     When we crossed the Big Sandy, it was so smoky we couldn't see much of the valley.  The first town we came to was Oregon City.  Then we came to Salem.  The most beautiful town we had seen since we left Iowa.  OREGON THE BEAUTIFUL!!! All the hardships we had endured were well repaid by the picturesque beauty we feasted our eyes on, everywhere we looked.  It was indeed the land of red apples.  Everyone we talked to would say, "Now help yourselves to apples" out of any orchard you came to.  Everyone who owned an orchard would feel badly to think of anyone going without.  The most sociable generous people on earth.  All of them at some time or another had crossed the plains.  They knew what we had gone through and stood ready to lend a helping hand. 

     One Saturday evening about the fifteenth of October, we stopped at Calvin Burkhart's home.  They asked if there were some place they could camp for a few days until they could find a farm to rent.  He directed us to a gate that led back in the timber to an old sawmill.  There we would have wood and water.  He pointed to a stubblefield and said to turn our 
horses in there; also to stop at the orchard and help ourselves to fruit. We found a very good cabin and an old heating stove.  They set it up, and we were very comfortable. 

     Mother and Sarah were congratulating themselves that the had gotten rid of [William] Cluster, as they expressed it.  Imagine their surprise and disappointment when on Sunday morning while at the breakfast table who should walk in but Will Cluster.  I laugh yet when I think of the look on Mother's face.  She said, "How in the world did you find us?"  He said, "I was riding along and saw the horses in the field, and asked a man at the house back there if there were some immigrants camped close by."  He had stopped in the Grand Ronde Valley, and they were sure Molly had received no mail, but what they didn't know was that Molly had written a letter which Uncle Holbrook had mailed at Uniontown telling him they were going to Walla Walla but if they didn't like the country would go on to the Willamette Valley.  She thought Albany was the destination. Well, Mother and Sarah got dinner, and predicted all sorts of calamities that would befall Molly if she took up with that stranger.  She didn't seem to worry much.  They settled it that day.  He went up to Lane County and rented a farm three miles from Junction City.  He bought the necessary implements with which to go to farming. 



The "mother and Sarah" mentioned above were my gr gr & gr grandmothers.


Cecil Houk, ET1 USN Ret.
PO Box 530833
San Diego CA 92153
FAX 619-428-6434
mailto:cchouk at cox.net
ANDERSON - BLAKELY - FORD - HOUK - KIMSEY - MOE - RULAFORD - SIMPSON
Searchable GEDCOM: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~cchouk
My web page MENU: http://members.cox.net/~cchouk/
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