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NEWS DEPARTMENT

American Historical Association.

The Quarterly presents two important articles in this issue
which were read at the twenty-third annual meeting of the Amer-
ican Historical Association, these two papers being read in one
of the five special conferences. For that reason they will not
appear in the regular publication of the proceedings. Historians
and other students on the Pacific Coast are deeply interested in
Oriental problems, and it is therefore a pleasure to lay before
them the papers by President Charles D. Tenney of Pei Yang
College and Professor K. Asakawa of Yale University.

The meeting was a brilliant success and Madison, "the city
of laws and education," certainly showed herself a cordial and
appreciative host of more than a thousand scholarly men and
women. The proceedings will be published in full in the annual
report published by the United States Government, and the pa-
pers will appear in the American Historical Review.

Professor George B. Adams of Yale was elected President
and Professor Frederick J. Turner of Wisconsin, Vice-President,
for the ensuing year. These honors are among the greatest to
be achieved by historians in America. Next year the First Vice-
President, Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, of Harvard, will be
promoted to the presidency.

Tribute to the Pioneers.

Henry E. Reed, Director of Exploitation of the Alaska-
Yukon-Pacific Exposition, has written from Washington City
to Director General Nadeau that on February 3 Senator Samuel
H. Piles received such an ovation as has been seldom, if ever,
given to a young Senator. The galleries were packed to hear
the Senator's great speech on the Exposition and the West. The
address was a masterly effort and deserved the showers of com-
pliments from his fellow senators and the prominent men assem-
bled in the audience. Every pioneer and every one of the new-
comers who are interested in the history of the Old Oregon
country should secure from the Senator a copy of the complete
address. Space is taken here for the concluding sentences, giv-
ing, in part, the Senator's glowing tribute to the pioneer :

6b (177)

178 News Department

"And, sir, who peopled that region and founded those cities?
It was the pioneer and his children, who fought, with a despera-
tion surpassing the heroic, the most effective battle of all — the
battle of the supremacy of the white man over the aborigines
and the elements, coupled with isolation and want, that that
immense stretch of country might not fall into alien hands. That
they prevailed, sir, history records.

"But, Mr. President, had the pioneer been as timorous or as
indifferent as were some of the statesmen of their age, their
efforts would have been but 'a twice-told tale,' remembered only
as are 'the footprints of the traveler over the sand;' and that
land, formerly known as the 'Oregon Country,' instead of being,
as it now is, the common heritage of all our people, would be to-
day one of the possessions of the British Empire.

"It is therefore fitting, in view of their achievements, that
Congress should aid the people of the Pacific Northwest in their
desire to exhibit to an astonished world the progress that in so
brief a space of time, and under such trying and difficult condi-
tions, has been made in the arts, in science, in commerce, in agri-
culture, in mining, and in manufacturing, and in all, sir, that goes
to make a great and glorious land."

The Oregon TraiL

Ezra Meeker, the venerable pioneer, has returned to his
Puget Sound home after his remarkable and arduous undertak-
ing of retracing the famous Oregon Trail with an ox-team. A
number of his friends and of historians gathered at the home of
his son-in-law, Eben S. Osborne, in Seattle, to receive Mr.
Meeker's report and suggestions about permanently marking the
trail. He said Congressman Will E. Humphrey had introduced
a bill to accomplish that desired end, and before the meeting ad-
journed it resolved to recommend to President Roosevelt that,
in case the Humphrey bill is enacted, Mr. Meeker, George H.
Himes, of Portland, Oregon, and Clarence B. Bagley, of Seattle,
be chosen as a commission to carry out its provisions. Mr.
Meeker's hardihood in carrying on the work up to this point is
meeting with deserved praise and approval on every side.

Honoring Whitman's Memory.

Walla Walla was the scene of interesting exercises on No-
vember 29, 1907. It was the sixtieth anniversary of the martyr-

Bibliography of Pacific Northwest History 179

dom of Marcus Whitman and his wife during the terrible Indian
massacre at the old Whitman mission.

Governor Mead and his staff, troops of the United States
cavalry, with the band, students of Whitman College, survivors
of the massacre, pioneers and many citizens, made a pilgrimage
to the grave and listened to part of the programme, which was
concluded in the evening. Addresses were made by Governor
Mead, President Penrose of Whitman College, and others. The
address by Edwin Eells, whose father was a colleague of Whit-
man, is reproduced in this issue of the Quarterly.

One announcement, that brought forth applause, was made
by Rev. J. C. Reid, to the effect that the debt that had hung over
the Whitman monument for ten years had at last been cancelled.

Bibliography of Pacific Northwest History.

Mr. Charles W. Smith, of the University of Washington Li-
brary, whose expansion of the Dewey Decimal Classification ap-
pears in this issue of the Quarterly, has initiated a movement
toward the preparation of a co-operative bibliography of North-
west history. His plan is for. each important library in the re-
gion of Old Oregon to prepare a slip list of the books and pam-
phlets in its possession relating to the history of the Pacific
Northwest. These slips are then to be incorporated into one
straight alphabetical list, representing the resources of the libra-
ries co-operating. By means of an initlial letter or abbreviation
placed after each item, will be indicated the libraries in which
each book or pamphlet can be found. The list when printed will
thus become a catalogue of each individual collection, as well as
a combined check list of the whole.

Such a check list has long been needed, but its preparation
has seemed too laborious for one person to attempt. The present
co-operative plan seems to be a feasible one, and we believe that
its success is assured.

Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association.

The fourth annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the
American Historical Association was held in San Francisco on
November 29 and 30, 1907. The programme was as follows :

(1) A general session on Friday afternoon, beginning at 2:30
o'clock, with papers by Professor Bernard Moses, of the Univer-
sity of California, on "The State of Chile in the Last Decades

180 News Department

of the Eighteenth Century;" by Professor H. L. Cannon, of Le-
land Stanford Junior University, on "Some Inherent Difficulties
in the Study of History;" by Mr. John Jewett Earle, of Oak-
land, on "The Sentiment of the People of California with Re-
spect to the Civil War ;" by Professor C. A. Duniway, of Leland
Stanford Junior University, on "Political and Civil Disabilities
of the Negro in California, 1849-1861."

(2) The annual banquet at the Hotel Jefferson, corner of
Turk and Gough streets, facing Jefferson Square, at six o'clock
Friday evening, open to invited guests as well as members. The
price per plate was $2.00.

(3) An evening session, with the annual address by Presi-
dent W. D. Fenton of Portland, on "Edward Dickenson Baker ;"
a paper by Professor Max Farrand, of Leland Stanford Junior
University, on "The West and the Declaration of Independ-
ence ;" an account of the resources of the Bancroft Library, by
Professor H. Morse Stephens and others, of the University of
California.

(4) A session on the teaching of history and government on
Saturday morning at 10 o'clock. Mr. Anderson, of the San Fran-
cisco State Normal School, led a discussion on the California
State text-book history, and Dr. Roberts, of the University of
California, presented the subject of local government.

(5) A business session, for the consideration of reports of
committees and the election of officers.

Teachers Interested in Local History.

Teachers in other parts of the State of Washington, as well
as general readers, will be interested in the announcement of a
programme of a teachers' meeting recently held in Wilbur, Lin-
coln County. It was devoted wholly to the history of the Pacific.
Northwest, and besides several appropriate musical numbers
consisted of the following:

The Discovery of Puget Sound Miss Phelps

The Romance of Astoria , „ Miss Dalton

Dr. John McLoughlin Miss Lyons

The Log School House on the Columbia Miss Fox

The. Oregon Pioneer . . Mr. Matthews

The Two Islands Miss Phillips

Our Western Poets..... . Miss Wilson

The Bridge of the Gods Miss Chandler

Was Marcus Whitman the Savior of Oregon ?. Mr. Kohlstaedt

Oregon Missionary Honored.

The well-known pioneer clergyman and missionary of Ore-
gon — Rev. A. L. Lindsley, D. D., LL. D. — was beautifully re-

Revolutionary Letter by Baron de Kalb 181

membered in South Salem, New York, last December. A me-
morial tablet in the Presbyterian church of that city was un-
veiled. During the exercises the following poem was read. It
was written by Marion P. Lindsley, the wife of A. A. Lindsley,
of Portland, Oregon:

A MEMORIAL.

Give me a mind, Oh Lord, like his, most just

To choose between the right, the true and wrong,
With mercy generous, and in action strong.

Give me a heart like his, steadfast and deep
To see temptation and forgive the fall,
As Christ, Thy Son, forgave the sins of all.

Give me a soul like his, with wings to soar,
Uplifting on its pinions to the skies
The souls of others that else could not rise

Revolutionary Letter by Baron de Kalb.

The study of history constantly reveals unexpected sources
in out of the way places. The Library of the State of Washing-
ton has an old letter written by Baron de Kalb. The story of
how it came there is itself interesting history.

On August 9, 1898, Herbert Bashford, then Librarian, re-
ceived a letter from Jesse Baker, Assessor of Wahkiakum
County, which contained the following information :

"I don't remember whether I told you how I came in posses-
sion of the letter I am sending. I will do so now. I was a mem-
ber of Co. H., 34th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and in March,
1862, several companies of my regiment, mine among the num-
ber, captured Columbia, Tenn., and occupied the court house for
quarters. Previously several companies of a Confederate regi-
ment had occupied the same building, and in the building was a
room occupied by an antiquarian society. Before the Confed-
erates left they had scattered the property of said society all
over the floor. In looking over the letters on the floor, I found
the one enclosed, and also one from Gen. Nathaniel Green to
Gen. Washington, and also a twenty-pound colonial bill. These
three I sent back to Polo, Ogle County, Illinois. Baron de
Kalb's letter I recovered while back in Illinois last summer, but
the last two seem to be lost entirely.

"The two holes in the letter I think were caused by being
torn from some kind of clasp in which the letters were confined ;
but the general meaning of the letter can readily be determined
so one can get the sense of the whole. In looking over the his-
tory of the United States, I should judge that Baron de Kalb

182 News Department

was killed a short time after writing the letter, in fact, I should
think in the next fight he had with the British, of whom he is
trying to get intelligence as to strength and position."

Mr. Baker's conjecture about the Baron's death following
close upon the writing of this letter is well borne out by the
brief sketch in the Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biog-
raphy. The letter was written on July 7, 1780, and, the Battle of
Camden took place on August 13. Says the above book : "Neither
party was aware of the close proximity of its opponent until the
advanced guards met, about two o'clock in the morning. In the
battle that ensued soon after sunrise, Kalb commanded on the
American right and was driving his adversary, Lord Rawdon,
before him, when the defeat of our left wing exposed his flank
and rear to the assaults of Webster and Tarleton. Kalb was
thus attacked on all sides, but remained during the whole en-
counter, fighting bravely to the last. Bareheaded and dismount-
ed, with sword in hand, he engaged in one personal encounter
after another, encouraging his men with his voice as well as his
example, till he had received eleven wounds. His lieutenant,
Du Buysson, saved him from instant death. He died three days
afterward and was buried at Camden. A marble monument was
erected to his memory by the citizens of that town, the corner
stone being laid by General Lafayette in 1825."

The letter, as near as can be made out, is as follows :

Camp on Deep river near Wilcoxes.
Sir: July 7th, 1780.

The provisions I expected not only for four or fi ys march

but als. all magazin of some days here to ha to in case

of necess.. coming in — ...that it will be imposs or me to

move.... — several days; as soon it will be possible, .will

do myself the honor to acquaint you therewith if you will please
to inform me of your direction and march. The troops here are
greatly distressed for want of meat, the men of our party that
are sent out to drive them are not at all proper for that business
— the more as they have no horses : they have much to do to get
cattle and lose them again in the woods.

If you could favor me with a party of your light horse-men
to be employed in, and provide for the purpose, I should be
highly obliged to you.

As we act with great caution when once at Cole's bridge, the
the enemy's reinforcing at Cheraws, it would be very necessary
to have the best intelligence of their forces, situation, and design.
If you had two or more proper officers or other persons to go
among them, and get the best information, it might be of great
service to us all.

Revolutionary Letter by Baron de Kalb 183

It is possible the enemy's informed of our march and per-
haps of our forces, to collect all theirs to march against us, bejng
much superior to us in horse, and for what I know in infantry
too, it would be unfortunate to go beyond Cole's, especially if we
were not assured of the enemy's position, and of having laid in a
certain quantity of flour in our rear on Deep river — (And indeed
it would be necessary to have magazins in several other parts
of this State)

I have sent on to-day to post at Cole's bridge, the South Car-
olina Volunteers about fifty in number, and to employ them-
selves in collecting flour, cattle &c towards our arrival.

With great and esteem, I the honor to be

Dea

Your very hu nd most

Obedient Servant

THE BARON DE KALB.
The Hon'ble

M. G. Caswell.

On the back was written: Express. Public Service. The
Hon. Maj. General Caswell, Head Quarters.