Frances Fuller Victor Frances Fuller Victor was born in Rome Township, New York, May 23, 1826, and came to Oregon in 1865. Her literary career may be summarized as follows: poems, 1851; "Florence Fane Sketches," 1863-65; "The River of the West," 1870; "All Over Oregon and Washington," 1872; "Woman's War Against Whiskey," 1874; "The New Penelope," 1877; "Bancroft History of Oregon," two volumes, 1886; "Bancroft History of Washington, Idaho and Montana"; "Bancroft History of Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming;" "Bancroft History of California," Vols. 6 and 7; "History of Early Indian Wars in Oregon," 1893; "Atlantis Arisen"; "Poems, 1900. Died at Portland, Oregon, November 14, 1902. COL. JOSEPH L. MEEK. Joseph L. Meek was born in Washington County, Virginia. He was the son of a planter, and his mother was of a good Virginia family-one of the Walker's-and aunt to the wife of President Polk. But unfortunately for her son, this lady died early, and young Joseph was left very much to his own devices, on a plantation where there was nothing for him to do, and little to learn, except such out-door sports as boys delight in. These he enjoyed in the most unrestrained liberty, having for his companions only the children of his father's slaves, towards whom he stood in the relation of master. Such circumstances would be inimical to habits of mental industry in any case; and the lad found his temptations to a busy idleness so many and strong, that he refused even to avail himself of the little elementary teaching that he might have had on the plantation. His stepmother, for whom he seems to have felt a dislike, either did not, or could not influence him in the direction of study; and it fell out that when he arrived at the age of sixteen years, he was a tall, merry, active boy, who knew hardly as much of spelling and reading as is contained in the child's first primer. Why it was that his father neglected him in so culpable a manner does not appear; but what is evident is, that young Meek was not happy at home, and that his not being so was the cause of his abandoning the plantation when between sixteen and seventeen years of age, and undertaking to enter upon a career for himself. This he did by going to Kentucky, where some relations of his father resided; and, on finding things not to his mind in the new place, finally pushing on to St. Louis, then a mere trading post on the Missouri frontier, where he arrived in the fall of 1828. This was the decisive step that colored all his after life. St. Louis was the rendezvous of fur traders, who yearly enlisted new men for service in trapping beaver in the Rocky Mountains. Young Meek offered himself, and though younger than the other recruits, was accepted, on his assurance that he would not shrink from duty, even if that duty should be to fight Indians. The spring of 1829 accordingly found him in the employ of Mr. William Sublette, one of the most enterprising and successful of the fur traders, who annually led a company of men to the mountains, and through them, from summer to winter rendezvous; leaving them the following spring to go to St. Louis for the necessary Indian goods and fresh recruits. Little did the boy of eighteen realize the fateful step he was taking; that for eleven years he should roam the mountains and plains like an Indian, carrying his life. in his hand at every step; that he should marry an Indian woman; and leave a family of half-Indian children in the valley of that far off Oregon, of which then he had hardly ever heard the name. But a man once entered into the service of the fur companies found it nearly impossible to abandon the service, unless he had shown himself cowardly and unfit-in which case he was permitted to return when the trading partner went to St. Louis for goods. A brave and active man was sure to be kept in the company's debt, or in some other way in its power; so that no opportunity should be afforded of leaving the life he had entered upon however thoughtlessly. Letters were even forbidden to be written or received; lest hearing from home should produce homesickness and disaffection. The service was so full of dangers, that it was estimated fully one-fifth if not one-fourth of the trappers were killed by the Indians, or died by accident and exposure each year. Yet, with all these chances against him, Meek lived eleven years in the mountains, fighting Indians and wild beasts, with never in all that time a serious wound from Indian arrow or paw of grizzly bear; a fact that illustrates better than any words, the address, quickness and courage of the man. Though often sportively alluding to his own subterfuges to escape from danger, it still remained evident that an awkward, slow or cowardly man could never have resorted to such means. An unsuually fine physique, a sunny temper and ready wit, made him a favorite with both comrades and employers, and gave him influence with such Indian tribes as the mountain-men held in friendly relations. Jessie Buoy ON THE RIVER. Oh, gray dawn and white, white mist, Harvey W. Scott Harvey W. Scott came to Oregon in his boyhood. He helped his father clear the old donation claim in Washington County; then undertaking his own education, he was the first regular graduate of Pacific University. Early in life he pursued a prodigious course of study; and with a logical faculty somewhat remarkable his pen socn won prominence in communicating his opinions. Since 1865 he has been editor of the Oregonian. Under his management, that journal has gained the reputation of being one of the greatest dailies on the continent, ranking with the New York Sun and the Evening Post. It was his pen that gave the Oregonian its character. However, as a rule, the tone and excellence of a publication is in part attributable to the taste of the numerous readers who create a demand for a publication of that sort. As a critic in the journalistic art, Mr. Scott compares favorably with Dana and Bryant; and while he has not neglected his editorial duties and written books as have some noted editors, he has established a precedent in the journalistic field worthy of the study and emulation of young men and women who look forward to literary employment as a life vocation. THE BIBLE IN ENGLISH. (An editorial written for the Oregonian.) A plea is again presented for a new translation of the Bible into English, for the purpose, it is said, of speech. It is argued that the version so long in use, since it does not belong to the language of our time, is not suited to ordinary and common use for the present day, and to many is even scarcely intelligible. It does, indeed, abound with a peculiar phraseology and with singular words long since abandoned, and its style is maintained |