Document text
WPA L. C. PROJECT
Form --a
Writere' UNIT
Accession n.
AN 362.'1
Date received
10/10/40
Consignment no.
1
:Shipped from
Wath. Office
'Label
Amount
7p.
..11)
Fo lklore Collection (or Type)
Early_Palk.gaunnt
ty• days.
Place of origin.-Partlancl,..Or egan,-- Date 4127/39
Project worker Sara Wrenn.
Project editor
Remarks
Form A. Federal Writers' Project
Circumstances of Interview Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Sera 14„.. Wrenn
Address sOS lalm Building. Portland. Orezon
Crossing the Plains
Subject Early Polk County Days
=IT=,igOZNIPTiliina001101K1W4.Wr.".i1CWAINNIIMMIICUMMIIMIRCM•enrarsz■SEMI.I.11K
Name end addr9ss of informant
Date 1.9ril 27- 1939
Rak RE 5.4-tlin Port1 And, Orogen
Date and time of interview
•••••••••••••••IMMI.•
Anril 26, 1939 .,gifternogn
Place of interview Abate dra s ck.
Name and address of person, if any, who put you in touch with informant
Mrs. J. I. Kisabeth- 4828 SE Kelly St.
Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you
none
Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
Small, crowded "parlor," the walls covered with oil paintings, the work
of the informant, embracing such subjects as snow peaks with sunset glows,
mountain lakes, etc. There are wall brackets and corner brackets, besides
tables and little stands and the fireplace mantel, all crowded with small
china and other objects "d'art." The room is full of overstuffed chairs
and couches of various colors. The house itself is the ordinary story -and
a -half type of the 90's, with a "front porch", its setting a 50 by 100 feet
lot, with a few feet of green grass in front.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the proper heading
and the nuMber to which the material refers).
W9625
Form B Federal Writers' Project
Personal History of Informant Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Sara B. Wrenn
Address 505 Elks _puilding- Portlancto Ctregon,
Subject Crosping the 4ains Early Polk County Days
Date April 27. 1939
Name and address of informant
gp. Jana loe Smith
ap303 SE 54th AyeAsTort;Jand&Ckwon
Inforpation obtained should supply the following facts:
1. Ancestry 6. Occupations and accomplishments with dates
2. Place and date of birth 7. Special skills and interests
3. Family 8. Community and religious activities
4. Places lived in, with dates 9. Description of informant
5. Education, with dates 10. Other points gained in interview
1. Father, Nicholas Lee, (English); Mother, Sarah Hopper Lee, (English).
2. Dallas, Oregon. 1853.
3. Deceased husband's name, John E. Smith; two sons deceased; daughters,
Mrs. Eva C. Cadigan, Troutdale; Mrs. Irma Berry, living with mother.
4. Always lived in Oregon, at Dallas until 1913, and since then at
present address.
5. Dallas Academy; Willamette University (2 years).
6. Housewife seamstress teacher of music.
7. Music ana painting.
8. Always an active member of Methodist Church; Member of Eastern Star.
9. Stout and jolly, with gray eyes and gray hair. Possesses young voice
and laugh, with an excellent vocabulary.
10. Intelligent and wide-awake.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the proper heading
and the number to which the material refers).
Form C Federal Writers' Project
Text of Interview (Unedited) Works Progress Administrstion
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker
Sara B. Wrenn
Address S05 Elk
Subject
Name and address of informant
Date April 27, 1939
Mrs. Jane Le Smith
1R03 SE 54th Aya-,,PlartlAAlk al"agyr'
Text: My father and mother crossed the plains in 1847, with the usual
experiences attending that long trip. Something unusual that happened was
the thunder storm they encountered shortly after crossing the Platte river,
Father and mother were walking, it seemed, when this terrible thunderstorm
came up. Suddenly there was a tremendous flash of lightning, followed by
a roar of thunder. Father and mother were both thrown on to their knees.
In the wagon in front of theirs two little children were in the rear of the
wagon box; they had been leaning out and playing with the horns of the oxen
trudging along behind. One of the children was found to be stunned, but not
otherwise hurt; the other one was killed.
Among father's oxen was an old animal they called Brindy for
Brindle I guess. Once on the plains Brindy MS found to have an arrow in
his flank. It was supposed an Indian had shot it, but nobody knew just
when it happened. Anyway, after that, Brindy had it in for redskins. Every
time one came near, Brindy would snort like all get out, so they always knew
when Indians were lurking around. We had Brindy for many years. After
WRS born and big enough to go berrying we children were down in the pasture,
picking strawberries. Brindy and the other cattle father had quite a
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the heading given
above).
Smith Form C 2
bunch of Durham cattle by then were not far away quietly munching
grass, when all at once we heard Brindy snorting. Wou6f1 Moughfl
he went, and there those cattle were, all lined up for battle, with
old Brindy out in front, pawing the ground and snorting like mad. We
couldn't imagine what was the matter, and then we saw two squaws, creep-
ing through the brush and out of sight as fast as they could go. Old
Brindy wasn't going, to let any "Injuns" have the strawberries of his
folks.
Mhat did we wear in those days? I guess we wore just about
'all there was to be found to wear, kitchen stove an' everything. It
was worse 'n the hats the women wear now. Hoops and petticoats, an'
corset covers an' corsets great big heavy stiff things I don'
know haw we managed so many clothes. There was a fleshy lady living
dawn on the Luckiamute that got caught in a hole in the river on her
pony. The Luckiamute was always a mighty treacherous stream. Every
time there was a freshet the current would change, so one never knew
just where to ford the stream. This lady was with a party and they
were all horseback. She was on a little pony, and she was kinda big
and fat. The pony stepped in a hole, and with her weight on it, it
couldn't get out. The lady had hoops on, and when the men went to
help her, her hoops caught on the curved under horn of the side saddle,
They tried to get the hoops out and in doing so twisted them, and there
she was. The pony couldn't budge and they couldn't get her off, and
the pony couldn't get out of the hole as long as she was on its back,
she was so heavy. Finally they gave a big tug at the hoops and got
'em loose, an' then they managed to lift her up and hold her till the
pony struggled out, ant then they dropped her in the saddle and she
rode the pony on across an' WRS she "red in the face" as the young
Smith Form C 3
folks say nowadays.
There were a number of Swedes lived in our neighborhood. They
hadn't been over very long and non of them knew any English. A friend
of mine wanted one of the girls to work for her; she wanted the girl to
help her make soap. She had a biz iron kettle over a fire in the yard
and she had a wooden paddle to stir the soap mixture with. She was try-
ing to tell the girl in pantomime what to do and picked up the paddle
to show her. The girl, with no idea what it was all about, gave her a
scared look, yelped, as she dodged what she thought was a paddling for
sure, and ran like everything for home.
Oh yes, of course I went to camp meetings, but they were all
very calm sort of affairs. Being a Methodist, we had no immersions,
but I've seen a lot of immersions. There wasn't anything particular
to tell about, except once, when a woman had on a lot of false hair,
and when she came out of the water, the pins were sticking out and the
hair was just about ready to fall off. The women got together quick
and pinned the -hair on tight.
STORY OF TEE PARROT EGGS
One of our early neighbors had a parrot, with beautiful green
and red plumage. It was the first parrot a great many people there-
about had ever seen and they were full of curiosity about it. One of
the things asked was, did the parrot lay eggs. "Oh, yes", our neighbor,
who was of Irish descent, replied, "yes, of course, it lays eggs."
"Are they good, do. you ever eat 'em?" the questioner continued. "Yes,
indeed, we eat them; they're very good," our neighbor responded. Well,
it ended up by the parrot -owner agreeing to sell them some of her par-
rot eggs, to save which, naturally, required several days. To make her
promise good, she hunted around and saved her pullet eggs; these she
Smith Form C 4
decorated with yellow spots. Telling her mould -be patrons about when
her eggs would be ready and allowing plenty of time for their "laying."
Some of her egg -buyers wanted eight and some wanted six and so on. Of
course it took quite a while for one parrot to lay that many eggs, but
as she got a dollar apiece, she figured the business was fairly prosper-
ous. But I guess she got a little avaricious or something. Anyway the
egg -buyers seem to have got together and compared notes on the number of
eggs bought, and the result of their figuring showed the parrot to be
laying about three eggs a day, and it a male parrot at thatl
Mr father was.the first man to have a real carriage in that part
of the country. It was a very grand affair that was brought around the
Horn. It was very black and shiney on the outside and all upholstered
with maroon broadcloth or something of the kind on the inside, and the
top had a fringe around it. The harness used with the carriage was
silver-plated. We felt very tony when we went riding in that new car-
riage. We had the first sewing machine a Singer I think, or maybe
it was a Wheeler and Wilson. All the neighbors used to come in for an
afternoon of sewing; they'd make a regular "bee" of it. That machine
sure did help out, especially in the making of their men's pants, the
long seams of which they had been in the habit of stitching with care-
ful back -stitching, a slow and painstaking process. With our machines
they would simply baste those long seams and mother would sit dawn at
the new-fangled sewing thing and run 'em off in a jiffy.
Frirm D Federal Writerst Project
Extra Comment Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Ap.
Name of worker Sara B. Mtenn ,Date ril 27 199
Address SOS Elks Building. Portland. Oregon
Subject Crossing the Plains Early Polk County Days
Name and address of informant JArs. Jane Lee Smith
1803 SE 54th Ave. _Portland, Oregon
Comment:
Possessing a keen sense of humor as she does, it is to 12e re-
gretted that Mrs. Smith had so little to tell, but, like so many of the
Portland informants, most of her life has been outside of the folklore
enviroment.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the heading given
above).