Document text
m713.4 L.C.I*61,ECT Writers/ mur
Form --3
Accession no.
965.
Date received
30/10/40
Consignment no.
1
Shipped from
1 Wash.. Office
Label
Amount 9-0.
(incl. forms
A -D)
Folklore Collection (or Type)
Title
Place of origin Port land regon Date aizi39
Project worker Sara B. Wrann.
Project editor
Remarks
Form A
Federal Writers' Project
Circumstances of Interview Wor 1.rosress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Sara B. Wrenn Date March 3. 1939
Address
505 Elks Building, Portland) Oregon.
Subject Pioneer Life
ant ram, 47.1massw.
Name and ee.,d:rs of irf()r=t Mrs. Sarah L. Byrd
1537 N. E. 13th St., Portland, Oregon
Date and ;I:Lno of -]..rviell; February 281. 1939 1:30 3:00
Place of interview Home, at above address
Name and address of persln, if any, who put you in to7ch with informant
Mr. Gearhart, Clelluman, Community Church, Oak Grove (Nephew)
Name and address of person, if any, aocompallying you
Description of room, house, surroundings, etc.
Plain, comfortably furnished living room of the usual type: over -stuffed
furniture, plain rug, radio, few pictures, fireplace with no fire. No individuality.
Old and rather shabby square house of two -stories; enclosed verandah in front, in
which the daughter, Miss Byrd, maintains her chiropody practice. A small yard,
with no particular evidence of care. The neighborhood is but a block from the
business artery of Broadway, East Side, with modest homes and apartments, most of
them rather old.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the proper heading
and the number to which the material refers).
W9655
Form B Federal Writers' Project
Personal History of Informant Works Progress Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Sara B. Wrenn Date March 1, 1939.
Address 505 Elks Building, Portland, Oregon
Subject Pioneer Life
Name and address of informant Mrs. Sarah L. Byrd
1537 N. E. 13th St., Portland, Oregon
Infc)rilaUion atained should supply the follo-dvinz,
1. An.cestry 6,
2. Place and date of birth 7.
3. Fa:TIlly 8,
4. Place lived in, with dates 9,
5. Education, with dates 10.
0'coc::L,rs nd accomplishments with dates
3r3tfects
:;onmuri.±477 tdrellf7;r,u53 activities
Dor2.ntiryil 3f in-yircl
Other poilits gained in interview
1. Father, Philip Gearhart; Mother, Margaret Logan Gearhart
Ancestral stock; German -French -Irish and English.
2. Iowa. 1843.
3. Widow for 45 years, living with only child, a daughter of about SO.
Deceased husband, Frank N. Byrd. Four children deceased.
4. Amide from two years in California and five or six years in Washington,
life, since age of 5 years, has been spent in Oregon, chiefly in Clatsop
County.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Such district schools as
Home -keeper, much of the
Interested in everything
No church affiliations.
were available.
time "doing the work of a man" on farm.
of a general nature. No special interests.
Brought up a Presbyterian. Member Townsend Club.
Small, wiry and active, with weather-beaten, wrinkled skin, bright eyes
and plenty of gray hair. Neatly dressed and cordial in manner. As
"chipper as a little chipmunk."
10. Mrs. Byrd's memory proved to be somewhat impaired as to dates.
(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 Administration
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker
Address
Subject
Sara B. Wrenn Date March 1, 1939
505 Elks Building, Portland, Oregon
Pioneer Life
Name and address of informant Mrs. Sarah L. Byrd
Text:
1537 N. E. 13th St., Portland, Oregon
I ain't no hand for dates, so don't bother me about 'am. I do remember
though when we came to Oregon. We came from I -O -WAY in 1848. That's a long time
ago, ain't it? Joe Witt was captain of our train. Bein' so little, I don't
remember haw many wuz in the train, but I've heard 'em say it wuz a big one.
Every night when we camped the wagons wuz pulled in a circle an' hooked together
with chains an' oxen yokes. The folks camped inside that circle, an' close along-
side wuz the stock, an' a guard wuz set up for the night.
Yes, it must hey ben an awful job cookin'. I wuz too little to do any-
thing. 'Course they hed to cook on the open fire, an' on the plains, most o'
the time ther wuz nothin' to burn but buffalo chips. I guess they got us'd to
it, but I wouldn't like to.
The Indians wuz peaceable when we cum across. We didn't hey any troub3a
o' any kind. Oh, once, I b'lieve the Indians stole a caw or somethin'. But the
biggest excitement I c'n remember is a herd of stampedin' buffalo that almost got
us. It was dusk, an' we'd gone into camp, when, all at once, 'way off in the
distance we see a big cloud o' dust. It cum near'r an' near'r, an' party soon
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the heading given
above).
Sarah L. Byrd
Form C 2
somebody yelled, "It's buffalo looks like a million of 'em, ant they're comin'
this way." Mobbe ther wuzn't a fuss then. Everbodywuz shoutin' to everbody
else, an' givin' orders, an' rushin' 'round like crazy people. Some ol the men
got out on horses, an' some way or 'nother, what with ther yellint an' wavin'
whatever they cud get hold of, they kept the buffalo from comin' thru the camp.
I On remember it all ez plain ez day, seem' them buffalo tear by, with their
tails up an' ther heads close to the ground. Ther must 've ben a hunderd or
more. That's a long way from a million, but the ground jest shook as they went
by. Some o' the men got some good shots, an' we hed plenty ol buffalo meat for
Bein' so little I can't remember very much about crossin' the plains.
When we first got here we went to Oregon City an' stayed for a while. When we
started from I -o -way father meant to go to Californy, but when they got to wher
the roads parted to Oregon an' Californy, he came to Oregon. When we wuz in
Oregon City we wuz perty close to where Doctor McLaughlin lived. I remember seem'
a squaw out in his yard. She wore dresses, but she had bare feet. I remember thet,
an' I remember hearin"em say thet wuz Doctor McLaughlin's wife. Ther wuz a man
named Jewett in Oregon City thet father knew in I -o• -way, an' he got to tellin'
father 'bout the Clatsop Plains country, so father decided he'd go down ther. Ther
wuzn't any roads then, o'course jest Indian trails. Finally it wuz decided
father an' my oldest brother would drive the stock down over the trail. I think
he hed a caw, a yoke o' oxen an' two horses, an' Mr. Jewett tuk mother ma' the
rest of we young'uns down the river. We vent in a big Indian canoe, with two
Indians to paddleA.t. Goin' down the Willamette we passed a place where ther wuz
a few cabins, an' Mr. Jewett sed, "That's Portland." Mother al'ays laughed when
she tol' that. Oregon City wuz a lot bigger then. I wish I c'd remember thet trip
Sarah L. Byrd Form C 3.
down the Columbia. Jest mother, we three youngluns, thet strange men, an' the
two siwashes, in a canoe on that big, lonesum river. It tuk severll days
course, ma' we hed to camp at night, ma' I remember once when we wuz cumin'
ashore on a log I perty near fell in. I wuz soared nigh to death. We want up
the Skipanon River frum Astoria, wher father settled an a squatter's claim. It
muzn't surveyed then. They jest hed squatter's claims. We jest camped at first,
an' then father built a log cabin with shake roof, an' a fireplace made o' sticks
an' mud. It hed a floor too, sort o' what you'd call a puncheon floor I guess
logs hewed flat on all sides an' put together. We'd brought two chairs across
the plains thet fatherld made in I-o-itay. They hed cowhide seats in 'am. Later
on. here in Oregon, he put rockers on 'em, an' they wuz allays father an' mother's
chairs. Father old make furniture real good. He made tables an' cupboards an'
benches, real good they wuz. We c'd be usint them yet if they hadn't got burned
up. I still got one o' the lill 1 rockinl chairs down on the farm.
They wuz lots o' elk down in thet country in them days, an' we got salt
an' pervisions from the Hudson's Bay Co. No, we never used salt from that oll
salt cairn. Mother brought all kinds 0 garden seed from an' the next
year we hed a good garden. Before the gold excitement wuz over in Californy we
wuz sendin' butter down on the boats to the miners. I remember hearin' the folks
say they got a dollar a pound fer butter, an' $5.00 a barrel for potatoes. I guess
folksid like to get thet much now for butter an' potatoes.
'Course we us'd to make our awn lights then. They wuz wick candles. The
may we made 'em wuz to take wicking cut the length of a candle, an' through a loop
made at each end o' the wicking we'd put a stick. Then, holdinl 'am by the stick
at each and mebbe there'd be half a dozen or more wicks we'd dip 'am in
melted tallow. As soon as they'd harden we'd dip tem again, doin' it over an' over
'til the candles wuz big enough to use. WI but didn't coal oil lamps seem wonderful
Sarah L. Byrd
Form C 4
when we got to usin"em. An' wuzn't I glad, 'cause I al'ays had to help make
the candles, soon as I wuz big enough. No, them candles wuzn't very good light,
but evirybody went to bed early then an' got up early too. Ev'rybody hed
chores an' work to do an' ther wuz plenty o' work I can tell you. All the cookin'
o' course wuz done at the fireplace. Meat wuz roasted by putting a big piece o'
tin in front o' the fire. It wuz a sort o' reflector; the meat wuz put between
it ant the fire, an' you never tasted anythin' better then meat roasted that way.
Bread an' pies and cake all wuz baked in the dutch oven, a big iron, round kettle
that set on short legs an' hed a long handle, an' a lid that ourved up 'round the
edges. The kettle wuz set on coals, an' coals an' ashes wuz heaped on the lid.
Later, when we got pigs, father smoked ham an' bacon for the minter.
First after the hogs win killed, he'd make a heavy salt brine, then he'd rinse the
hams an' sides in that, an' then he'd build a fire on the ground o' the smoke
house an' hang the hams an' sides over it, an' thet would go on far days an' days.
'Course he didn't hey only just fire enough to make a good smoke, an' he never
us'd anythin' but crabapple or alder; mostly it wuz wild crabapple.
No, we didn't hey much amusement when I wuz a young girl. It wuz wicked
to do most anythin' in them days. My father thought cards an' dancin' win the
devil's own. Down on Clatsop Plains wuz where the Presbyterians built their mission,
you know. I don't remember much about that. I think a Mr. Lewis Thompson started
that. But I remember haw good everybody wuz. I us'd to hear about a boy that went
fishin' one Sunday to a place called Stanley Point. He caught a salmon, an' he hed
to pass the church goin' home with it an' his folks wuz there an' they scolded him
terrible. Be wuz tellin' somebody about it, an' they ask'd him what they did with
the salmon, an' he Bed, "why they at it they et every bit of it." The Presby-
terians us'd to preach fire an' brimstone all right, an' 80 did the Methodists and
Sarah L. Byrd
Form C 5
the Baptists when they cum. Once at a campmeetin' at Skipanon all the people
wuz down on their knees prayin' an' groanin' an' the preacher an' the saved
were goin' about, puttin' their hands on the folks kneelin' an' sayin' "The
Lord bless your" "Thank the Lord, come to glory," an' all over the place you
c'd hear "Ameni Ament Amenl" It wuz jest terrible an' I wuz just about scared
to death.
When we vent to school it wuz in an ol' log house, an' there wuz an
empty room, an' there we young uns learned to dance. All the music we hod wuz
an ol' jeweharp one o' the hoys hod, an' he could play it perty good. But what
made me mad wuz when my father, after he got along in years, learned to dance.
Can you beat that? I wuz 17 or 18, an' there wuz a dance in Rose Hall at Astoria,
an' father took sister an' me to the ball, an' he paid $5.00 a ticket. I al'ays
did resent that, even though it wuz a grand ball, all decorated an' every -thin'.
We waltzed some, but mostly it wuz square dances and the Virginia Reel.
I ought to be awful good, but I'm not. It al'ays made me mad when a
preacher put his hand on my shoulder an' sod, "-A21' haw is it with your soul,
sister?"
My husband died 46 years ago. I wuz on a farm, an' after he went I
stayed there, lookin' after the stook, an plowin' an' gettin' in the hay, jest
like a man. My daughter, Dick, the only one of my children left, wuz with me,
an' we did every -thin', jest havin' a hired man to run the momin' machine mebbe.
Sometimes we milked from eight to ten come, an' we made butter an' sent it to
Astoria.
Yes, it wuz my father thet first owned all of what is now Gearhart.
After father died my oldest brother administered the estate, an' he sold the
property to Mr. Kinney, who first started a resort there. It wuz Ben Holliday
who started the first resort down thet way though the one at Seaside. He
built a big wooden hotel an' he had a quarter -mile race track, ant than his friends
Sarah L. Byrd Form C 6
begin to come down from Portland, an' they would have horse races. MyS I c'n
remember seem' them people when they first got there. The roads wuz so dusty,
an' their faces wuz jest like a stwash. Thet oll hotel stood there a long time.
It wuzn't so many years ago it burned down.
I usld to talk jargon like a siwash. Once down at Gearhart some ladies
wuz visitin' me, en' they c'd talk jargon too. We had lunch, an' we wuzn't to
say anythin' but in jargon. One of 'em, Mrs. Vantine, wuz party good, so I sed
to her, "Potlatch nika mike seopose" (Give me your hat) First she looked kinda
puzzled, an' then, all at once she smiled an' took off her hat an' giv it to me.
Well, I'm gettin' a little old 96 years my next birthday, but I feel
chipper as a chipmunk, an' I jes like to see anybody call MI, "Grandma" thet I
ain't "grandma" to.
Form D Federal Writers' Project
Works Progress Administration
Extra Comment
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Sara B. Wrenn
Address 505 Elks Byilding, Portland, Oregon
Subject Pioneer Life
Name and address of informant Mrs. Sarah L. Byrd
,Date March 1, 1939
1537 N. E. 13th Street, Portland. Oregon.
Comment:
Mrs. Byrd VAS remarkably clear -minded for a -woman of 96 years, but
she was very nervous, making it necessary to refrain from as few questions
as possible, as questions seemed to confuse her. The interviewer had hoped
to gather considerable information on the Presbyterian Mission of Clatsop
Plains, but of this Mrs. Byrd could remember practically nothing.
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, each bearing the heading given
above).