Emmeline Short, on CJ near Fort Vancouver, 1840s-1850s

[Dave Robertson]

"Part I,
“Our Manifest Destiny Bids
Fair for Fulfillment”:
An Historical Overview of
Vancouver Barracks, 1846-1898,
with suggestions for further
research"

http://www.ccrh.org/center/VNHRHistoryPartOne1846_1898.pdf

snip follows:

Vancouver’s first
American settler was Henry Williamson who, in 1846, paid a $5.00 filing fee in
Oregon City and built a cabin west of Fort Vancouver at the foot of what became
Esther street. Williamson soon left his claim to marry his sweetheart in
Indiana,
only to find she had died. When he returned in the fall of 1847, he found
claimjumper
Amos M. Short on the land. When Short refused to leave, Williamson built
another cabin at the foot of what became Columbia Street, and lived there
with his
partner, William Fellows. Fellows and Williamson hired Scottish surveyor P.W.
Crawford who drew a plat in May and June of 1848. Starting at a balm of gilead
tree at the foot of what became Main Street, Crawford drew a line northward
to the
rear of the HBC’s Kanaka Town, for the eastern boundary. The surveyor then drew
parallel lines at right angles to Kanaka Town and laid out 200 square foot
blocks
with fifty by one hundred foot lots. Eighth Street formed the northern boundary,
and the western ends of the streets ran from the claim line, ending at the
Columbia
River. Theophilus Magruder of Oregon City recorded the establishment of the 500-
lot town, Vancouver City. Williamson, like many others, including soldiers who
attempted to desert from the army, was drawn to the California gold mines
and left

23
the claim. His partner, also lured by possible riches, soon followed,
placing a man
named Dr. Gardner in charge of the land.
Social relationships in mid-nineteenth century Vancouver were complex.
Amos Short and his family stayed on the claim, and when the HBC ordered them off
the land, they refused to go. In response, the Company tore down their
fences and
destroyed their fields, but still the Shorts refused to leave. Despite the
conflict,
Emmeline Short(*) later recalled that the only social outlets during the
late 1840s and
early 1850s were Fort Vancouver and far away Oregon City. Her memories
reflected the many interrelated connections between groups during this era. She
recalled receiving beads and knick knacks at the fort, and being taken there
to play
with the disabled son of the Craigs. The entire Short family spoke Chinook
Jargon,
and Emmeline remembered a time when “there were more Indians than whites.”

(*)See
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_view.aspx?pub=62&p=108&i=images/publications/SL_unitedpioneersv1/directory.djvu
--Dave R.

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