Fifty Years in Oregon was written by Theodore T.
Geer, a grandson of Joseph Carey Geer and a shirttail ancestor of
ours.
I have put much of the book on
this website. I started because several
chapters describe the early roots of our family history in Oregon. I
kept going because
I found many of the chapters from this perspective on the early
settlers and the history of Oregon to be quite
interesting.
The Republicans carried Oregon in 1896 for
McKinley by a majority slightly above two thousand and had elected a Republican
Legislature in June of that year. This body was to choose a successor to John H.
Mitchell in the United States Senate and at the time it was chosen it was deemed
safely in favor of his re-election, but his decision to support McKinley and,
tacitly at least, to desert the cause of free silver, cost him the support of a
large number of his former friends. The leader of this defection was Jonathan
Bourne, at present a United State Senator from Oregon, who openly supported
Bryan for President; though claiming to be “as good a Republican as anybody.”
The fact was that at the time of his
nomination there “as an understanding that in return for his support of Mitchell
for re-election, if he should be successful at the polls, Mitchell would lend
his aid toward Bourne’s election as Speaker of the House. When the time came to
“deliver the goods” Mitchell found Bourne was a Bryan man and that it was
impossible to carry out his agreement. This, together with his abandonment of
the free silver propaganda, was the cause of a decision on the part of some of
his former friends to defeat him for re-election at any cost. It was known that
if the Legislature should organize, Mitchell’s election was certain to follow;
therefore, the desperate alternative to prevent an organization was deliberately
planned. The course pursued was to refuse attendance, to prevent a quorum being
present at any time. This scheme, revolutionary in its essence, was adopted
until the constitutional limit of an Oregon Legislative session had been
reached, when the members went home without any kind of legislative business
having been transacted. The Senate was organized but was powerless to proceed
with its work.
The leading assistant of Jonathan Bourne in
this bold expedient for “getting even” was W. S. U’Ren, then a Populist member
from Clackamas County, and at present the leading advocate of the single tax
proposition in Oregon. Mr. Bourne was a very wealthy man and spent his money
freely in his effort to “teach Mitchell a lesson.” He maintained magnificent
quarters and entertained lavishly, holding his organization together with a
degree of success that marked him a master in the art of political manipulation.
From an impartial standpoint, there was no
justification whatever for this move. It was plainly revolutionary; there was no
reason offered at any time except the bold decision to prevent the re-election
of Senator Mitchell, and the fair man will admit that this was no reason at all.
And yet what shall the ultimate verdict be when it is recalled that within nine
years from that time Jonathan Bourne was himself elected United States Senator
by the Legislature, the people of Oregon having voted in his favor against
several other prominent Republicans at the primary nominating election and
afterward against one of the most popular Democrats in the State?
In the meantime Mr. Bourne had done nothing in
politics to atone in any way for his course, if, indeed, any atonement were
necessary, and, in view of his popular endorsement, it seemed not to be
required.
The failure to organize the Legislature, and
the consequent lack of appropriations with which to carry on the State
government, cost the people many thousands of dollars; but, as another
illustration of the wayward course of politics, the men who were responsible for
it have since been regarded as the especial friends of the people and have been
particularly honored by them.
The three men who were chosen McKinley’s
electors in 1896 besides myself were Hon. John F. Caples, Hon. E. L. Smith and
Hon. S. M. Yoran. They were all good speakers and took a prominent part in the
campaign which brought success to our ticket. Having “won out,” I was quite
anxious to be chosen messenger to carry the vote to Washington — principally for
the reason that I had never been in the National Capital — and I made my
aspiration known to my associates soon after the election. Mr. Caples had once
before been an elector from Oregon and had been chosen as messenger, so he was
willing’ to keep out of the contest. Mr. Yoran, it developed at once, was as
desirous to act in that capacity as I was and was an active candidate for the
trip.
According to law, we met in the State Capitol
on January 11, and, after organizing, cast our votes for McKinley and Hobart for
President and Vice President, respectively, of the United States.
Having attended to this little affair, which
was of secondary importance, for there seemed a general impression that it would
turn out that way even before we met, the more interesting business of choosing
a messenger was taken up. Judge Caples was the chairman, and we proceeded to
cast our votes by putting in his silk tile three slips of paper, on each of
which was the name of one of the three contestants, Smith, Yoran and myself.
After giving the hat a thorough shaking the Judge placed his hand within it and
took hold of one of the pieces of paper. He hesitated for a moment to take it
out, making one of his familiar grimaces, but finally brought it to light, and
it bore the name of E. L. Smith.
Then something out of the ordinary happened.
Mr. Smith arose and said:
“Mr. Chairman, I would like to make this trip
to Washington and have fairly won the opportunity, but my two colleagues want to
go so much more than I do, if I may judge by the look of disappointment on their
faces, that I will forego the advantage I have gained. I propose that this vote
be taken over, in order that one of them may have a chance to win. I would
rather there would be one funeral over this matter than two.”
Mr. Yoran and I protested against Mr. Smith’s
generous offer, but he insisted upon another vote; so, rather than appear rude,
we surrendered. After another shakeup, a paper was drawn out and I was the
successful contestant. I tried hard to follow Mr. Smith’s example, but some way
it didn’t work; besides, after studying Mr. Yoran’s countenance for a moment, I
became satisfied that he would survive the disappointment. Subsequent events
have justified my conclusion, since he is to-day one of the active business men
of Eugene and in the best of health.
On my way to Washington, I stopped off at
Canton to pay my respects to Mr. McKinley, arriving there January 23. I found
him very busy, of course, and several men waiting for an interview. One of
these, a man from Kentucky, was visibly abashed when, his turn having come,
McKinley took his hand and said by his expression that he was glad to see him —
but what was it?
The pilgrim from the blue-grass section
stammered that he was an applicant for an appointment and proceeded to give his
reasons for expecting his request to be granted. Mr. McKinley replied in his
gracious manner that he could not yet make any promise; that he desired to favor
his friends where it was possible without crippling the public service; that he
had a special love for Kentuckians, anyway, and that later he would be glad to
hear further from his visitor. By this time they were near the door and the man
was bowed out, carrying away a very favorable impression of the President-elect,
I have no doubt. He probably went home to his neighbors with a story that he had
McKinley’s promise for his appointment.
From him the Major came at once to where I was
seated and looked at me inquiringly. I arose and said that I had no business,
that I did not want any appointment — not then, at least — but that I was the
messenger from Oregon bearing to Washington the electoral vote of that State for
him.
At this he asked me to sit down, and added:
“Now, if you had gone to Washington, passing through Canton, and had not called
to see me, an apology would have been in order.” He said he recalled that at the
Minneapolis Convention in 1892, of which he was chairman, the Oregon delegation
wanted to make him President before he was ready. He then commented upon the
fact that Oregon was the only State west of the Rocky Mountains that had given
him its electoral vote, all the others being for Bryan except California, which
was divided. He was perfectly familiar with the details of the campaign we had
waged in Oregon and desired, through me, to thank its people for their support.
After the inauguration of President McKinley
on March 4, there was, naturally enough, an active movement among the Oregon
Republicans toward the Federal appointments which would follow a change of
administration. In fact, this movement began without any unnecessary delay after
the result of the November election was known. As I could truthfully claim to
have traveled over a greater portion of the State in the ‘96 campaign and to
have made more addresses than any other speaker, it was generally conceded that
my ambition to be appointed collector of customs at Portland should be
gratified. A monster petition to the President for my appointment was secured
and forwarded to the delegation in Congress, consisting of Senator Geo. W.
McBride and Representatives W. R. Ellis and Thomas H. Tongue. Of all the persons
in the State to whom this petition was presented, there was but one man who did
not append his signature willingly. Indeed, there was no opposition from any
quarter and I felt as sure of receiving the appointment as I was that McKinley
had been inaugurated. I was fully aware that there are many slips in politics,
but in this case there was no doubt. It was a sure thing!
But when the petition was forwarded it met
with no response from the delegation. After waiting a month, I sent a letter of
inquiry and was informed that the petition had been received, but that it had
not yet been read, since it was the intention of the President to recognize the
“gold” Democrats, where possible, and that as the then incumbent of the office
of collector of customs was a “gold” Democrat, it was not likely there would be
any change in that position in the near future. There was such a coldness, such
an air of indifference with regard to the whole matter, that much speculation
was aroused among my friends as to what it all meant. Many insisted that there
must be some understanding, some obligation on the part of the delegation to
dispose of this appointment in some other way, and it was freely predicted that
subsequent events would prove it. It may be said at this late day, and without
the slightest remnant of bitterness toward anybody, that the days of prophecy
have not yet passed altogether.
This question of the appointment of collector
of customs assumed great importance and was taken up by my friends all over the
State — by them more than by myself. There was such pressure brought to bear
upon the hesitating delegation that it was finally announced by them that upon
their return to Portland in August the matter would be fully considered. On the
twenty-seventh of that month, therefore, I went to Portland and had a conference
with them, but the explanations presented seemed to explain nothing. I returned
home with the information only that it was evidently the purpose of the
President to retain the Democratic incumbent indefinitely, the most discouraging
feature of it, however, being that there was no promise that I should receive
their endorsement for the position when, in the course of human events, the
change would be made.
On September 4, I went to Portland again, to
look further into the situation, and learned on the streets, before reaching my
hotel, that the delegation had that morning recommended to the President my
appointment as register of the United States Land Office at Oregon City — an
appointment which no member of it had ever consulted me about and for which I
had not been a candidate. This utter disregard of the petition of the Oregon
Republicans, more especially since it appeared to justify the general suspicion
that there was a prior political trade which interfered with its recognition,
created a wave of indignation throughout the State. Within a week I received
more than one hundred letters urging me not to accept the Oregon City
appointment, if made. These letters were from prominent and influential
Republicans in the various counties, all promising me their support for the
nomination for Governor or Congress the next year, unless in the meantime their
request that I be appointed collector of customs, or a promise of the
recommendation of the Congressional delegation, be granted.
My own impulse was to decline the appointment
and take my chances with the people for a vindication, since I was occupying a
more prominent place in politics than I had hoped for; but, on the other hand,
to reject the recommendation was a bold move, which I hesitated to make — and
yet no bolder than that which had been “handed to me.”
However, I finally decided, yielding both to
my own preference and to the persistent demands of friends in all parts of the
State, to notify the delegation that I would not accept the appointment for the
Land Office. Accordingly I wrote the following letter to the delegation and sent
a copy to the Oregonian, in which it was published the next day:
MACLEAY, OR., September 17, 1897.
To SENATOR G. W. McBRIDE AND REPRESENTATIVES W. R. ELLIS AND T. H. TONGUE:
Gentlemen,
— Regarding your recommendation for my
appointment as register of the Oregon City Land Office, I beg leave to say that
extended reflection has only served to confirm my first conclusion not to accept
the appointment, if made.
There are two controlling reasons which impel
me to this decision, the first of which is that I have never been a candidate,
in any sense, for the position for which I was recommended, as an examination of
my personal letters and petitions in my behalf will surely show; and for the
further reason that several months ago I joined in recommending a personal
friend for the Oregon City office — a bar to my acceptance which I cannot
persuade myself to overlook.
I dislike very much to be considered a
“miscellaneous candidate” for any position on the political chessboard that may
be parceled out to me by those having the “placing” of the men. I had, and still
have, what I regard as a laudable ambition to be collector of customs for this
district, but if in your judgment the best interests of the public service and
of the Republican party (and, of course, in cases like this we are not
influenced by other considerations) demand that this request of myself and
friends be denied, then I bow as gracefully as possible to your decision, but
must insist upon my privilege of declining to be a candidate for any other
appointment.
It goes without saying, gentlemen, that my
attachment to the Republican party is supported by undiminished ardor, for, in
my judgment, there has been no time in its history when it was more nearly right
on all public questions than now; and the years to come will, I’m sure, find us,
as heretofore, battling side by side for the success of the principles we love
so well.
With kind regards, I am, etc.
This letter, “if it is me as says it,” created
a great sensation in Oregon politics and at once changed the trend of affairs in
the Republican party of the State. I received hundreds of letters from every
section congratulating me upon the stand I had taken and the letter was copied
in practically every paper of the State. My decision was very generally
commended, though there were a few who predicted that it was a fatal mistake for
me politically and that it would prove the end of my connection with Oregon
politics. The phrase “miscellaneous candidate” was taken up as being especially
“catchy,” and for many months was a popular slogan in the discussion of events
and prospects in our rapidly changing political maneuvers.
At once there was a general movement among my
friends to secure my nomination for Governor and the proposition appeared to
grow in favor as the months went by. My only competitor was Governor Lord
himself, whose term was drawing to a close and for whose election I had
canvassed the State four years before. His home was in Marion County, as was
mine, and he had the county, as well as the Salem city government in his favor;
naturally, he had also the support of the different State institutions. The
combination made it a very hotly contested primary campaign, for it was
understood that if either lost Marion County he would be out of the race.
The result was that I carried every precinct
in the county but the one in which Governor Lord lived, though the vote was so
close that many of the large ones were carried by my friends by a margin of only
two or three votes.
With Governor Lord declining to carry the
contest any further, I had no opposition in the State Convention, which met in
Astoria in April, and was nominated there by acclamation — the only instance of
the kind in the history of the Republican party of Oregon.
I did not attend the Astoria Convention —
indeed, it will no doubt surprise many of my most intimate friends to be told
that I never attended a State convention in my life as a delegate, and but once
as a spectator, in 1894, when Judge Lord was nominated over Charles W. Fulton.
On that occasion I was an onlooker for an hour. When the Astoria Convention was
in session, I was at home on my farm. It was the season of the year for “working
the roads” and, together with a dozen of the neighbors, I was manipulating the
business end of a long-handled shovel about five o’clock in the afternoon when a
group of children, returning from school at MacLeay, saw me in the distance and
began to shout the news that had reached there before they left.
How I first heard of my nomination for
Governor got into the papers, in some way, and the opposition took it up as a
“fairy story, put forth for political effect,” etc. ; but this is the true
account of it — not at all remarkable when the circumstances leading up to it
are recalled.
In a book of this character, I could not do
less than to give this abbreviated account of an incident in Oregon politics of
which I happened to be a central figure, and which occasioned as much feeling
and excitement as any other minor event in our history. By degrees, I had been
drawn into a prominence which I had not courted, and the great McKinley-Bryan
campaign had, without any desire on my part, thrust me somewhat to the fore in
the State campaign. It had been a hard contest and the triumph was won by a very
small margin. I had not wanted to be a Presidential elector, and realizing that
I was nominated largely as a salve to the wound I received at the District
Convention, when I failed to receive the nomination for Congress, I thought
seriously at first of declining the honor.
The Oregon City Land Office affair created a
great furor at the time and the delegation in Congress was denounced with much
harshness on account of it; but the unpleasant features of it soon passed away
and its members and myself were afterwards the same friends we had been for
years before. Thomas H. Tongue remained in Congress until his death, in
December, 1902, grew in popularity both at home and with his colleagues at
Washington, and his demise was a great loss to Oregon. He was a man of especial
ability, of untiring industry and a very forceful speaker.
Senator George W. McBride retired from the
Senate at the expiration of his term in 1901 and was at once appointed by
President McKinley as one of the Government Commissioners at the St. Louis
Exposition, which position he held for four years. For twenty years he suffered
from a distressing physical ailment, but through it all was a marvel of
fortitude and optimism. Much of the time during his eight years’ service as
Secretary of State he was bedfast but supervised his work without cessation.
During his six years’ term in the Senate he was also a constant victim of bodily
infirmities. After a remarkable career, he passed away at his home in Portland
during the present summer, in the month of June.
William R. Ellis was defeated for renomination
at the Astoria Convention, after serving in Congress for six years, but was at
once elected judge of his district in eastern Oregon. At the end of his six-year
term, he declined a renomination and sought an endorsement for his former place
in Congress under the direct primary law which had been adopted. In this he was
successful, but after serving two terms was defeated for a third one in April of
this year — 1911. In the case of Mr. Ellis it may be said that he had the
satisfaction of defeating me for the Congressional nomination at the primary
election in April, 1908 — if it was any satisfaction, which is doubtful, since
he probably cherishes no more resentful feeling than I do over that affair way
back in ‘97, when we were all playing the game of politics in deadly earnest.
For the first time within the memory of any
Oregonian of middle age, W. R. Ellis is in private life; but nobody in his sane
senses would wager a sixpence that he will not be holding a remunerative public
position before another biennial period rolls around.
Next Chapter -
In Geer's gubernatorial campaign in 1898, he visited every county in Oregon,
starting in the western half.
If you are interested in finding this book, Fifty
Years in Oregon, it can
often be located at Powell's Books in Portland
which is one of the largest used book stores in the United States or, through the
Alibris service
which catalogs used books from stores across the country. For more information on the Geer Family, visit the Geer Family website. Other resources
and references include:
