Lot
1183 
Althouse Creek, Oregon Territory Apr 25, 1858, dateline on letter enclosed within blue cover that entered the mails with black cds "Crescent City Cal. May 14" with handstamp "PAID" and manuscript "20" rate, addressed to Michigan; contents, read, in part, "…I have concluded now if my life is spared to come back in 1860. You will think perhaps that is a long time but time flies very rapidly here. It does not seam hardly possible that I have been away over six years but so it is…Now you may want to know why I left Cal. & come here. I have heard so much about Oregon and its resources &c that I was anxious to see for myself & what I have seen I am very much disappointed & what I have learned from others the country is very much exaggerated…I think some of going up north about 800 miles on Frazier River in the British Possessions this summer if I do not stop here. This is a good locality for mineing the gold is very coarse & spoted but if a person strikes it, he makes money fast…This is the most disagreeable place that I have struck for society - all the men seem to care about is Cards and Whiskey…If many mothers could see their sons how they conduct themselves in this country after being brought up with so much care…drink whiskey, gamble, fight and swear. Oh! such oaths enough to chill a person's blood", letter in fine shape, blue envelope wrinkled and with edge tears including one large tear through cds, Fine, a wonderful letter full of historical content.Estimate $200 - 300.
Current Opening Bid: $100
Lot
1184
Amity O.T. Jan 22, manuscript postmark with pen cancelled 1851 10¢ green, type III (15, right sheet margin showing guide line and large margins on other sides) included is original enclosure with lengthy contents & datelined "South Yamhill O.T. Dec. 19th 1855", the letter includes excellent contents and reads in part, "The war is still raging here with the Indians. The Rogue River Indians have killed some 40 or 50 men. The whites have killed about the same number. The difficulty is not settled, instead the Rogue River and the Umpqua are constantly burning houses and killing families. The last account from the Indians north or rather up the Columbia River has been very good. The whites succeeded in taking Fort Walla Walla where the Indians were forted. The whites lost five men and killed 150 Indians.", the letter is datelined a second time "January the 5th, 1856" and reads in part, "You must excuse me for neglecting to finish my letter we have had very cold weather since I left off writing the river has been froze over so that the steamboats could not run and my letter would not went if I had finished it", the letter goes on to tell of conditions in Oregon, Extremely Fine.Estimate $1,000 - 1,500.
ONE OF THE FINEST WESTERN TERRITORIAL COVER IN EXISTENCE.
Current Opening Bid: $500
Lot
1185
Applegate, Ogn., Oct 3, manuscript postmark (Whittlesey A1, R 6-8) on 1853-55 10¢ green Nesbitt entire (U16) to Massachusetts, indicia cancelled by pen strokes; minor edge wear at top right, Very Fine and scarce.Scott No. U16 Estimate $100 - 150.
Current Opening Bid: $50
Lot
1186
Glad Tidings, May 2, 1862, black manuscript postmark tying 1861 10¢ green (68) on patriotic cover to Mount Pleasant, Iowa; albino embossed patriotic design of Winfield Scott Carrying Flag with inscription "Brave in the Field, Wise in Council, True Patriot, Loyal to the Constitution & Union"; reverse w red & blue Patriotic piping along flap edges, very minor edge wear, Very Fine, A very rare Oregon patriotic from the Civil War.Estimate $400 - 600.
Current Opening Bid: $200
Lot
1187
Lawn Arbor O.T. Sept 22, manuscript postmark with pen cancelled 1851 10¢ green, type III (15, four margins) on cover to Warsaw, N.Y., included is original enclosure datelined "South Yamhill August the 24/56", letter talks of a loss of a baby son, Indians and condition in Oregon and reads in part, "The 26 of last June we were blessed with the son, but for some cause or other the Lord did not let us keep it long. It only lived five hours. We could hardly be reconciled to it. Little Mary is almost four years old. She talks a great deal about her little brother. She said she wants God to take her where her little brother is. The Indian Reservation of Oregon is 12 miles from my claim. There is where I was to work. There is about 3000 Indians on the reserve. It extends nearly 100 miles South. All of the Indians in Southern Oregon have given up fighting and are on this reserve but the Indians north and east of the Cascades are still fighting. They have had some late battles and killed a good many Indians but few whites were killed.", Very Fine.Estimate $1,500 - 2,000.
A LOVELY AND UNIQUE MANUSCRIPT TOWN MARKING FROM OREGON TERRITORY WITH A FASCINATING LETTER.
Current Opening Bid: $750
Lot
1188
Lin City O.T. March 16, black manuscript postmark with blue "40" rate on folded letter from the Worden correspondence, datelined "Lyn City oposit Oregon City March 14 / 51" contents cost of goods, description of country, etc., the letter reads in part, "…I left California last November and came here. I have been to work all winter for $2.00 per day, part of my time on a sawmill and part of the time on a farm. Wages is now raising, most everyone is going to the mines, but I think I will not go. I have been badly fooled in California, had bad luck in getting there and had bad luck while there. I lost everything in getting there and could not make anything in the mines, then went to work for a man driving team, work two months at about $150 per month, then my employer ran away and cheated me out of $300 and lost over one hundred before this in the mines. I concluded to leave California while I had money anuf to carry me out of the country. It appears the Wordens are destined to bad luck. But never mind, that is a long road that has no turn. This is a beautiful country, if my friends were here I should like to spend my days here or if mother was here I may live here till I get rich…", trivial edge wear, Very Fine, this correspondence was the subject of an article by Dr. Milgram in the April, 1988 issue of Western Express (See Stockton, Ca. cover for first cover from this correspondence).Estimate $1,500 - 2,000.
AN OUTSTANDING OREGON TERRITORIAL COVER AND LETTER - THE ONLY RECORDED EXAMPLE OF THIS POSTMARK.
Robert Moore founded Robin's Nest in 1843, near the banks of the Willamette River. Robin's Nest was renamed Linn City on December 22, 1845, in honor of Lewis F. Linn, a United States Senator from Missouri. Later, by 1846, the town's citizens had constructed fifteen homes. In addition, Linn City was home to a tavern, a chair manufacturer, a cabinet shop, a gunsmith shop, and a wagon shop. Over the next few years Linn City grew. In 1849, James Moore, Robert's son, built a lumber mill and a gristmill. The mills were operated by at least 20 residents of Linn City. The town's post office opened in 1850, the same year that Robert Moore founded the local newspaper, the Spectator.
Current Opening Bid: $750
Lot
1189
No. Canyonville, Or. Nov 13, lovely strike of cds tying 1857 3¢ dull red on cover to Roseburg, docket at left "Clement Glasgow Coffee Creek"; minor wrinkling at left, Very Fine and choice.Estimate $100 - 150.
Current Opening Bid: $50
Lot
1190
Oregon City Org. Sep 2, light strike of black cds matching italic "10" rate handstamp on brown cover from the Worden correspondence, original enclosure datelined "Dayton August the 29 /51", letter reads in part, "…I have made a fortune in my health, if I never have a dollar to my name…It appears that my friends have all forgotten me, why is it? Is it because the Rocky Mountains and the white capped Serenevadah (Sierra Nevada) intervenes between us. It is a long road to this country and I suffered much in getting here or rather to California. I left there last November, came here with the intention of taking me a claim and settled down, for a rolling stone never gathers no moss…I have been to work at Lynn City this summer till harvest, I came here to work in harvest and have since been to work at carpenter work by the job. I have got $2 per day this summer and sometimes $3 and board, board is $6 per week, wheat is $1 per bushel, oats $2, potatoes 2, beef 7¢ per pound. Dayton is about 30 miles from Oregon City or Lyn City…I have taken me a claim in four miles from Oregon or Lyn City where there is one of the best water privileges in the world, falls about 12 feet. Oregon suits me very well, whether I ever see the states again or not I cannot say…", F.-V.F., an early usage, this correspondence was the subject of an article by Dr. Milgram in the April, 1988 issue of Western Express.Estimate $300 - 400.
Current Opening Bid: $150
Lot
1191
Oregon City, Org. Mar 19 [1853], slightly blurred black cds with matching "10" rate handstamp on folded letter to Ohio, contents datelined "Oregon Territory Jan 6, 1853" Spanish Andorra reads, in part, "…perhaps they may ask the question are the Mormons in Oregon, no no they are not there is not a mormon within a thousand miles to my knowledge…through this country it is common to have severe trouble with indians all of them will steal and many will kill if they can, we saw the graves of men women & children that were shot by these wild devils many of them as naked as they were born, they subsist on the flesh of fish, deer, antelope, elk, grizzly bear, wolves, dogs, cats and body lice, this is even so, and lick their chops for more…if they could see the graves on the plains and also the human bones uncovered bleaching of the deserts and also the bones of cattle and horses by the thousands and thousands they might see it costs more than it comes to….Geo. W. Pitkin", letter also provides detail of crossing the plains on their trip to Oregon; it is unclear why this letter was not postmarked until roughly two months after being written; very light soiling, Very Fine and a wonderful letter.Estimate $300 - 400.
Current Opening Bid: $150
Lot
1192
Oregon Related Covers, small lot of four covers, one from Oregon City franked with 1861 manuscript cancelled 10¢ and missent to Quincy, Ill., plus the incoming stampless covers, one 10¢ rate from New York and two 40¢ rate covers with manuscript postmarks, one from Cold Brook, Ill. and one from Hasbrouck, N.Y., couple small faults, F.-V.F.Estimate $200 - 300.
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Current Opening Bid: $100