| Reminiscences of Southern Oregon Pioneers from Personal interview of Narcisse LaRaut Conn - April 7, 1939 |
| The father of Narcisse L. Conn, Henry and Mary Jane Stultz Conn left with family of six boys from Royal Center, IN in 1854 to join a wagon train to Oregon in a covered wagon drawn by horses rather than oxen. No stops of any moment were made. They went south through the Willamette Valley to Douglas County, Oregon. A seventh child, Mary Elizabeth was born on the way. Just before reaching the Platte river, they were anxious about the Indians who had been following them at a distance during the day, trailing the train just beyond vision, but appearing now and then. The train reached the Platte River and made camp for the night on its banks. Camp was always made by driving the wagons into a large circle, forming a corral within which the cattle and horses were driven at night for safe keeping, and also to guard against their being stampeded by the Indians for the purpose of stealing them. The wagons also acted as a fort to use in an attack by the Indians. This night on the banks of the Platte River, it was late when the camp was all set for the night. It was dark, and there was no moon. Down the river they heard noises that sounded like horses splashing in the river. Immediately the idea came that the Indians were about to attack. Henry Conn and two other members of the train went to investigate in the direction of the noise. When they arrived at the point from which the noise came, they found that the cause of the disturbance was not Indians, but a very unusual occurrence. The high banks of the river had been undermined by the swift current of the flood waters, and the noise which they heard was caused by the upper earth of the bank breaking loose and falling into the river, small pieces at a time. At any rate, Mr. Conn and his companions were glad that it was not Indians. The occupants of the camp were much relieved when the facts were told them. They never ran into any serious trouble with Indians or otherwise. The Indians were more or less bothersome all of the time. They were forever begging for food, especially for bread and biscuits of which they were very fond. On one occasion, a large band of them stopped and surrounded the train. For a time they threatened serious trouble. The meat wagon carried all of the bacon, ham and other meats, it was in the lead train thereby being out of the dust that the rest of the train wallowed in. As the train stopped, a Squaw stepped up to the meat wagon and began rooting into it's contents with her hands. Henry Conn who was driving the second wagon, yelled to the meat wagon driver, "Drive on, what are you stopping for?" The driver cracked the whip and pushed his wagon through the Indians. This action surprised them and the train proceeded with no further trouble. Had the emigrants submitted to the Indians they would without a doubt have looted the train and might have massacred them. The Indians had a way of bluffing if they could surprise and intimidate the emigrants, they would go ahead with their schemes. If they were firm and resisted the Indians they often gave way. This was the only time they were seriously bothered the Conn train. Henry Conn had a fine mare that he was bringing across the plains to Oregon. At night she was always hobbled. To do this, the front and rear feet on the same side were chained together. One foot could not be put forward without the other foot going also. When hobbled in this way she couldn't wander very far at night. One morning the mare could not be found. In a much as the Indians always admired the animal it was easy to determine what had happened. Moccasin prints were found on the ground where the mare had been. Mr. Conn with some of the men tracked the horse for several miles. They finally saw where the hobbles had been taken off and the mare had regained her natural gait. From this point she had moved with speed and as the train was waiting for them, the chase was given up and the men returned to camp. Several years later, Mr. Conn saw this same mare in the town of Portland, OR. It was impossible to make good his claim at that late date. The main chore for young Henry Conn was to keep a cow milked so his baby sister, Mary Elizabeth would have plenty of milk for her food. She was born on the way. They came by the Old Oregon Trail and down the Columbia River, went south through the Willamette Valley to Douglas County, Oregon. Their first stop was at the ranch of General Joseph Landas. Henry Conn carried a letter for him from an eastern friend. The Lane Ranch was 640 acres located a short distance north west to Roseburg, OR. They stayed a few days with them visiting and resting. Henry Conn with his two older sons, George and Henry, made a horse back trip around the surrounding country to see about suitable ground where to settle and build a house on. They crossed the south Umpqua river, where now is known as the Conn Ford Bridge. The river was not high this time of the year so it was easy to ford it. Looking around they located what they were looking for. In the spring of 1855, Henry with a man by the name of Jacob Jones bought a donation Land Claim of 613 acres from a man by the name of Hale. They divided this claim and Henry with his sons built the Old Conn Homestead on his share. This was known as French Settlement at that time. He added more land from time to time. He bought the William McKinny donation Land Claim of 633 acres. He added to this group of holdings till he had about 1800 acres, near the mountains, now known as Elgarose. At the time of his death he owned about 3000 acres. The Old Homestead house and barn was built out of eleven inch square timber in the construction work. They were hand hewn as were all of the supporters and roof rafters as well as the joints. The boards and lumber were from 14 inch to 22 inch wide. Some lumber was sawed with a whip saw. Wooden pegs were used as well as square nails in the construction. The timbers and boards were sound and still in good condition when the house was torn down in 1954. It was 92 years old. The barn still stands of this date (1979). The Conn family lived many years on the old home site. Henry would often say "Oregon is good enough for me and I am going to live and die here". Henry Conn was out on the ranch one bitterly cold day in the winter. The room was heated by a fireplace, but it was hard to get the room warm on a severely cold day. The family was huddled around the fireplace for warmth. The door opened and an Indian entered. The Indians never thought of knocking before entering a house. The Indian walked over to the fireplace and crowded up to the fire. Shortly another Indian walked in and soon others, until several had entered the room. The walked up to the fireplace, crowding the members of the family away until the entire family was huddled on the other side of the room, because they did not dare to oppose the Indians. About this time Henry came into the room and saw at a glance what had happened. He was a fearless and hotheaded man. He snatched a shovel that was kept at the fireplace, and drove the Indians out of the house. As they went out the door, he emphasized their departure with a good-bye pat of the shovel on their posterior. Indians were always walking into settlers' houses unannounced. Many a settler's wife had a bad scare upon looking up from her housework to see an Indian looking over her shoulder. The Indians in their life never had doors in their homes, and might be excused for this reason. They were always begging for some "white man's food". The homemade bread of the settlers was a treat to them, and it was eagerly sought. After arriving in Oregon, Henry Conn devoted his life to ranching and stock raising. During the mining excitement in the Salmon River district of Idaho, to which, for a number of years, the gold mines of that district drew many miners, Henry Conn, with the idea of getting his sons interested in packing as a business, took two of his boys, fitted out twelve horses for packing, and, with the boys, packed food and supplies into the mines to sell to the miners. The packing business lasted for a few years and then was dropped. Henry Conn made one or two trips annually to Scottsburg or Portland, Oregon. He loaded three or four four-horse wagons with bacon and ham which had been prepared during the year for this purpose. The hogs that furnished the ham and bacon were fed corn to make them fat. He raised this corn on the ranch. He also raised field-peas, which he fed with the corn to get the best results. The hogs were also allowed to feed in an oak grove where there were many acorns on the ground. This was supposed to give to ham and bacon the extra flavor which was greatly in demand. Hogs known to have been "fed on acorns" were supposed to be the "tops". This trip to Portland or Scottsburg would take about three weeks. On the return trip the wagons would be loaded with flour, coffee, dry goods, clothing, shoes, and other supplies for the home and the ranch, enough to last until the next trip. As soon as flour mills were built, and as towns with stores were established nearer home, they were patronized to save the long tiresome trips. Finally, as the population of the neighborhood grew, and the grist mills and stores came to Roseburg, these supply trips became a thing of the past. Mr. Narcisse L. Conn remembers when his father bought a new "Concord" carriage for the family use. It was an event. Family trips were no longer to be taken in the old springless wagon. The concord was the latest idea at that time in the way of a carriage. It had springs, a full top, and three seats, the middle one of which could be taken out if the space was needed for something else. It was on the order of the old style hack except that it was lighter and easier riding. Two of the Conn boys, Francis M. and James W., rode a couple of horses to Scottsburg to get the carriage. They bought a new harness at the same time and rode home in "style". This brand-new, freshly-painted carriage was the first of its kind to appear in Douglas county. It caused as great a sensation as when the first automobile came. the Conn boys were very popular with the younger set from that time on. In the early days, the settlers, while always having plenty of game of all kinds, were obliged to freight in from a long distance their flour, sugar, coffee, rice, and other foods that they could not raise on the ranch, also shoes and other ranch necessities that they could not make themselves. Henry Conn put up a large quantity of bacon and ham which he took to Portland each year to exchange for food and supplies for the home. On one of these trips he took his young son, James William Conn. Among other things that he bought this time was one of the old Seth Thomas clocks, the kind that had a long chain on each side with a weight attached. The weight was an iron cylinder about twelve inches long and two inches in diameter. These chains and weights ere used to wind the clock every eight days. The Conns had long looked forward to having one of these clocks in their ranch home, for they were a good time piece. On the trip homeward, the boy, James William Conn, saw the two weights, which had been detached from the chains, lying loose on he bottom of the wagon. Thinking they were useless weight to carry, he was raising them up to throw away when his father happened to glance around just in time to stop him. Without the weights the clock would have been useless. This clock is still in the family and is very proudly exhibited as a relic of the early pioneer days. |
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