Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 4.djvu/177

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A Pioneer Captain of Industry.
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a competence sufficient for a comfortable old age. Independent and genuine in his character, there was no cant in his make-up. One of the company of kindred spirits that includes the names of Nesmith, Matthieu, Clark, Boise, Minto, Crawford, and others, his company was always appreciated, for he was genial and sociable in disposition. By the Indians he was loved, and they gathered about him at his home in Yamhill as they would about no other. Deeply interested in all that pertained to Oregon, he was truly one of her benefactors. Always loyal to the early state builders, he conducted a party of them in an excursion to the East when the railroad connection was completed. Always deeply interested in the Pioneer Association, Watt was its president for a time and rarely was absent from its meetings. By gift from his widow the author of this paper has deposited in the vaults of the Oregon Historical Society the little book in which he kept the names of the members in their own handwriting. It is worn and soiled through frequent use, but it will ever be a valuable reminder of the earliest of our state builders, as well as a reminder of him whom the author has chosen to designate as a "pioneer captain of industry in Oregon."

JAMES R. ROBERTSON.

Note.—The material from which this paper has been prepared was derived from the following sources: manuscript account of "Woolen Mill," the "Journey to Washington," and the "Cargo of Wheat to Liverpool," written by Mr. Watt and loaned to the author by Mr. S. A. Clark, of Washington, D. C., in whose possession it has been. A series of articles in the Oregonian in 1881, by Mr. S. A. Clark, describing the journeys across the country and other incidents, obtained from manuscript and from conversations with Mr. Watt, with whom Mr. Clark was on most intimate terms; a paper containing recollections of his brother's life and incidents by Ahio Watt, of Portland; conversations with the widow and daughter of Mr. Watt, who are now living at Forest Grove, Oregon.