Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/200

182 Mrs. S. a. Long. forbidden fruit plucked by our mother Eve in Paradise must have been of that variety. In the early fifties there was a Hudson 's Bay Company ship- ping point at the mouth of the Umpqua accessible from the in- terior by mule trails through the Coast Mountains. And soon a little town was started, called Scottsburg, in honor of its founder, Captain Levi Scott, a brave and honorable Ohioan who, with his sons John and William, settled first in Scott's Valley, which still bears their name. Scottsburg at the mouth of the Umpqua, or rather at the head of navigation on the Umpqua, was the point where settlers of the southern part of the State and miners of Southern Oregon obtained their supplies to a great extent; these were carried on pack-trains for some years, but a wagon road was finally built down the Umpqua and later down the Elk River also. During the days of the pack-trains Mrs. Applegate made and sold much butter and cheese, securing high prices for her handiwork, for this was in "The days of old, the days of gold, The days of forty-nine." Mr. Applegate clerked for Allen & McKinley at Scottsburg for some years. He was also frequently away from home for months at a time following his vocation of surveying. His was the honor of establishing what is known as the Military Road across the Cascade Range by way of Diamond Peak. On this surveying expedition he accompaned, as surveyor and guide. Major Benjamin Alvord, who with a company of soldiers established that route. During all these absences Mrs. Applegate conducted the affairs of the farm, her admin- istration of them was never questioned or objected to. During the fifties a sewing machine, melodeon, and large library were brought into the house. Music, books, newspapers, were the amusements of the family— sometimes a little social gath- ering of the neighbor children. Mrs. Applegate had received no education and never at- tempted to read anything other than the large print of her