SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL E. L. APPLEGATE
By Author:George Stowell of Sitka, Alaska
"Lish" Applegate is a familiar name to the pioneers of the "Emerald State." At one time his fame was as extended as its borders. He was by all odds the most picturesque figure that has appeared on the stage of Oregon history. His personal appearance was of a sort immediately to attract attention. His physique was lithe and willowy—tall and somewhat gaunt, his manner of speech unique and his mental traits peculiar—indeed, he was "Lish" Applegate and has had no double.
I became acquainted with him during the winter of 1859-60. I was then living with my parents in Eugene, and he came there that winter to edit the People's Press, a Republican journal which had been recently established in that thriving young town by B. J. Pengra and some other "free soilers."
"Lish" was in the springtime of life then, and surcharged with the abounding vigor which characterized the young men of pioneer days. His avocation, coupled with the fact of his being a scion of a prominent and influential family, gave him immediate access to all the homes in the town and he was soon a conspicuous figure at nearly every social gathering.
He was gifted with a remarkable memory, had a vivid imagination, a keen sense of humor and was master of a picturesque style of speech. Although his vocabulary was extensive, his pronunciation was not hampered by the rules of lexicographers. These gifts and oddities made him a very interesting raconteur and he never permitted a strict adherence to verities to mar a narrative. He had seen a good deal of pioneer life in its various phases, and his experiences among those early settlers formed the texture of his stories. The droll and graphic manner in which those experiences were related, together with the drawling tone, startling pronunciation of familiar words, and the subtle tinge of the ludicrous imparted to them by a semi-grotesque imagination made him the central figure of all the social gatherings he attended.
