CAPTAIN JOSEPH R. WALKER
By JAMES O'MEARA.*
Biographical sketches of the adventurous and intrepid spirits who explored the vast wilderness and broad deserts which now constitute the States and Territories of the Pacific, and the whole region westward of the Missouri River, are befit- ting subjects for presentation to the people who inhabit this vast domain, and who therefore feel a deeper interest in its history ; and, in time these biographies will constitute one of the most interesting, and not the least important, of the various departments of the standard literature of the Republic; sim- ilarly as the lives of De Leon, of De Soto, of Champlain, of John Smith, and Roger Williams, and of Daniel Boone, and other early explorers and adventurers are regarded in con- nection with the discovery, origin, and settlement of the several divisions of the country lying eastward of the Missouri.
And in contrast with the myths and fables, the fiction and romance, and the obscured, confused and uncertain accounts and histories of the origin and foundation of the nations of the Old World, these clear-cut, authentic and entirely trust- worthy records of the New World are singularly fascinating, instructive and wholesome.
The world has been made conversant with the grand ex- ploration of Lewis and Clark to the Pacific shore of Oregon, and their tracing of the mighty Columbia and its chief trib- utaries the Clearwater and Snake rivers ; and the similar ad- ventures of Bonneville are perpetuated in the charming nar- rative of Irving. 1
- James O'Meara was born in New York City June 22, 1825, and his ancestors
on both sides were natives of Ireland and communicants of the Roman Catholic Church. When six years old he was sent to a parish school, where he continued as a student until ten years of age, and during the last two years of his school life he was a newsboy. Then he became an apprentice in a newspaper office, first as an errand boy and then a type setter. At the age of sixteen, he was employed as a reporter, and took a deep interest in the political discussions of that time, being a protege of Fernando Wood, who achieved a national reputation as a speaker, writer and shrewd politician between 1840 and 1860. In 1849 he sought a new field of endeavor by going to California and was connected with newspapers there until 1857, when he removed to Port- land and found employment as the editor of the Democratic Standard, a paper that was established in 1855 by Northrop & Rees, with Alonzo Leland as editor. In 1858 he ran for State Printer on the National Democratic ticket, but was defeated by Asahel Bush, the nominee of the regular Democratic ticket. In October, 1859, in company with a man named Freanor, as a partner, he bought the Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, and edited it until May, 1861. During this period the paper was violently pro-slavery in its sentiments, and was compelled to
