of Oregon, but now a part of the State of Washington, and you will find the following record:
"Fort Vancouver, May 5, 1851."Mommia Travers, a black woman, aged about forty-five, bought by me from Isaac Burbayge, in April, 1849, I have this day given her freedom unconditionally, and she is in all respects free to go and do as may seem to her most to her advantage, without let or hindrance from me, my agents, heirs or assigns. Witness my hand and seal, at Vancouver, May 5th, 1851. Llewellyn Jones, Captain, U. S. A.
"The above named woman, Mommia, is an honest and perfectly conscientious woman and deserves kind and good treatment at the hands of every one. Llewellyn Jones, Captain, U. S. A. Recorded, July 29th, 1857."
Some of the early pioneers of Oregon hailing from the South brought their slaves to Oregon with them and asserted their right to hold them as slaves in Oregon. One of the strong men in politics in Oregon's early clays was Colonel Nathaniel Ford. Some years ago T. W. Davenport, whose son, Homer Davenport, the cartoonist, put Silverton on the world's map, wrote to Judge R. P. Boise, of the Oregon Supreme Court, and received the following reply[1] as to the legal status of slavery in Oregon in the early fifties:
"Yours of the second instant is just received. Colonel Nathaniel Ford came to Oregon from Missouri in 1844 and brought with him three slaves two men and one woman. The woman was married to one of these men and had some small children. Ford claimed these children as slaves and continued to claim them until 1853. One of these children a girl had, prior to that time, been given to Mrs. (Dr.) Boyle, a daughter of Ford. Prior to 1853 the parents of these children (Robbin and Polly) had claimed their freedom and left Ford and in 1852 were living at Nesmith's Mills, but Ford had kept the children. In 1853 Robbin, the father of the
- ↑ This letter was used by Davenport in his discussion of the "Slavery Question in Oregon." (See this Quarterly, Vol. IX, pp. 189-253. The letter is given as a foot note on page 196. Mr. Lockley's version of it corrects the date of Nathaniel Ford's arrival in Oregon.) Mr. Davenport submitted the letter to bear out his statement "There was not one negro slave within its (Oregon Territory's) far-reaching boundaries or within a thousand miles thereof." Of course, the letter proves an instance of such slavery prior to 1853.—Editor Quarterly.
