cabin was the property of that true Virginia gentleman, John Crabtree, who, with his estimable wife, never forgot the widow and the orphan. Through all that first winter in Oregon they made it their concern to know that she and her children were provided with food and fuel. Here we will leave her for the present.
In the fall of 1852 Dr. W. F. Alexander arrived in the western part of Oregon. So charmed was he with this beautiful land that he decided to make a permanent home within its borders. Before starting for the West he had purchased a stock of drugs and medicines, with which to open a practice upon his arrival in Oregon. But scarcely had he passed beyond the limits of civilization when it became necessary to draw upon his precious store. A little party of emigrants encamped on the north bank of the Platte River had fallen victims to the cholera. The owner of the train was first seized and quickly succumbed. Then the widow was stricken. Learning that a physician was in a train near by, a messenger was sent for him. He speedily responded to the call, and by his skill the woman's life was saved.
Through all the long journey the doctor spared neither strength, time nor substance in his efforts to relieve the suffering. He saw his little store of medicine, the representative of all his worldly wealth, grow smaller and smaller till nothing remained; his empty purse was also a mute witness to his kindly generosity. So upon his arrival in Oregon, though rich in youth, he was penniless. Winter was at hand and wants were pressing. He soon found employment as teacher in a country school on French Prairie. At the close of the term he went to the Albany Prairie, where he located a claim and built his cabin, the nucleus of the home he hoped to establish.
The doctor had never lost sight of the woman whom he first met on the banks of the Platte and whom he saved from death. Now that he had a home, humble though it was, to offer her, he sought Mrs. Newman, who accepted his proffered heart and home, and they were married in Linn County, Oregon, February 15, 1853, and settled on the farm the doctor had located. Here he entered upon the practice of medicine, and continued with slight intermissions for more than thirty years.
A country doctor's work is always hard. In those early days it was arduous. Then a trip of thirty or forty miles on horseback to visit a patient was a common occurrence; but this was only one of the difficulties the doctor had to surmount, as the following memorandum A ll show:
Mr. B——, living on a farm twelve miles distant, was taken ill with typhoid fever. Dr. Alexander was called to attend him. Rain had been falling several weeks, and the miry roads were well nigh impassable. Mounted on a strong, spirited horse, the doctor made his way comfortably enough until the Calipooia River was reached, where he found the bridge swept away and the waters overflowing the banks. What was to be done? The thought of the stricken man waiting for him helped him to decide. Touching his horse the animal plunged into the stream, but was soon swept off its feet. Then together horse and rider struggled against the swift current
