ST. HELENS
WHITE WAS FIRST
Bartholomew White first settled at this place in 1844, but being a
cripple, did not make much improvement. Either he sold it or was
crowded off by H. M. Knighton, an emigrant of 1845, one of those
unfortunates who took S. H. L. Meek's cut off, and were lost and
suffered so much. [Knighton did not go with Meek's caravan; he
followed the Oregon Trail to The Dalles --ldr]
Mr. Knighton first settled in Oregon City, and kept a hotel there,
in 1846. In that year he entered the claim above mentioned, but did
not settle upon it until 1847. Mr. Knighton appears to have been an
active, dashing, and speculative, rather than a serious and careful
business man. From the "Spectator," which began to be published
about the time he came to Oregon, it is easy to gain an idea of his
social and business character. He went to parties and gave parties.
He advertised well whatever business he engaged in and was what we
call "a live wire." His wife was a Miss Elizabeth Martin, daughter
of a settler of that name in Yamhill County. [According to the 1860 Federal census the first two Knighton children were born in MO... --ldr]
In 1847 Mr. Knighton went to reside upon his land claim, and in the
autumn of that year there were two log houses at this place, one
the Knighton residence and the other a camping place for travelers.
In 1849 a few lots were surveyed off by James Brown, of Canemah,
but the place was afterwards properly surveyed by S. H. Tappan and
P. W. Crawford, and was mapped by Joseph Trutch, now of Victoria,
in the winter of 1850 or 1851. A road was opened to the Tualatin
Plains, and a railroad talked of in that early day.
Coal and Iron were known to exist near the place; plenty of fine
timber was found in the vicinity, and the beauty of the location
was evident to all.
At this time the Pacific Mail Steamship Company had a contract to
carry the mail from Panama to Astoria, Oregon. They tried to evade
it because the California trade had crowded their capability for
carrying to the utmost. They put the mail aboard sailing vessels or
left it lying in San Francisco.
PORT AT ST. HELENS
But the trade in Oregon was becoming considerable, and the people
made their complaints heard in Congress, so that the company at
last (about 1851) got to running their steamers pretty regularly
all the way to Portland. They did not like going there on account
of Swan Island bar and similar obstructions, and in 1852 built a
fine wharf and warehouse at St. Helens, making that their point of
arrival and departure. All the sea captains of those days were in
favor of St. Helens as the port for their vessels, so much so that
a company of them laid out the rival town of Milton with that
sagacity in land matters which seamen usually exhibit.
Building went on rapidly at St. Helens, and lots became of value.
Business was brisk, the population rapidly increased, and Mr.
Knighton's prospects were good for founding the metropolis of
Oregon, as he had the P. M. S. S. Co. at his back.
ST. HELEN'S PIONEERS
The pioneer settlers at St. Helens were W. H. Tappan, Ben Durell, F. A. Lamont,
Aaron Broyles; L. C. Gray; Joseph Trutch, John Trutch, Capt. Seth
Pope, Dr. Adlum, John Dodge, George Thing, William English, William
Hazard, Ben Teal, R. Cowley, William Meeker. Charles H. Reed, James
B. Hunter, Joe Caples, J. Cunningham, A. E. Clark, Robert Germain,
G. W. Yeagle, Cain Carpenter, Johnson Carpenter, Lockwood Little,
Col. Trip, Berry Dunn, Hiram Field, Barrows, Flake, Layton, Kearns,
Hally, Maybee, Achilles, Courtland and Atwood. The first death in
St. Helens was of E. A. Clarke.
MYSTERIOUS FIRES
Mr. Knighton who was seemingly on
the flood tide of success was just at this critical point too much
assured and failed to offer the inducements to businessmen which he
should have done to compete with Portland. The owners and
merchants of that incipient metropolis alarmed by the action of the
P.M.S.S. Company held meetings threatening to withdraw their
patronage from the line, and by other means expressed their
disapprobation. This, however, did not change the determination of
the company. Their wharf was duly completed and the steamer
stopped at St. Helens but not for long. Means were found to
discountenance such proceedings. All the company's improvements
were destroyed by fire. The mysterious torch of the incendiary so
frequently applied to objectionable rival structures in the early
days of Oregon was applied to the wharves, mills, etc. at St.
Helens. Meantime Portland received a large accession to its
population and drew to itself the discouraged merchants of St.
Helens who were really too far away to get the trade of the
Willamette Valley.
KNIGHTON WITHDRAWS
Mr. Knighton, who was called Captain, commenced
acting in that capacity. He piloted the "Sylvie de Grasse" down
the river and ran her on the rock on which she remained spitted for
so many years and from which the storms of last winter only finally
loosened her hull. He then ran a vessel to the Sandwich Islands in
China after which he became a merchant in St. Helens and after the
decline of business at this place was employed as captain of one of
the boats of the P. T. [Peoples Transportation] Company on the
Willamette River. Captain Knighton died at The Dalles in 1864 of
typhoid fever.
H. C. VICTOR PURCHASES ST. HELENS
In the fall of 1865 the widow of Captain Knighton sold the
east half of the townsite of St. Helens and one fifth of the west
half to H. C. Victor, Esq. and there was an effort made by Mr.
Victor to revive business at this point which was but temporarily
successful. The time had not arrived for permanent prosperity
because the country about was too sparely settled. Oregon was
large and had but few people in it. But as the population
increases and the valley of the Columbia settles up, the natural
good points of St. Helens and Columbia County will come out and we
shall have a handsome and thriving town here yet; and as a means to
that end shall devote our paper to building up the interests of the
whole county about us.
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