Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 10/Dedication of the McLoughlin Home

Sunday, September 5, 1909, the McLoughlin Home was dedicated at Oregon City. Dr. John McLoughlin, the head of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific Coast from 1824 to 1846, and the founder of Oregon City, built this house in 1845-46, and occupied it until his death on September 3, 1857. For a number of years past it has been the desire of a number of the best citizens of that place that the old home of the "good old doctor," as he was affectionately known by the pioneers of early days, should be restored and preserved. An effort with this end in view was begun about two years ago, but was delayed by a number of unexpected obstacles. Early in 1909, the lot upon which it was originally built having changed hands, the time seemed opportune to the friends of the enterprise to begin anew an effort to save the building, particularly as the new owner of the lot upon which it stood needed the ground for other purposes, and offered the building without cost to the friends who had been endeavoring to save it. Accordingly the "McLoughlin Memorial Association" was organized for the purpose of initiating a movement to remove and restore the building. Friends of the effort in Oregon City, pioneers, members of the Oregon Historical Society, and others, generously aided by pioneers, members of the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, and other friends favoring the effort, raised something over $1,000, and caused the structure to be removed from its original site to a new and sightly location upon the bluff in a park block which was given to Oregon City by the doctor years before his death. Then the building was repaired, painted, and a new roof put on, and in general restored to original condition so far as its outward appearance is concerned. Unfortunately there was a little local prejudice against the restoration and removal of the building, and the intervention of the courts was sought to prevent it; but the ​McLoughlin Memorial Association won the day at every turn. The last effort to stop the movement for saving the home occurred on December 6, 1909, when the opposition invoked the referendum against it, but that effort was defeated on the date mentioned by a decisive vote on the part of the people of Oregon City. Obstructive tactics are now at an end.

The dedication ceremonies on the day first above alluded to were as follows : Overture, The Concert Band ; introductory remarks, Dr. W. E. Carll, Mayor; address, Frederick V. Holman. President of the Oregon Historical Society, Portland; selection, The Concert Band; remarks. Rev. Thomas Sherman, son of the late General William T. Sherman; address, P. H. D'Arcy, Vice-President of the Oregon Pioneer Association; selection. The Concert Band. Several hundred persons were present, among them a goodly number of pioneers who had had frequent personal intercourse with Dr. McLoughlin. Among these was Hon. Francois Xavier Matthieu, whose acquaintance with the doctor began in 1842.

The officers of the McLoughlin Memorial Association, now incorporated under the laws of the state, are as follows: E. G. Caufield, President; George A. Harding, Vice-President; Charles H. Caufield, Treasurer; Edward E. Brodie, Secretary; Directors, Rev. A. Hillebrand, Joseph E. Hedges, Judge J. U. Campbell, C. D. Latourette, William Sheahan, Charles H. Dye, Dr. W. E. Carll.

Mr. Mayor, Oregon Pioneers, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is with great pleasure and in due appreciation of the honor conferred upon me that I speak on this occasion of the dedication, or, rather, the re-dedication, of this house so long the home of Dr. John McLoughlin here in Oregon City.

Its dedication was when he made this his final home in the Oregon Country. It was during the time of the joint​occupancy of the Oregon Country by the United States and Great Britain. It was built after his resignation, and after he had ceased to be the head of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Pacific Coast, which was the direct result of his philanthropy and humanity to the early pioneers. He built this house to be his permanent abiding place in the Oregon Country. In selecting Oregon City for his permanent home, he anticipated that it would be a part of the United States when the boundary treaty should be made and the dispute as to the ownership of Oregon should be determined between the United States and Great Britain. He had determined to change his allegiance and become an American citizen as soon as he could do so. This he carried out. Although born and brought up a British subject. Dr. McLoughlin's feelings and principles were for rule by the people under a republican form of government. Through his whole life he was ever the friend of the distressed and the champion of the oppressed. He made this house his home in pleasant anticipation of a happy and prosperous old age — to be with his wife and his children, and his children's children; to be one of those to make Oregon into a prosperous community, guided by his experience and his helping hand ; to continue that aid by precept and example, by being of them as well as with them. These ideas he carried out to the best of his ability. I shall not dwell on what he did in assisting in the upbuilding of Oregon, and his aids and assistance to the early pioneers. It is a part of the folklore of Oregon.

It was here that the newly-come immigrants, discouraged by their long and arduous trips across the plains, were made hopeful by his kindly words and encouraged by his timely aid and assistance. It was here to the last that hospitality reigned supreme. His darkest days were never too dark to give a welcome to his friends and to the strangers within his gates. It was a place of culture, of refinement, the one attractive place in Oregon, where the log cabin was the rule, and the struggle for existence and to gain a foothold was the lot of most of the early pioneers.

​Happy as was the original dedication of this house, with its clustering, charming memories of today, it was in it that Dr. McLoughlin suffered from despoiling hands, from the rapacity of some of those he had befriended, and some of those whose greed of gain outweighed all other considerations, even reli- gious pretensions. It was here he saw his fortune disappear, his hopes frustrated, his life wrecked, and where finally his great heart broke. It was here he suffered martyrdom. It was here he died . I shall not go into these details. They are matters of history. He was deprived of the ownership of this house by the United States Government under the Oregon donation land law, through the machinations of conspirators, men, some of whom, enjoyed a little prosperity and public prominence, whose memories survive mostly through their unworthy actions toward him. That it was restored to his heirs by the State of Oregon, is a matter of state pride to every true Oregonian. It was an act which appeals to the right feel- ing of every lover of justice and humanity. It was an official acknowledgment of the injustice done to Dr. McLoughlin, and a recognition of his services in succoring the early immigrants and of what he had done for Oregon and what Oregon owed to him. It is to be regretted that the dark days of his last years were not brightened by this act of justice. His memory has now come into its own.

It is proper that this house should stand here in perpetual memory of its original builder and owner—a man who stands supreme as the first, the greatest, of Oregon's citizens. It is the one house in Oregon which typifies the old and binds together the old and the new — the days of heroic Oregon and the days of the greater Oregon of today. Its preservation and its removal to the present site represents something of earnest and heartfelt endeavors, something of romantic interest, something of patriotism, something of higher feelings in the appreciation and determination that the house of Oregon's great humanitarian should be preserved and protected, not only for those of today but for those of the past, whom he ​befriended, and by whom he was beloved, and also for those of the future, who will respect and venerate his memory. To those who were instrumental in the accomplishment of this act be all honor and praise. It is a noble act of generous and grateful people. It shows them to be men and women who possess the qualities of gratitude and of affection, and are respecters of favors received by their ancestors, and appreciators of noble qualities in others.

This house has its fitting resting place in this park, which Dr. McLoughlin generously gave to this city. It is only one of his numerous benefactions to the public. Let it be a shrine to him who loved his fellowmen. As long as it exists, this house will be a monument to him and of what he was and is to the people of Oregon. May it rest here forever. It will stand for courage and right and humanity as against a company's selfish policy; for straightforwardness and honesty as against crookedness and dishonesty; for loving kindness as against malice ; for a people's gratitude as against conspirators' rascality and ingratitude; and for a triumphant memory as against the calumnies and aspersions of contemptible contemporaries.

Here will come the stranger to show his appreciation of this great and good man; here will come the pioneers of Oregon, and their descendants to the remotest generations to do honor and reverence to the father of Oregon, whose loving kindness and humanity can never be forgotten. This house will be consecrated by their prayers, their tears, and their love.