The gorge of the Columbia,
with its Latourelle, Multnomah, and
Horse-tail Falls, and its Oneonta canyon,
with the Cascade mountains themselves, are
most inviting, and to the artist no less
than to the common excursionist, prove
wonderful. Mount St. Helens has been an
object of attraction to the Alpine Club of
this city, the members of which recently
played snow-ball upon its mosque-like top.
Mount Adams and Rainier, although the finest
and most curious of all, are too much
removed to be frequented by the men of
Portland; they will ultimately, however,
come into due appreciation. For those bent
on wider exploits, Alaska offers immense
attraction, and is not unknown to our
citizens, many visiting its shores on
business or pleasure. The Sandwich Islands
have also been a spot of popular attention
by our people. Regular trips are made to
California, and to the old Eastern and
Southern homes; while as elsewhere among
Americans, the more wealthy take an
occasional journey to Europe. The health,
culture, refinement and mental and moral
quickening, derived from these less and
greater evolutions and revolutions, probably
more than balance the dissipation, hardening
of the heart, and the restlessness that they
induce.
As popular festivities and celebrations in
the city, the ordinary homely American
feasts and jubilations are observed. The New
England fasts have been suffered to lapse,
and the Carnival and Mardi Gras, although
sometimes tried a little, have never been
general. There is something that sticks in
the throat of our dignity to deliver
ourselves up to uncontrollable mirth, unless
first unbending by the mellowness of drink;
but this is held to be disreputable, at
least to the point of intoxication. No more
than other Americans or Teutons can
Portlanders abandon themselves gracefully to
their animal feelings; but if attempting it,
fall into gross riot and rude license.
Washington's birthday, by balls; Decoration
Day, by military parades, speeches and
floral displays; the Fourth of July, by
explosives, processions, orations and
pyrotechnics; the Autumn harvest, by fairs,
or particularly the Exposition, lasting
twenty days; Thanksgiving day, by sermons in
the churches, and family reunions at home;
the Christmas time " The Holidays, " by
special decoration of the shops and stores;
by "trees" at home and in the churches, and
by musical festivities-these all come around
in order and in truth afford a refined
source of pleasure. There is not an excess
of rudeness connected with even the most
noisy, and on the whole they are profitably
enjoyed. Probably there is little that is
unique or peculiar to Portland in any of
them, but as a part of the culture of the
people, they show no sign of dying out. The
reunion of the Oregon Pioneers in June,
which usually takes place in Portland, may
become a special feature of the country, as
the Pioneer Association passes on to the
descendants of the early Oregonians. The
"Native Sons," "The Alpine Club," the
"Indian War Veterans," or other
organizations peculiar to this State, may
give some day a feast that will add to the
usual stock of American holidays in our
city.
A remarkable Fourth of July is spoken of as
having occurred in 1861. This was during the
days when the fires of patriotism burned
brightly, and a general depression of
spirits and anxiety of the public mind, as
well as an imagination excited by constant
reading of preparations for war, led the way
to a great celebration. The firing of cannon
during the day and orations by able
speakers, was succeeded at night by a
display of fireworks, which was regarded by
every one with respect. To most of the
spectators it was magnificent, being far
superior to anything they had ever seen even
in "Old Missouri." Country people came in
for miles around to witness the views, and
the woods were thick with their camps.
Since that day the demand for rockets, roman
candles, etc., has been sufficient to keep
at least one resident pyrotechnist in the
city, and the burning of fizzes and red
fire, and illumination of the river at night
by fire-boats, has been a more or less
regular circumstance of the day. In 1869,
Geo. Francis Train was present on
Independence Day, and his oratory, and the
man himself, as a specimen of a great man of
the East, brought in crowds to see and hear,
and excited a vast deal of old-time
curiosity. In recent years, as mentioned
above, the illumination of Mount Hood has
been added as a sort of good night at 11:00
P. m., and in the near future we may expect
to see electric lights, the power of some
millions of candles, touched off on each of
the great snow peaks at the close of the
exercises.
Portland has an enviable reputation for
processions. Scarcely a day passes but thick
or thin files of men, accompanied by drum
and brass band and banners, march to and
fro. The most of these are of orders or
combinations of men who work, and of those
who do not, who desire to emphasize some
feature of their political or economical
creed as to wages, or the Mongolian, or else
of showmen or of religious enthusiasts, as
the Salvation Army.
On occasions, however, the city has made
processional displays of such a character as
to excite high encomiums from all. The
celebration of the completion of the N. P.
R. R., in 1883, and the welcome to Villard
and his guests, was an affair of great good
taste and significance. No history of the
place would be complete without giving it a
fair place; accordingly we insert the
salient features as they were depicted at
the time by the Oregonian:
|
The main
thoroughfares of Portland never
presented a more animated appearance
than on yesterday. Flags and
garlands fluttered from hundreds of
buildings, and a small army of men
and boys were engaged in decorating
and beautifying stores and dwellings
in all parts of the town. Myriads of
ladies and children in gaudy colored
dresses materially heightened the
effect of the gorgeous scene. The
main attraction was First street,
from A to Salmon, where regular
colonnades had been established,
flanked on either side with garlands
of evergreens and elaborately
festooned bunting, which had been
arranged in an artistic and
picturesque manner. Near the corner
of First and A streets an arch
representing the entrance to a
feudal castle had been erected with
such fidelity to nature that it
elicited expressions of admiration
from visitors and residents alike.
The arch is surmounted with towers,
and is elegantly adorned with
evergreens, streamers, flags and
bunting. On either side the word "
Welcome " in evergreen stands out in
bold relief. Statues emblematical of
Europe, Asia, Africa and America are
placed in such a way as to give the
spectator the idea that the statues
are standing in niches. The whole is
elaborately finished, and reflects
great credit on the artist. |
The coming of the visitors
was in the nature of a triumphal march, and
Villard had taken the greatest pains to
secure the presence of distinguished men
from all parts of the Union and from England
and Germany. The journey from St. Paul to
Portland is described as a continuous
ovation. At every point of importance the
citizens made demonstrations of welcome,
speeches were made; and compliments of all
kinds were exchanged. The honors of Caesar
Augustus were lavished upon the man who had
performed the work of finishing the road. As
the train sped by through the Dakotas,
cow-boys followed along racing with the
train and exhibiting feats of horsemanship
and daring. It was especially arranged for
Indians to be present at stopping places
along the way and they were inspected with
great curiosity by the visitors. The scenery
was passed at the best advantage, and the
party was conveyed in four different trains,
running severally about half an hour apart.
The first section contained Mr. Villard, his
private car, and the private car occupied by
his most distinguished foreign guests. The
second consisted of eight private cars, two
of which belonged to Mr. Robert Harris, a
director of the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company; another was occupied by Geo. M.
Pullman and party, and the car of
ex-president Billings was attached in the
rear. General Grant occupied a car with
Secretary Evarts, General Cass, General
Haupt, and various others. The third section
was made up of ten cars, for American
guests; and the fourth of ten Pullman cars
was occupied by representatives of the
newspaper press.
Full accounts of the progress of the trains
were dispatched to our city, and at the
prospect of men of such positive ability and
standing as the guests mentioned coming to
see the end of the work and to congratulate
our State, all our citizens rose to the full
requirement of the occasion. It was one of
those rare times in the history of a place
when the entire population was drawn out by
one sympathetic impulse and most cheerfully
did each do his best to show his
appreciation of the hour. There has been
much discussion of Mr. Villard's abilities
and general caliber. But in nothing did he
show more perfect good taste and
administrative facility than in the conduct
of this excursion and celebration. The
Northern Pacific had been for more than
twenty years a subject profoundly
interesting to the people of the Eastern
States, upon grounds of economics, of
politics and patriotism. With the best of
judgment Villard concluded that in no way
could the consummation of the building of
this road be better celebrated than by the
presence here of representative men of the
nation. To give still further emphasis to
this idea he invited noted men of England,
and of his own native Germany. His own
efforts were confined to securing the
presence of these men and affording them the
privileges of guests upon his trains, and
making the completion of his work the
occasion of the meeting and acquaintance of
great men of the three great Teutonic
nations.
The following general description of the day
and procession is taken from the
Oregonian of September 12, 1883:
| "If Portland was
filled with people Monday morning,
she was overflowing yesterday. It
was a veritable Fourth of July, on a
grand scale, without any of the
deafening noise or disagreeable
features. From early in the morning
until afternoon the country folk
pressed into town through every
entrance, and, as if to welcome
them, merry bells and loud mouthed
whistles sounded forth upon the
morning air. Everything on wheels
was brought into service, to
transport the holiday seekers
through the streets of the city.
Business was almost entirely
suspended and every-body thronged
the streets along the line of march.
From across the river came the whole
population of East Portland. Street
cars on all the lines were crowded;
restaurants ran a double force of
waiters to feed the hungry populace.
Everyone was moving after the usual
American style of rushing. Any
estimate of the number of people in
the city would either be considered
the wildest kind of a guess, or fall
far short of the truth. Not to be
enthusiastic, the display yesterday
was the grandest sight that Portland
ever witnessed; not one of the
grandest, but the very greatest of
them all. As for the weather, it was
simply perfect. The light rain of
the past few days had effectually
subdued the summer dust, and the
streets were in fine marching
condition. The air was clear,
bracing and mildly warm, while light
fleecy clouds obscured the sun just
enough to afford a gentle screen,
for which every one was grateful. As the hour for the parade grew nigh, the crowd packed most densely along Fourth street, up to the corner of Court House square. Here was the grand stand for the distinguished guests of Mr. Villard, before whom the entire procession was to march and counter-march in review. At this point the eyes of the people were fairly divided between the great men and the parade gotten up in their honor. Ropes stretched across the street kept back the crowd from the main entrance of the Court House, where the carriages stopped with their load of guests. Ranged along the side walks across the street from the grand stand were three rows of benches, and upon them were seated families of the members of the City Council, of the city officials, and many old pioneers, who would otherwise have had no chance to view the great scene which their earlier labors had done so much to bring about. Of the whole procession, their husbands and fathers formed the most noticeable part.
" Those against whose familiar names
not yet upon the records of the Oregon Pioneer Society-a handful of men, fine, sturdy and full of vigor, but now for the most part grey and bent with age-fitly led the van of the parade, as years before they had led the van of civilization, of which the Northern Pacific Railroad is the outgrowth. Honored veterans of frontier life, all of them, and representatives of the near past, but without which the present would be impossible. Among those whose faces were familiar to thousands as they led the greatest parade ever witnessed on the northwest coast, were Nesmith and Crawford, Gray and Pettygrove and Parrish, and many others whose names may be less known, but not less prized among them all. Tears came to many eyes as these men, with heard and hair whitened by the frost of time filed slowly by, and the thoughts of many reverted to lowly mounds which swell above the honored dust of Lane, Meek, Payne, Fletcher, Scott, Newsome, Geer and Kinney, a host not less honored than the remaining handful who still answer to the pioneer roll-call, and vastly more numerous. |