Undaunted Pioneers

As Told by
Mary Dunn

NOTE:  This tale was told to Mary E. Stevens.  It was printed by the Valley Printing Co.at Eugene, Oregon in July, 1929  Etchings by Ina Collins Pruitt.

Isaac Hill

    My father was born in Tennesee, October 23, 1805, and died at home in Oregon, July 15, 1864.  His father was Joab Hill, a colonel in the War of 1812, born in 1775, a son of Abner Hill.  His mother was Elizabeth Lane Hill, born in North Carolina, December 24, 1784; she was the daughter of Isaac Lane and Sarah Rusell Lane. Sarah Russell's father, Thomas Russell was a colonel in the Revolutionary War.

Table of contents:

Preface
Introduction
Life in the South
A Time of Anxiety
   The Decision to Move Westward
The Long Journey Begun
First Sight of Oregon
    Our Journey Ends
   Oregon Home
Indians Unfriendly
    Hill Cemetary
    New Homes Founded
    "The Massacre"
First School
    Family News

Next
 

PREFACE

    From a beautiful spot in a valley of Tennessee, where they were surrounded by the rich associations of long established friendships, an intrepid Southern family set out to conquer a new country of verdant beauty and unexploited resources.  The story of their journey and ultimate home-building is a colorful romance fraught with privation and hardship, adventure and undaunted courge.  They revealed in this the fruitage of their heritage from one English ancestor whose family motto is "Incorruptible" and from another whose faith is shown in their motto "non incautus futuri" - (unafraid of the future).
    Mary M. Dunn, my grandmother, now ninty-three years of age, has lived a life spanning a long period of usefulness.  She has been an inspiration to her many friends and a challenge for worth-while things to all her family.  The material for this book has been compiled from stories she has written of various events of her life and from other family data.  Much of it is from an old diary kept daily during the journey across the plains, by her mother Elizabeth Fine Hill.  Care has been taken in the historical exactness of all statements.  This little book is presented for the benefit and pleasure of her friends and family.

        Mary E. Stevens
            July, 1929
 

Elizabeth Fine Hill

    My mother was born on the French Broad River in North Carolina, September 11, 1806, and died in Ashland, at the home of my sister, Mrs. A.H. Russell, December 14, 1879.  Her father was John Fine, the son of Peter and Patience Fine; he served in the War of 1812.  Her mother was Nancy Lee, the daughter of John Lee and Agnes Jennings Lee.
 
 

THE MOTHER PIONEER

Soul of the empire; nurture
Of the heroic past;
Still looking toward the future,
Nor speeds the time too fast.
Dispatch with each decision --
No halting and no fear;
A wonderous reach of vision;
Far sighted pioneer.

As rugged as the mountains --
As clothed with majesty.
As generous as the fountains --
As often sought as they.
Akin to all that's noble,
Revered from far and near --
A strength in time of trouble,
A mother pioneer.

Orphan hearts have lighter grown
At mention of her name.
And many a time a saddened home
Has blessed her, when she came
With garlands and with comforts;
And though she's not a seer,
Her message is prophetic --
God sent this pioneer.

Silver hair and kindly face
And sympathy and love;
With every word a tender grace,
A smile with every move.
A wholesome benediction,
On all who happen near;
A life made rich in action --
A mother pioneer.
    -- Ellmore J. Gilstrap

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Last updated by William P. Russell onSaturday, 08-Sep-2018 09:40:23 MDT