Pioneers come from everywhere
When I say “pioneers,” what
picture comes to mind? The Oregon Trail? Covered wagons on a dusty plain? Maybe
it’s an old and equally dusty western movie? Well — what about Illinois?
Say what?
Maybe you’re like me and
learned your earliest history in an Oregon schoolhouse. That’s where Lewis and
Clark were the heroes, Sacagawea was a queen, and we were told to be very proud
of our ancestor pioneers — pioneers who braved it all to settle in the West.
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| Chief Blackhawk |
Imagine my surprise, while
visiting along the Mississippi River a couple of summers ago, to hear a museum
docent at the Black Hawk State Historic Site in Illinois say, “When our pioneer
settlers arrived here in the 1820s … .” But, of course! How could I be so
blind? They had pioneers, too.
At the museum, I learned more
about the Black Hawk War than I ever had. I also saw the death mask of Chief
Black Hawk, the Sauk leader, who led the fight against white settlers who were
taking tribal land and forcing Black Hawk’s people west across the Mississippi.
Returning home, I discovered
one person resting in the Jacksonville Cemetery who had been a volunteer
soldier in that war, and eventually he came to Oregon.
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| Chief Blackhawk |
Daniel Newcomb was born in
Kentucky in 1804 and, as a young man, moved to what would become Decatur,
Illinois. At the outbreak of the Black Hawk War in 1832, Daniel volunteered as
a mounted ranger with Captain William Warnick’s company. Warnick was friends
with Abraham Lincoln, who was a captain of another volunteer company. Neither
company ever fought with the Indians.
In 1846, Daniel again
volunteered to fight, this time in the Mexican War. He was elected captain of a
company in the 4th Illinois Regiment of volunteers. The regiment’s commander
was Col. Edward Baker, also a close friend of Lincoln who, in 1860, would
become one of Oregon’s senators. Baker successfully led his regiments against
the Mexican Army, first at the coastal city of Veracruz and then at Cerro
Gordo. It was the first direct clash between Mexican General Santa Ana and the
American forces.
In 1852, Daniel left Illinois
for Oregon, leading a wagon train over the Applegate Trail. His granddaughter
said Indians attacked the caravan and Daniel negotiated a truce, believing “he
was crossing their territory and should pay his way with cattle instead of
fighting.” That gesture didn’t stop Daniel from fighting in the 1855 Rogue
River Indian War. He had moved from the Corvallis area to Southern Oregon in
1853.
With Oregon statehood
approaching in 1859, Daniel was part of the delegation from Southern Oregon to
the Constitutional Convention. There he voted for slavery for Oregon. He had to
strongly deny rumors at home that he actually favored a Free State. Oregon
voters refused slavery, but banned free blacks from living in the state.
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| Daniel Newcomb - Jacksonville, Oregon Cemetery |
In quick succession, Daniel
was appointed State Brigadier General and also Indian agent at the Siletz
Reservation, but with the election of Abraham Lincoln, Daniel, a Democrat, lost
both positions. He returned to private life with his large family, living near
Williams.
After losing his wife at the
end of 1863, his health began to decline. In March 1867, pioneer Daniel Newcomb
died.
