In 1916 I attended the reunion of the Oregon Pioneer Society and that of the Indian Volunteers at Portland. A gathering of 1600 persons gathered in the City Auditorium. It was a most interesting meeting to me and kept my mind constantly occupied with past experiences. Perhaps the thing that brought by-gone times most vividly to my mind was the trip for the pioneers up the Columbia Highway in autos furnished by the city. As I looked out across the broad river from the height of the _Vista House_, dedicated to the pioneers of Oregon, the beautifully finished roadway, with its wonderful curves, solid masonry, gentle grades, faded from before my eyes and again I saw a little party of forlorn and homeless refugees rowing down that same river in the old-fashioned, flat-bottomed bateaux, thankful to be alive, but always hurrying to put more and more miles of water between them and the tragic place called Waiilatpu. The chill of those misty winter days again crept to my heart and I clearly recalled the childish awe that filled my soul as I noticed the girth and height of the forest trees on either side of the murky, greenish water that swept on past them with a strong current, leaving sand-bar after sand-bar a gleam of tawny color against their masses of dark green foliage; and I thought of a moment when we saw a little cluster of five log houses and knew that we could see Portland. Then as I looked toward the magnificent city of today, with its homes, churches, schools, its parks and business places, I felt that I must be waking from a _Rip Van Winkle_ sleep and the magic of the moment almost overcame me. This thought I carried away with me. Surely if the way of the pioneer is hard and beset with dangers, at least the long years bring at last the realization that life, patiently and hopefully lived, brings its own sense of having been part and parcel of the onward move to better things--not for self alone, but for others. Transcriber's note: The following corrections have been made: Foreword: "Coeurd 'Alene" changed to Coeur d'Alene; p. 10 "we would go picnicing in" picnicing changed to picnicking; p. 18 "children haven't had any dinner," 'and" single quotation mark before and removed; p. 19 "realized whatt it meant" whatt changed to what; p. 20 "the woman watned" watned changed to wanted; p. 25 "repent the argreement" argreement changed to agreement; p. 26 "we got to Vancauver" Vancauver changed to Vancouver; p. 30: "it go so strong of sulphur" go changed to got; p. 33 "rtip to Scroggin's valley" rtip changed to trip; "meeing my first husband" meeing changed to meeting; p. 35 "baked it her own stove" changed to baked it in her own stove; "rought and rugged" rought changed to rough; "Rev. Walker performer the ceremony" performer changed to performed; p. 36 "bugler rode down to our" buglar changed to bugler; p. 38 "wood-choppers,b ut little" moved space before b; "winter of '61-61" '61-61 changed to '60-61;