Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis
Pub. Co. 1893.  p. 509.
 
ALMORAN HILL

     Our subject is one of the few brave Oregonian pioneers still in the land of
the living, who made settlement here in 1843. He was born in Chariton county,
Missouri, December 26, 1822, the son of Wright Hill, a native of South Carolina,
who was married to Frances Christian, who bore him fourteen children, seven of
whom, as far as is known, are living. Our subject was their third child and
eldest son; and when the family removed to St. Clair county, Missouri, in 1836,
he was bound out to Mr. Jesse Applegate, with the explicit agreement that he was
to be reared, educated and taught the mercantile business. Not being afforded
the schooling lie expected, he went home and was permitted to go to school four
months, which is about all the education he ever received from school teachers.
He was just nineteen years and seven months old, when, July 4, 1841, he married
Miss Sarah Jane Reed, a native of Indianapolis, born January 26, 1823, being
seventeen fears and seven months old; or seven months younger than her husband
when they were married. She was the daughter of Joseph O. Reed.
     Mr. and Mrs. Hill have passed through many sore trials and hardships since
their marriage, fourteen children have been born to them; and they have passed
the fiftieth anniversary of that occasion; yet, withal, they have had their
share of peace and happiness, too, and now they possess their mental faculties
unimpaired and have quite good health. Mr. Hill farmed for two years after his
marriage; then, in 1843, in company with Jesse Applegate and others, he started
on the perilous journey across the plains with oxen, Mr. Applegate being captain
of the company, and he also supplying Mr. Hill and others with their outfits. On
the Osage river the first-born of Mr. and Mrs. Hill died, and was buried there.
The journey was a successful one; and gratifying because this was the first
wagon train to come through for Fort Hall, and the party had to make its own
roads, sometimes in the bed of the river, sometimes along the banks of the
stream and then over the steps, the men preventing the wagons from overturning
by holding to ropes made fast to the wagon bodies, as they backed them down the
steep places.
     A second child was born to our subject and his wife at Burnt river,
September 27, 1843; that babe being now Mrs. Diantha Jenkins, residing at
Aquina. Peter H. Burnett was with this party and at the South Platte, Dr.
Whitman met it and gave directions as to the best route to take, his assistance
proving most timely and valuable. The party remained at Walla Walla three weeks,
making three skiffs and a batteau, with which to make the passage down the
river. The lumber for the boats was sawed, Mr. Hill being the top sawyer. At
Walla Walla McKinley was the chief factor, and the members of the party traded
him the cattle, for which they were to receive Spanish ones in the valley; but
it turned out otherwise, and when they reached Vancouver they complained to Dr.
McLoughlin, who said: "Tut, tut! You can't use these wild cattle. We will winter
them for $1.50 per head, and you can have your own in the spring." The Doctor
sold them supplies on credit, to be paid in wheat when they raised it, and was
very kind in many other ways. Hard indeed would have been their lot had it not
been for the good doctor; for the poor fellows were almost destitute when they
reached him.
     Mr. Hill proceeded direct to Washington county and settled upon what is now
known as the Hallett place. He was one of the very earliest settlers in that
part of the county, his nearest neighbors being from six to ten miles away,
Sydney Smith being one, and Alvin T. Smith another. Mr. and Mrs. Hill began life
in a little log house without any floor, and had very little to use in
housekeeping, the most precious thing being a little pot, in which they boiled
and roasted and baked, in fact, did all their cooking in it and their washing,
too, and they ate from it after the food was cooked. It had served all these
purposes all the way across the plains, and they yet have it, a precious relic,
in fairly good preservation, of those trying times of 1843. After residing upon
the farm named, for eighteen months, they sold it for 400 bushels of wheat, that
being the currency of the country in those days, and took the farm now occupied,
two and one-half miles east and south of the other. Upon it they built a log
house and moved into it March 15, 1845. Mr. Hill enclosed a small field and
sowed and planted, later assisting in sawing the lumber for the mill on Gales
creek. The third child was born before they had a floor to their house; but they
soon had a good hewed log house, in which they were both comfortable and happy.
Mrs. Hill says they were a year and a half in Oregon before there was another
white woman in her house. During the Cayuse war Mr. Hill volunteered, but before
reaching the front, tidings came that the command he was with was not needed. He
was a fine shot and one of the most successful hunters among all the Oregon
pioneers. When it seemed they would be shut off he put his faith in his trusty
rifle and feared not. Many deer, panthers and bears have fallen a prey to his
unerring rifle. Indians were plentiful about him; but he got along with them
very nicely, learning their language and making friends with them. Their tongue
is still very familiar, and it is amusing to hear the old gentleman rattle it
off at a two-four gait, to his own gratification. One day an Indian came to his
house with the determination to kill him, because of some real or fancied injury
received at somebody's bands. He brandished a huge knife and presented a
ferocious appearance to Mr. Hill, who was upon the roof of the house when the
Indian entered the yard. His mind acting quickly, Mr. Hill sprang from the roof
with the intention of getting hold of an ax that lay upon the ground; but the
wily savage forestalled him, by stepping between him and the ax, threatening him
with the glittering blade in his band. Mr. Hill stood undaunted before the red
man, and flashed his sharp gray eye in wrath. Beneath its steady, dangerous
gleam, the savage became cowed, and after a few moments slunk away. Speaking of
the occurrence Mr. Hill said", "I could have killed him, but I didn't." This is
but one of many perils through which our subject passed.
     In 1860 the hewed log house gave way to one of frame, a somewhat
pretentious residence, in which the worthy pioneer couple have lived ever since
in great comfort, and with probably as great share of happiness as falls to
mankind any where. Of their fourteen children the following are living: Francis
M. is married and resides near his parents; Margaret, wife of William O.
Campbell, and Kryphena, wife of Edward Mooney, reside at Pendleton; Hannah, wife
of Herbert Cowles, lives in the Yam Hill country; Sarah Jane, wife of John
Brisban, lives in North Yam Hill; Almoran Lincoln is married and lives on the
home farm; Diantha, the oldest, is the wife of Mr. Jenkins and living at Aquina;
besides the following are dead: Narcissa, when eighteen; Mary Ann, when
twenty-two; Ulysses Grant, when fourteen; Wilson Bowlby died in infancy; Amanda
and Neta Caroline. As the names of the children indicate, Mr. Hill is a Union
man and a Republican. Indeed, he is ardently devoted to the one and an
enthusiastic supporter of the other. Ever since the birth of the Republican
party he has followed unswervingly its leaders and has done no small part in his
community to strengthen its forces. He has been a Mason for forty years, having
been made one at Hillsboro, and was one of the charter members of Holbrook Lodge
at Forest Grove. Mr. Hill has vivid recollection of the pioneer days that would
supply data for a very large book of stirring scenes and great perils in the
early times. He and his estimable wife are known and highly esteemed by all the
old pioneers of the State, as well as by the younger generation, who love them
for their sociable and hospitable ways and for their gentle, kind and
considerate natures.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in April 2009 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.