Shaver, F. A., Arthur P. Rose, R. F. Steele, and A. E. Adams, compilers. "An Illustrated History of Central Oregon." ("Embracing Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Wheeler, Crook, Lake, & Klamath Counties") Spokane, WA: Western Historical Publishing Co., 1905. p. 584. ROBERT L. MORRIS is one of the substantial farmers of Gilliam county and resides at Mayville. He was born in Lafayette, Oregon, on June 16, 1869. Clayburn Morris, his father, was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and crossed the plains with ox teams in 1852, making settlement near LaFayette, in the Willamette Valley. He was among the very first to settle there and was a prominent pioneer and leading citizen. In the fifties he removed to Tygh Valley and was one of the first settlers in that region. He worked upon the now well known Shearer's bridge. He erected the first stone structure in Tygh Valley and followed merchandising, trading with the Indians. He also raised stock until the winter of 1861-2, the year of heavy snow and cold, which caused him the total loss of his horses and cattle. He returned to the Willamette valley in 1863 and was there waylaid and murdered by a highwayman. He had participated in the Rogue river Indian war and was a fearless and skillful Indian fighter. He had married Miss Malinda Walters, a native of Missouri, who crossed the plains with him. She was a relative of W. J. Bryan, the noted orator. In 1873, she married Captain F. Withers and in 1881 they removed to eastern Oregon and settled one mile east from where Mayville now stands. There Captain Withers died in 1889. Mrs. Withers survived him three years. She was a member of the Christian church, a noble woman, and beloved by all who knew her. She leaves two children, our subject and Mrs. F. E. Smith, of Fossil, Oregon. Our subject was only a boy when he landed in Gilliam county and here he gained his education and grew up. His first employment was as a cowboy and he rode the range all over this country and in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Finally he returned to this section and secured his present estate of four hundred and eighty acres. Since then he has devoted himself to general farming and has met with good success. In 1902, Mr. Morris married Miss Lainey Herndon, a native of the Willamette valley and who came to central Oregon when a child. Her father, Clark Herndon, was a pioneer of Oregon. Mr. Morris is a member of the I. 0. 0. F., and is a progressive and industrious man. He always takes a lively interest in educational matters and politics and is a man of good standing. He has won a good success and has done the pioneer's work in a land where his father was one of the very first settlers and left a splendid record. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2011 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.