Items which have sold or are otherwise no longer available have been moved to the Sold Items Archive

OREGON

RFG-889. Oregon Central Railroad, Pass, OR 1873

Original railroad pass issued to Medorem Crawford, a Director of the Oregon and California Railroad, and signed by stage coach king Ben Holladay.

Holladay (1819-1887) was certainly one of the most famous of the western stage coach line owners. His Overland Mail & Express Company bought the bankrupt Pony Express in 1862, and sold all his routes to Wells Fargo in 1866 when the company consolidated and made a major move to get all the western express business. He owned a steamboat line from Oregon to San Francisco, and after moving to Oregon, became involved in the development of Oregon’s first railroad, which was anything but simple.

Two competing lines, both shown on this card, tried to secure financing and start a railroad along the Willamette River from Portland to California, joining at the Central Pacific Railroad. Incredible political maneuvering by Holladay pushed the railroad through. This pass was issued at a time when the political fights were still at a high.

While some checks are known signed by Holladay, this is the only pass, inclusive of stage passes, that we are aware of still existing signed by Holladay himself. Extremely Fine  with slight discoloration. The pass measures 3 1/2 x 2'. $2,200.

RFG-891. Oregon City. Oregon Territory Promissory Note, 1848, Oregon City, OR Territory 13-Dec 1848

No. 914 Five Dollar circulating order check #914 for 6% interest, payable to J.S. Baker and signed by Wm. K. Kilborn. Check is in Extremely Fine condition with light discoloration on edges and faint creasing. Mr. Baker may be a relative of E.D. Baker, Oregon Senator and namesake of Baker County, Oregon killed at the beginning of the Civil War. This piece is important because it is datelined Oregon City at the beginning of the California Gold Rush. Oregon City was laid out in 1842. Located on the Williamette River the sight was a political and trading center. This piece is also important because it spells out Oregon Territory, which is rare to find on printed documents. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $10,500.

RFG-892. Portland. Bank of British Columbia Second of Exchange, Portland, OR 8-Jun 1883

Second exchange check payable to the Bank of British Columbia for $200 signed B. Newman. R7. Very Fine. $175.

RFG-893. Portland. Corbett & Company First of Exchange, Portland, OR 4-Jan 1868

No. 110 First exchange check for $1700.63 Signed H.W. Corbett. R7. Tape repairs to the reverse. Otherwise Good condition. $150.

RFG-894. Portland. Wm Huntley Hampton Assayer Speech, Portland, OR c 1889

Handwritten Speech -Mineral Wealth of the Northwest. $450.

RFG-895. Portland. Ladd & Tilton First of Exchange, Portland, OR c 1870

Specimen check written as exchange with vignette of birds eye view of Portland. $150.

RFG-897. Portland. Tracy & King, Portland, OR 24-Nov 1862

This is an R8 with two known. Both came from the Corbett & Failing Archive. This firm is the predecessor of the Portland, Oregon Wells Fargo Assay Office. Fine with dark burn stains on reverse and center crease. No photograph.$3,000.

RFG-899. Portland. Wells Fargo Second of Exchange, Portland, OR 23-Feb 1860

No. 171188 Second of exchange. Rare Portland exchange, separated along fold at center, signed by E.W. Tracey on reverse. Tracey ran the Assay Office in Portland at the time. $750.

RFG-901. Washington County. Oregon Territory Letter, 3-Apr 1853

Handwritten letter from Jas. Davies to “The Brothers of the Mishawaka Lodge UD of Free and Accepted Masons, St. Joseph County, Indiana” regarding hardships after relocation to Oregon, asking to have dues waived.  He also speaks of his wife passing on, the pricing of goods in detail and Davies’ cattle business.  His wife died within two months of his arrival.  He states, “I am pleased with Oregon as a country and prospect of making a living,” and “I have located about 12 miles form Oregon City, six miles from Milwaka and seven from Portland.”  He also says, “Portland is destined to be the New York of Oregon” and “It is bad to send money from here as there is nothing here but gold and silver.  I have not seen any paper money since I crossed the Missouri River.  I will enclose a gold dollar in this sheet to pay the secretary for his trouble.”  The mention of a gold dollar being sent east from Oregon in 1853 is significant and important because it may possibly further the evidence that privately minted California Small Denomination Gold coinage, also referred to as CSDG or Fractional Gold, did freely circulate in the Oregon Territory during this period. 

During the early 1850’s miners and settlers in the Oregon Territory were dealing with the same severe shortage of U.S. coinage as gold rush California and other areas of the west.  While the United State Mint had been striking and distributing U.S. gold dollars since 1849 from its facilities in Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega and New Orleans, slightly more than six million coins were put into circulation between the years 1849 through 1852.  Surly during their first years of issue very few, if any, of the newly minted U.S. gold dollars would have made their way to distant and remote areas of the west.  However, as early as 1852 CSDG was being struck and place into circulation “locally” by several San Francisco makers.  In recent years Dan Owens and other researchers have brought to light sufficient evidence, which substantiates beyond any doubt, that Fractional Gold Coinage widely circulated during the years 1852 to 1856, and the date of this letter clearly falls within that time frame.  The letter is datelined Stashing OT (Oregon Territory).  The piece has a printed circular cancel “Portland, O.T.”, a nice, rare, early, western territorial cancel. Fine. $3,250.