1912: Address delivered at…Grand Ronde! (Part 4 of 5)
I made a new mini-series when…
…Q’alis and Alex Code sent along the “Address Delivered at Dedication of Grand Ronde Military Block House at Dayton City Park, Oregon, Aug. 23, 1912” by M. C. George, published in The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Mar., 1914), pp. 64-70.
Here’s the next-to-last installment, and it’s an oldie but a goodie.
This often-repeated anecdote gets told in a new, different version on page 68:
You doubtless recall Sen. Nesmith’s experience during the war. Some officer in the Army of the Potomac sent up a telegram in jargon to the Senator, which, however, fell into Sec. Stanton’s hands as a suspicious document. Stanton readjusted his spectacles and took a good look at it, and then called in several advisers; but no one could figure it out. It appeared to be a diabolical plot and probably treasonable. Things looked serious until by chance it was handed to Gen. Rufus Ingalls, who readily saw that it was a mere invitation in Chinook to come down to the seat of war and bring a bottle of the best brand of whisky — presumably for medicinal purposes.
