Archives West Finding Aid

William C. North was born in 1871 in Tennessee, and came to Oregon at age 18. He served with the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Regiment in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars. In 1901, he married Eva Inez Scott; the couple had three sons and a daughter. North worked in the Multnomah County Assessor's Office and in the insurance industry in Portland, Oregon. He served as a colonel in the Oregon National Guard in World War I. North was active in Republican politics, serving in the Oregon State Legislature for the 1921, 1925, and 1927 sessions. He died suddenly while playing golf on August 31, 1930.

Domingo Vaquerigo Ruiz was born in Toledo, Spain, in 1871. He was soldier in the Spanish garrison in Manila, Philippines, when American forces attacked that city in 1898. Following the city's surrender, Ruiz befriended members of the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Regiment, including William C. North, and later, during the Philippine-American War, he treated American soldiers who were suffering from malaria. The men of the 2nd Oregon subsequently allowed Ruiz to return with them to the United States. Ruiz later became an American citizen and lived in Sycamore, near Portland, Oregon. In 1936, he presented veterans of the 2nd Oregon with a Spanish flag he had taken down and hidden on his person during the battle of Manila. Ruiz died in December 1944.