Robert Newell Letter to Medorem Crawford, 1866-1952

Robert Newell (1807-1869) was born in Zanesville, Ohio. He entered the Rocky Mountain fur trade in 1829, working with William Sublette, David Jackson, and Jedediah Smith. Pursuing a gold rush in Idaho, he was wiped out during a massive flood. Newell then secured a job as an interpreter at Fort Lapwai, and participated in the Nez Perce Treaty of 1863. He received a plot of land in Lewiston, Idaho after the treaty. Newell died in November of 1869.

Medorem Crawford (1819-1891) was born in Orange County, New York. He crossed the Great Plains with the Elijah White wagon train on their journey to Oregon Country. He, along with others in the party, entered the Willamette Valley in 1842. In a returned trip to visit his father, Crawford was pressured into joining the United States Army. He assisted Captain William Murray Maynadier in taking emigrants to Oregon via the Oregon Trail. After his resignation from the Army, he was appointed collector of internal revenue for Oregon by President Abraham Lincoln. Later he served in the Oregon House of Representatives when the territory finally became a state. He died on December 26, 1891.