Patriotic Rivalry at Oak Point
When steamer crewmen beat the local ladies to the punch on a flag-raising ceremony, the women reclaimed the duty themselves.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Pursuant to previous notice, the citizens in the vicinity of Oak Point assembled on June 11, 1861, for the purpose of hoisting a Union flag at the Oak Point Mills. The ladies of Oak Point later issued a communication to the gentlemen of the steamer Multnomah, who had unceremoniously raised their own flag at the wharf on that same morning. The ladies expressed their distrust of the men’s gallantry for anticipating the privilege they had hoped to enjoy, informing the gentlemen that the flag was pulled down and hoisted again by the ladies’ own patriotic hands.
“We cannot forget, though we will try to forgive the unpleasant indignity, since you are evidently Union men.”
This vignette of civil conflict at the local level captures the intensity of the early Civil War period in the Pacific Northwest. While thousands of miles from the front, local communities were deeply invested in the symbolism of the Union, often leading to awkward social confrontations like this one at Oak Point.
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