Wasco-Benton County OR Archives Biographies.....Cates, Daniel L. May 7, 1857 - 
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Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 19, 2008, 1:04 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     DANIEL L. CATES.  Conscientious and efficient, Daniel L. Cates has 
thoroughly demonstrated his worth as a public servant and for eleven years has 
been city recorder of The Dalles.  He is a loyal Oregonian and a member of one 
of the honored, pioneer families of the state. The following account of his 
career was written by Fred Lockley and published in the Oregon Journal under 
date of November 29, 1927:
     “‘I was born in a log cabin on the Long Tom, near Starr’s Point, in 
Benton county, May 7, 1857,’ said Mr. Cates. ‘My father was John Cates, who 
was born on September 30, 1825, in Hopkins county, Kentucky. His father’s name 
was Alexander Cates. His mother’s maiden name was Nancy Phipps and she was 
also a Kentuckian. My father left the Blue Grass state in 1844, when he was 
nineteen years of age, and went to Missouri with an uncle, John Newton. They 
settled near Linneus, in Linn county, and there father was married February 
14, 1847, to Sarah Ellen Grice, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She was a 
daughter of Daniel Grice, who went from that state to Kentucky and later 
located in Linn county, Missouri.  Father and his brother-in-law, Daniel 
Grice, built houses. In those days all lumber, including the flooring, was 
dressed by hand. Father had taken up a place in Linn county and in addition to 
working at his trade, raised corn and tobacco.
     “‘In April, 1850, father started for the gold fields of California, 
crossing the plains with F. B. Flournoy and his relatives. They took the usual 
emigrant route during the first part of the trip and went by way of the cut-
off to Fort Hall. The Nemaha river was crossed on rafts built by members of 
the party and at Salt creek they were detained for two days. After crossing 
the Salt river they struck the Platte in Nebraska at the foot of One Hundred 
Mile island. There were few accidents on the trip, though in the early part of 
it an exciting incident occurred in the Pawnee country. One morning a man came 
riding toward them at top speed on a fine grey horse and warned them of 
Indians who had attacked a train in advance of them.  Three parties of 
emigrants had left Missouri at about the same time, the Flournoy train, the 
one attacked by Indians and what was called the Ohio train. The last consisted 
of forty men without a woman or child among them. There were two Indians in 
sight in an elevated position, signalling to the band that led in the attack 
and informing them of the movements of the whites. The Ohio train rushed in 
from the rear on horseback and soon reached the Indians. The wagons of the 
Flournoy train were placed in a double row and the party advanced as rapidly 
as possible. After robbing the women of their jewelry and taking as much food 
and clothing as they could lay hands on, the Indians escaped and no one was 
injured. The Flournoy train followed the route to the crossing of the 
Portneuf, which runs into the Snake river, and then traveled to the south, 
crossing the Raft river. As they followed its course they came to that 
remarkable creation of nature, the Thousand Spring valley, containing those 
famous soda springs which vary in temperature from boiling hot to ice cold and 
which cover an area of several square miles. Proceeding through what was 
afterwards called the Landers cut-off, they came out on the Green river and 
followed its course to St. Mary’s river. After passing the three Humboldt 
lakes they 1 were warned by a note tacked up by the roadside of danger from 
Indians. Two men had been killed and a little farther on the body of an Indian 
was found lying in the road. At the foot of the last lake two roads separate, 
one leading to the Carson river and the other to the Truckee river. The party 
followed the Truckee road and about September 17, 1850, camped where the 
Donner party endured their sufferings and where some met their tragic deaths 
in 1846. They could see plainly where the trees had been cut down and limbs 
cut off of others ten or twelve feet above the ground, showing how deep the 
snow must have been when they camped on it.
     “‘The Sierras were crossed and they soon reached Nevada City, where 
father worked for a while at four dollars a day. Later he took up a claim on 
Poor Man creek, finding dirt which paid him thirty dollars a day with pick and 
pan. After working the claim for a month the heavy snow drove him out and he 
went back to Nevada City, where he spent the winter. Next spring he found a 
claim from which. he averaged eight dollars a day. In company with three other 
miners he engaged in prospecting on Kanaha creek. They struck a claim where 
they took out fifty dollars a day. As soon as their grub was gone they went 
back to Nevada City and brought out twelve hundred pounds of supplies on seven 
pack horses. They found their claim had been jumped, so they struck out down 
the creek and struck another claim even richer than the first. On July 4, 
1851, the four of them took out over six hundred dollars. They averaged about 
one hundred dollars a day. My father’s partners became dissatisfied and 
thought they could find a richer ground, so he bought them out and worked the 
claim until late in the fall of 1851. Downieville, the nearest post office, 
was twelve miles distant by mountain trail.
     “‘In the fall of 1851 father went to Grass valley and followed the 
carpenter’s trade. He worked on a hotel and was paid ten dollars a day. After 
the hotel was built he went to Sacramento and from there to San Francisco, 
where he bought a ticket for Panama. He had to pay sixteen dollars for the use 
of a mule to ride twenty-six miles across the isthmus to connect with a boat. 
After he had ridden about two-thirds of the way he overtook a miner, who 
offered him eight dollars for the use of the mule for the remaining eight 
miles, so father walked the rest of the way. He had to pay a fare of ten 
dollars on a rowboat which took him to the Atlantic side of the isthmus. The 
natives were having a revolution and told the Californians to keep off the 
streets so they wouldn’t get hurt. However, the Americans wanted to see what 
was going on, so one of them was killed, as well as a number of natives. The 
American consul sent out to the Cherokee and Ohio, which were anchored in the 
stream, and got a brass six-pounder and an iron cannon. He put these so he 
could sweep the street and told the natives that if they fought any more or 
killed any more Americans he would turn the cannon loose, so they decided to 
quit fighting.
     “‘Father’s baggage consisted of a pair of blankets, a carpetbag and a six-
shooter.  He bought a steerage ticket for New York for fifty dollars. The 
first cabin ticket was seventy-five dollars. After he got on the boat he paid 
the purser five dollars extra to sit at the first cabin table and have a cabin 
like the first class passengers. The Ohio was a sidewheeler and there were 
about two hundred returning gold miners aboard. At Havana they transferred to 
the Georgia for New Orleans. In the Crescent city he paid sixteen dollars for 
a ticket to St. Louis and made the trip of about twelve-hundred miles on the 
Patrick Henry. At St. Louis he took passage on a small boat called the Lewis 
F. Linn, for Brunswick, the great tobacco trading point on the Missouri, 
traveling with Washington Leach, who had been his companion in the mines of 
California and on the returning sea voyage.
      “‘Father had been gone nearly two years and had never received a letter 
from home, so he didn’t know whether his wife was alive or dead. At Brunswick 
he hired a rig to drive to Linneus, where he had left mother. When he arrived 
there he found that his father-in-law had sold out and that mother had gone to 
Jive with Uncle Newton. He hired a man to drive him out to the Newton place. 
He bought a house and lot for three hundred dollars and got a job as carpenter 
at a dollar and a quarter a day.
     “‘In the spring of 1853 father started overland for Oregon, leaving Linn 
county on April 10 with a company of ten wagons. In the party were father’s 
cousin, Ambrose Newton, who brought his wife and three children. He had two 
wagons, with four yoke of oxen to each, and was accompanied by three young 
men, who came along to work for their board. Father had one wagon, three yoke 
of oxen and two cows. In his wagon were himself, mother, Sarah, the baby, and 
a young man named Washington Ward, who went along to work for his hoard. The 
members of the train chose father as their captain because of his previous 
experience in crossing the plains.  The emigrants drove to St. Joseph, 
Missouri, and thence up the river, which they crossed at Council Bluffs. They 
took the south side of the Platte. A large party of Pawnee Indians accompanied 
them almost to Ash Hollow. There my father and Mr. Wiley went on a hunting 
expedition. Father killed a big buffalo and they loaded their horses with 
meat. When they were hunting a hail storm came up which was so severe that the 
cattle couldn’t face it. They turned around and drifted with the storm.
     “‘One night a buffalo cow and calf came into the camp, and as the members 
of the party had just killed a fat antelope, they stopped over next day and 
jerked the meat of the two buffaloes and the antelope. On the Bear river in 
Utah six saddle horses were stolen. Father lost a good horse. He said that 
when he and Fowler were looking for the horses they met an Indian on a cayuse, 
while his squaw was mounted on a big roan horse. Father had a rifle with 
inlaid silver work and the Indian tried to take it. Father pulled out his Colt 
revolver and the Indian changed his mind, and the last father saw of him and 
the squaw they were making their horses go as fast as they could. The next day 
the party arrived at Steamboat Springs, where an Englishman had a trading 
station. After crossing the Malheur river they went down the Snake and struck 
Burnt river at a point where Huntington was afterward built. They passed 
through the Powder River valley below the place where Baker City is now 
located and there father suffered from blood poisoning, which endangered his 
life. After coming into the Grande Ronde valley they passed Medical lake and 
in the Blue mountains stayed over night at Lee’s encampment, now Bingham 
Springs. Then they proceeded down the Wild Horse through what is now the 
Umatilla Indian reservation, finding Indians there who were raising corn and 
potatoes. After reaching Deschutes they made their way down Ten-Mile creek and 
thence to Tygh valley. They passed through the Barlow tollgate and down Laurel 
Hill, soon afterward coming to the Big Sandy valley. On September 9 they 
reached Foster’s famous ranch and on the 11th crossed the Willamette at 
Portland on a capstan and two horses.
     “‘In crossing the plains father lost both cows and one of the steers. On 
leaving Portland he went to Wapato lake, in Washington county, Oregon, and 
lived in the house of Isaac Peet. In 1854 father and Fred Flora took a 
contract to get out timbers and build a barn for Captain Doty in Yamhill 
county. Father next built a granary for Mr. McLeod on Tualatin plains. Later 
he built one for Dorris Young and also erected a grist mill on the Tualatin 
river for Parsons & Gibson. They paid him seven dollars a day and he took his 
pay in flour, which he sold in Portland. From Tualatin plains he moved to the 
Long Tom, in Beaten county, where he bought, for three hundred dollars, a 
quarter section. Forty acres of the tract had been fenced and there was a good 
house on the place. Father bought a land entry of one hundred and sixty acres 
for one hundred and twenty dollars and took up the adjoining quarter section. 
The first loom on the Long Tom was constructed by father, who built it for 
Mrs. Ferguson. He was paid forty dollars for the job. Mrs. Ferguson wove 
homespun cloth.
     “‘In the fall of 1859 father sold the ranch and moved east of the 
mountains. He bought a new wagon, a span of mules and ninety head of cattle. 
He hired John Florence to drive the stock over the Barlow trail to the Dennis 
Maloney place, near the present site of Dufur. Father traded our place to Mrs. 
Upton for two large mares, Pet and Pigeon. Afterward father moved to Eight-
Mile creek, purchasing a farm from “Big Steve” Edwards, and there mother died 
in the fall of 1862, leaving two sons and two daughters, one a baby less than 
a year old. The hard winter of 1861-62 nearly wiped father off the map 
financially. He had only thirty head of stock left when the snow went off in 
the spring.
     “‘In 1863 father made arrangements with Jake Broadwell to run the farm 
and took us to the Griffin place, on the Long Tom. Mrs. Susan Griffin, my 
mother’s sister, died shortly alter we children went there. Father and Fred 
Flora had started in the spring of 1863 with a herd of cattle for the Orofino 
mines in Idaho. Hearing of Aunt Susan’s death, he came and got us, taking us 
up to Eight Mile, near The Dalles. My sister did the housework. When J. C. 
Broadwell bought the place my sister Sarah and I stayed with him for two 
years. After that Sarah went to The Dallas and stayed at the home of Pete 
Ruffner. My brother Willie went to Idaho with my father, who purchased a mine 
in the Boise basin and later moved to Rocky Bar, in Alturas county, that 
state. He was absent two years and brought home fourteen hundred dollars.
     “‘Afterward father moved to The Dalles and turned his attention to the 
lumber industry. He built a mill on Fifteen-Mile creek near the Meadows, also 
owning a mill on the Columbia, opposite Wind river, and this he later sold to 
Joseph T. Peters. While operating the plant he built a small steamboat to 
handle the lumber. After disposing of his mills father worked for a time at 
his trade and aided in constructing the shoe factory in North Dalles. In 1873 
father married Mrs. Elizabeth Herbert, a widow, who had two children: Mrs. 
Jane Sherer, deceased; and George A. Herbert, now a resident of Baker, Oregon. 
The mother of these children passed away at The Dalles and father’s death 
occurred at Cascade Locks, Oregon, in 1909. My sister Sarah, the oldest of the 
family, was born in Missouri in 1849. On May 10, 1870, she became the wife of 
William Frizzell, and her demise occurred in 1924 at Cascade Locks. My brother 
William was born in Benton county, Oregon, in 1854 and is now living in 
Oakland, California. I was the third child and my full name is Daniel Lycurgus 
Cates. My sister Susan was born February 14, 1860, in Wasco county, Oregon. 
She became the wife of W. H. Wilson, a well known attorney of Portland, 
Oregon, and died February 14, 1922.’”
     In the acquirement of an education Daniel L. Cates attended the public 
schools at The Dalles and one of his instructors was Professor S. P. Barrett. 
From 1878 until 1882 he was in the employ of his father, who at that time was 
operating a saw mill above Cascade Locks, where the town of Wyeth is now 
located. His lumber yard at The Dalles was managed by Daniel L. Catcs, who 
afterward became a bookkeeper for John H. Larsen, a dealer in wool and hides. 
His commission house was located on East Second street at The Dalles, where 
Mr. Cates remained until 1886, when he was appointed a deputy under George 
Herbert, sheriff of Wasco county, and acted in that capacity for four years. 
In 1890 he was elected sheriff and served for two years, thoroughly justifying 
the trust reposed in him. In August, 1892, he located at Cascade Locks, 
opening a general store, which he conducted during the construction of the 
locks. About five hundred men were at work and in 1896 the locks were 
completed by J. G. and I. N. Day. At that time Mr. Cates disposed of the 
business and established a drug store, of which he was the proprietor for two 
years. Crossing the Columbia river, he purchased a tract of three hundred and 
twenty acres in Skamania county, Washington, and applied himself to the task 
of clearing the land. He cut down the timber, which he sawed into logs, and 
disposed of them at a good figure. A few years later he sold the ranch and in 
November, 1909, returned to The Dalles. Prosperity had attended his various 
undertakings and for a time he lived retired. In 1917 he was prevailed upon to 
reenter the arena of public affairs and has since been city recorder. His 
duties are discharged with characteristic thoroughness and fidelity and his 
continued retention in the office proves that his services are appreciated.
     On October 9, 1889, Mr. Cates married Miss Alice DeHuff, who was born 
February 23, 1865, in Portland, Oregon. Mrs. Cates is the ninth in line of 
descent from Jan Stryker, who was horn in Holland in 1615 and emigrated from 
Ruinen, a village in the province of Drenthe, with his wife, two sons and four 
daughters, arriving at New Amsterdam in 1652. The mother of these children was 
Lambertje Seubering, who died several years after the family came to America. 
On April 30, 1679, Jan Stryker married Swantje Jans, who was the widow of 
Dornelis de Potter, of Brooklyn, and died in 1686. On March 31, 1687, Jan 
Stryker was again married, his third union being with Teuntje Teunis, of 
Flatbush, the widow of Jacob Hellakers, of New Amsterdam. She survived her 
husband, who was a man of prominence in colonial days. In 1654 he was elected 
chief magistrate of Midworet and according to the Colonial History of New 
York” he was a member of the embassy sent from New Amsterdam to the lord 
mayors in Holland. The history also states that he became a representative in 
the general assembly on April 10, 1664, a member of the Hempstead convention 
of 1665, and was commissioned captain of a military company on October 25, 
1673. His brother, who also came to this country, was named Jacobus Garretsen 
Stryker. Jan Stryker and his first wife had a large family.
     Pieter Stryker, their ninth child, was born November 1, 1653, in 
Flatbush, New York, and on May 29, 1681, married Annetje Barends. She died 
June 17, 1717, and his demise occurred June 11, 1741. He was high sheriff of 
Kings county, Long Island; judge of the court from 1720 until 1722, and was 
made captain of a foot company in 1689. On June 1, 1710, he purchased four 
thousand acres of land on Millstone river in Somerset county, New Jersey. It 
does not appear that he ever lived on this property but his sons, Jacob and 
Barends, and his grandsons, the four sons of Jan, removed from Flatbush to New 
Jersey. Pieter and Annetje (Barends) Stryker had eleven children.
     Jan Stryker, their third child, was born August 6, 1684, and in 1704 
married Margarita Schenck. She was a daughter of Johannes Schenck, of 
Bushwick, Long island, and died in August, 1721. His second wife was Sara 
Bergen, a daughter of Michael Hansen Bergen, of Brooklyn, New York. She was 
baptized June 2, 1678, and married February 17, 1722. Her death occurred July 
15, 1760, and her husband passed away August 17, 1770. He was a member of the 
Kings County militia.  Jan Stryker had nine children by his first wife and 
five by the second.
     Pieter Stryker, the eldest child of his first wife, was born September 
14, 1705, at Flatbush, Long island, and about 1723 married Antje Deremer. 
About 1730 he removed to Somerset county, New Jersey, and on November 9, 1750, 
both he and his wife joined the Dutch Reformed church of New Brunswick, New 
Jersey. His second wife was Cabrina Buys and on August 17, 1766, both were 
members of the church at Millstone, New Jersey. Death summoned him on December 
28, 1774. He had eleven children by his first wife and one by the second.
     His son, John Stryker, the eighth child of his first union, was born 
March 2, 1740, and became captain of the Somerset County militia but was 
afterwards attached to the state troops. His marriage with Lydia Cornell was 
solemnized November 13, 1763, and on March 25, 1786, he responded to the final 
summons. His wife was born March 15, 1746, and died November 4, 1795. John and 
Lydia (Cornell) Stryker were the parents of ten children.
     James I. Stryker, the ninth, was born October 25, 1780, and on March 7, 
1804, married Ann Margaret Friese. She was born November 5, 1782, and died 
about 1826 in Cayuga county, New York, while his demise occurred December 14, 
1825. Their family numbered eight children.
     The seventh, Henry Francis Stryker, was born April 20, 1821, in Auburn, 
New York, and in Plattsville, Grand county, Wisconsin territory, was married 
December 13, 1843, to Mary Ann Hart. She was born July 3, 1827, in Montgomery 
county, and was a daughter of William and Clarissa Hart. Mrs. Stryker died 
December 2, 1860, in Vancouver, Washington, and her husband’s death occurred 
in that city on December 21, 1861.
     Their oldest child, Emily Frances Stryker, was born October 18, 1844, in 
Southport, Wisconsin, and at Portland, Oregon, was married May 10, 1864, to 
Peter Wolf DeHuff. He was born September 1, 1835, in York, Pennsylvania, and 
died June 20, 1916, at The Dalles, Oregon, while his wife passed away May 25, 
1918, at Spokane, Washington. In their family were four daughters, of whom 
Alice is the eldest. By her marriage to Daniel L. Cates she became the mother 
of four children. Harold, the first son, was born November 20, 1890, at The 
Dalles and is cashier of the Mexico Development Company at Tia Juana. His 
brother Albert was born July 22, 1894, at Cascade Locks and is employed in a 
hardware store at The Dalles. The daughter Ruth was born August 29, 1892, at 
The Dalles and her life was terminated at Pendleton, Oregon, January 16, 1916. 
The fourth child died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Cates have two grandchildren, 
Albert Cates and Robert DeHuff Cates.
     Mr. Cates takes a keen interest in fraternal affairs and is a charter 
member of The Dalles Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, in which he has filled 
all of the chairs. While a resident of Cascade Locks he aided in forming the 
Elks lodge of that place and is a life member of The Dalles Lodge, No. 1, of 
that order. He is a York Rite Mason and holds a life membership in Al Kader 
Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Portland, while he also belongs to the local 
camp of the Woodmen of the World. In all matters of citizenship he is loyal, 
progressive and public-spirited and his personal qualities are such as make 
for popularity.


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 423-428

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