McGowan, George

From Lane Co Oregon

GEORGE McGOWAN. To George McGowan's Scotch virtues of initiative and thrift the town of Burns, Oregon, owes its municipal life and to his love for the immortal Scotch poet, Robert Burns, it owes its name. George McGowan was one of the pioneer settlers of the great northwestern America, one of the sturdy, determined men to whom the country is indebted for the development of this great and prosperous region. He was born in Banffshire, Scotland, in 1845, the son of James McGowan, who died when his son was still an infant. George McGowan was the first of the name to come to America, crossing from Glasgow, Scotland, to Sydney, Australia, and thence to San Francisco, where he arrived in 1864. He immediately enlisted in the United States army service and was sent to San Diego and he and his company were appointed to guard the pack trains between Fort Yuma and Fort Whipple, Arizona. The Apache Indians were at that time in a state of insurrection and travel in that section of the country was extremely perilous. In the course of an engagement with the savages George McGowan was wounded in the hand by an arrow but continued in the service until the close of the war, when he was mustered out at Presidio, California, receiving his honorable discharge as a private. He went to, and remained in San Francisco for a short time and engaged in business there but later came to Oregon and located in Lane county, near Eugene. Here he remained until the spring of 1882, teaching school and later engaging in the mercantile business. He was one of the early pioneer settlers of Harney valley. He formed a partnership with an old and wealthy pioneer named Peter Stenger and under the firm name of McGowan & Stenger opened a small store near a place called Egan, one and a half miles from the present townsite of Burns. Their original building is still standing but the business was moved one year later to the location where this city now stands. George McGowan made application to the United States government for post office privileges and founded the town which he named in honor of his national poet, Robert Burns, for whose work he had always had the most profound admiration. The partnership of McGowan & Stenger continued until 1888, when George McGowan sold out his interest in the enterprise and went into the hardware business, in which he continued until- 1890, and was extremely successful during that time. After he founded the town of Burns he directed his energies toward the formation of Harney county, which was then a part of Grant county, governed by a county commission. He was one of the leaders who induced the government to create what is now the Burns land district and was appointed under the Cleveland administration the first receiver of the office. He served in this capacity only a short time for when President Cleveland's term expired he resigned his office and devoted his entire attention to his hardware business until 1890, when he sold out to Mr. Calvin Geer. Mr. McGowan then removed to Portland, Oregon, where he engaged in the grocery business until his retirement from active life in 1910. In -1873 George McGowan was married in Cottage Grove, Oregon, to Miss Mary Jane Martin, a native of that city and a daughter of Louis Martin. They became the parents of four children: Jessie, now the wife of J. J. Walker, of San Francisco; Archie; James Edmund, now in business in Spokane, Washington; and Grace, the wife of B. B. Fleckenstein, of Portland. Mr. McGowan is possessed of rare energy and the power of concentration. He is well known for his initiative and ability to organize and to these virtues the city of Burns is indebted for much of its present prosperity as well as its past remarkable growth.' He was the first postmaster of the city and was responsible for obtaining for the city post office privileges at an early day in its foundation. He was a charter member of Harney Lodge, No. 77, I. O. O. F., and was the first noble grand master of that order. He is now spending the evening of his honorable life in retirement at Portland, Oregon, where he is well known and greatly beloved. The second son, Archie McGowan, received his early education in the public schools of Burns and later attended Portland high school. From there he went to the University of Oregon at Eugene and after his graduation engaged in business with his father, continuing in that connection until 1899. His failing health compelled him to travel at this time and he went north to Alaska as far as Kotzebue sound, where he remained for six months. The healthful outdoor life soon caused him to recover his health and he returned to Burns where he engaged in general farming and stock-raising for five years. Then he sold his farm and stock and engaged in the real-estate business in Burns and has been remarkably successful in this line during the seven years in which he has been connected therewith. He does a large amount of business each year and has already sold over a half million dollars worth of land. Archie McGowan has a firm faith in the future of his native section. He considers the farm lands of the great northwest the richest and the stock-raising business to be one of the most advantageous pursuits open to man along commercial lines. He is engaged in the developing of the agricultural districts surrounding Burns and owns and controls several hundred acres of choice farm land in Harney valley. He was married in April, 1905, to Juanita Smith, of Kansas, a daughter of Harry C. and Mollie L. Smith, residents of Burns. They are the parents of one child, Burns McGowan. There is scarcely a line of activity in this city in which Archie McGowan is not an active and dominating force. He has filled all of the chairs of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has received all of the honors open to him in that organization. He is grand master of the district and has been delegate to the grand lodge several times. The qualities of concentrated industry, remarkable business instinct, the faculty for organizing and developing which have made his father one of the pioneer settlers of Burns and a prominent man in its commercial and social history, have been handed down to the son.