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Table of Contents:
Chapter
47
: freedmen's aid societies and an act of congress creating a Bureau of refugees, freedmen and abandoned lands
Chapter
55
:
first
appropriation by congress for the bureau; the reconstruction Act,
March
2
,
1867
; increase of educational work
Chapter
60
: opposition to Bureau and reconstruction work became personal; the
Congregational Church of
Washington
Chapter
62
: life in
Washington, D. C.
,
1866
to
1874
; assigned to duty in regular army as commander,
Department of the Columbia
Chapter
63
: in the
Northwest
, among the
Indians
; trip to
Alaska
; life in
Portland, Ore.
;
1874
to
1881
Chapter
64
: superintendent of the
United States military Academy
; commanding
Department of the Platte
,
Omaha, Neb.
Chapter
68
:
French
army maneuvers,
1884
; promotion to
Major General
,
United States army
,
San Francisco
1886
-
88
[473] Owing to my pecuniary condition on leaving Washington, I was forced to do something to earn money over and beyond my pay. Of course, by extreme economy something could be saved of the salary, though when it is remembered that for some time we were paid in greenbacks, a depreciated currency, and lost at least a quarter of the face value, it will be seen that the needs of a large family would not allow me to save much. It was then that I began to write for publication. My first effort was “Donald's school days,” an attempt to put the New England school life of my youth into a story for boys. My publishers succeeded in getting quite a circulation. In the winter of 1876, at the request of D. H. Stearns, during his absence of three months, I wrote the editorials for his paper, The Portland Bee. This work did not require much of my time. I have preserved the editorials until to-day. I remember thinking I would try an experiment and so wrote sketches of our public men of the past, of Presidents and other statesmen, comparing and contrasting them with the statesmen of that day who were well known to the country. My efforts worked so well that the paper increased in circulation. One day Judge Deady of the United States District Court met me, and not knowing that I was connected in any way with the paper said: “What has happened to the Bee?It seems to have taken on a new life.” His compliment pleased me and made me redouble my efforts to give interest and strength to the editorial work. A little later I wrote also for magazines and monthlies, particularly reminiscences of the Civil War.
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