Born in Wayne County,
Indiana, Isaac V. Mossman was the son of
George Mossman & Hannah (Brown). His
family moved from Indiana to Mercer County,
Illinois in about 1838 and settled near
Keithsburg.
In
1853, Isaac crossed the river at Council
Bluffs as a member of the Miller's Train in
May and arrived at Oregon City, Oregon on
October 20th. Two years later, he enlisted
with the Company G of the first regiment of
the Oregon Mounted Volunteers and fought in
the Yakima Indian War where he was wounded in
the Walla Wall Battle.
After
being treated by Dr. Johnson near Fort
Dalles, Isaac did light work and chores to
pay for his board. While his leg was broken,
he was taken for treatment and cared for at
the Umatilla House, a village hotel at The
Dalles where he remained for several months
and where he was enumerated in the 1860
census.
In
the latter part of this year, Isaac went to
Walla Walla, Washington Territory and lived
there on the farm of W.S. Gilliam on Dry
Creek, about ten miles from the town of Walla
Walla. In April he started a Pony
Express carrying letters, small packages and
treasures on horseback, between the town of
Walla Walla and Orofino gold mines in the
mountains east of the Snake River in the area
which is now Clearwater County, Idaho.
In
1863 Isaac's business "Mossman &
Company" was acquired by Wells, Fargo
& Company. He then returned to the
Willamette Valley and later moved to Olympia,
Washington Territory. Due to bad health and
injuries during the Yakima Indian Wars, Isaac
was unable to work and filed for a pension
which took several years to obtain.
Isaac
married Martha Eleanor Jackson in Eugene,
Oregon on 15 Oct 1861 and they were the
parents of nine children: Clara, wife of
William Hoover (2) Harry Mitchell; Minnie,
wife of Charles O. Hill; Frank who married
Anna Rose Hoskins; Ida, wife of William
Yeager; Lula; Frederick; Gussie; Annie, wife
of William J. Redmond; and Lottie who was
married to William Devaull.
Isaac
died at the age of eighty-two at the old
Soldier's Home in Roseburg, Oregon on 10 Oct
1912 and was laid to rest in Olympia,
Washington. His widow Martha, daughter of
Willis Jackson & Mary (Rich) died 21 Sep
1930 in Hollywood, California at the age of
eighty-six.
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