Esther Short

by Jason, grade 3, age 9

The statue in Esther Short Park is not of her but in honor of pioneer mothers that protected their children and made Vancouver a city. In 1929, the statue was placed in Esther Short Park. The sculptor was Avard Fairbanks, and it was payed by Mr. and Mrs. E.G. Croford.

Esther Short should have been holding a gun to protect her children not from Indians but from the Hudsons Bay Company. She married a man named Amos Short in 1829 and started a family. They heard that there were 640 acres of land of land in Oregon Territory. They decided to move to the west with the wagon train in 1845. On September first, Esther had her first baby. They named him Grant Hall Short.

Land west of the fort and north to 10 th street was not claimed. They filed a claim for it with the Provisional Government but Hudsons Bay Company thought that the Shorts did not have the right to the land they tried and tried to force them off the land. For example, they ripped down their fence, trampled their garden, chased the farm animals into the forest, and burned down their cabin three times. The Shorts took their time with their ten kids and built it over.

One horrible day was when Dr. Gardner fought with her husband Amos over the land. When they came Amos warned them to stay away. He was armed with a gun. They would not leave. Amos shot him, killed the kanaka servant, and Dr. Gardner got badly hurt. Amos got arrested by the Hudson's Bay Company. Luckily Esther got the American troops to move the jury to Hillsboro. Hillsboro let him go because it was self defense.

In 1852, Amos grew a large potato crop and went to California to sell the potatoes. Everything there was getting good prices because of the gold rush. On the way home the boat Amos was riding sank at the dangerous part of the Columbia River. Everyone on the boat drowned. Esther was a widow now, and with ten kids she had barely any money. So for the next nine years she ran a hotel and restaurant to get money for her kids and her. Esther finally got a land claim with the Donation Land Act. In 1855, Esther designed a town plat for Vancouver. There was a town square which is now known as Esther Short Park. The park is the oldest deeded park west of Mississippi River.