THE GREGON SPORTSMAN 163 
SPORTSMEN OWE DEBT OF GRATITUDE 
S a tribute of respect and in memory of the late Judge Owen 
N. Denny, who introduced the Chinese or Denny pheasant into 
Oregon, the sportsmen of the state, who owe him a deep debt of 
eratitude, are actively engaged in taking up a popular subscription for 
the benefit of his widow, Mrs. Gertrude Jane Denny, who resides at 
375 Sixteenth street, Portland, Oregon. 
The home of Mrs. Denny is involved and a mortgage covers it so 
that a considerable sum of money is needed to free her from obliga- 
tions and allow her to retain the home during the remainder of her 
life. Some time ago the members of the Oregon Sportsmen’s League 
discovered these conditions, adopted a resolution explaining the situa- 
tion, and directed Dr. Earl C. McFarland, the president of the League, 
to inaugurate a movement with the above object in view. Dr. McFar- 
land, assisted by other well-known sportsmen throughout the state, now 
has the work well in hand, and the reports coming in indicate that 
the object will be crowned with success. It is anticipated there will 
be a most liberal response to the request for funds, which the League 
has sent out to the different sportsmen’s organizations and to indi- 
viduals. 
Every sportsman of Oregon, as well as every sportsman of the 
Nation, is interested in the Chinese, or Denny pheasant, the game bird 
par excellence, and will realize the debt of gratitude due to the memory 
of Judge Denny. All should and will do their mite. Sportsmen are 
requested to contribute $1.00, or more, to the Mrs. Gertrude Jane Denny 
Fund. Small individual contributions will make up a large total, and 
this, it is thought, will be sufficient to liquidate the claims that now 
embarrass Mrs. Denny, and provide a lasting, living monument to the 
memory of this honorable man and the protection of his faithful and 
honorable wife in her 80th year. 
It has been stated by an eminent authority on pheasants that in 
1893, there were more Chinese pheasants in Oregon than in the Chinese 
Empire. Credence is lent this statement when it is remembered that it 
was reliably estimated that in one year 30,000 were killed in one county 
alone, and the same year 1,200 dozen were shipped to the San Francisco 
market. This was at the time these noble game birds received little 
if any protection by law. There could be no better testimonial of the 
adaptability of the Chinese pheasant as a game bird than this last 
statement, which came from no less an authority than Judge Denny, 
the man who introduced the pheasant into Oregon, and after whom 
the bird is often called. 
The Chinese pheasant, besides his gameness and delicate flesh, is 
unquestionably one of the most ornamental of the game birds. He is 
a native of the northern part of China, being found as far north as 
the Armour River and as far south as Shanghai. The pheasant has 
succeeded over the larger part of Europe, even as far north as Sweden. 
On this continent it does well in Canada and Nova Scotia, and in all 
parts of the United States, but nowhere has its introduction been 
attended with such prolific results as in the Willamette Valley in 
Oregon. 
Mrs. Denny, a prominent pioneer woman and survivor of the Whit 
man massacre, which occurred during the early settlement of this coun- 
try, contributes the following sketch of the life of her husband for 
The Sportsman: 
Judge Owen N. Denny was appointed to an unexpired term and 
elected one term following, as Cireuit Judge of Wasco County, at the 
