Charles E.S. Wood

Charles Erskine Scott Wood (1852-1944), from History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon, 1910. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Charles Erskine Scott Wood
Born	February 20, 1852(1852-Template:MONTHNUMBER-20) Erie, Pennsylvania
Died	January 22, 1944(1944-Template:MONTHNUMBER-22) (aged 91) Los Gatos, California
Other names	C.E.S. Wood
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	United States Military Academy
Occupation	Author, attorney, soldier, lawyer, satirist
Known for	Heavenly Discourse
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Nanny Moale Smith, Sara Bard Field
Children	Nan Wood Honeyman, Erskine Wood I

Charles Erskine Scott Wood (or C.E.S. Wood) (February 20, 1852 - January 22, 1944) was an American poet, prose author, civil libertarian, soldier, and attorney.

Life

Youth and education

Wood was born in Erie, Pennsylvania.

He graduated from West Point in 1874.

He served as an infantry officer and fought in the Nez Perce War in 1877. He was present at the surrender of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. It was Wood who translated, and perhaps embellished, Chief Joseph's famous speech: "My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." The 2 men became close friends.

Oregon politics

Wood with son, Erskine. Courtesy Oregon Encyclopedia.

Following Wood's military service he became a prominent attorney in Portland, Oregon, where he often defended labor unions and "radicals" including birth control activist Margaret Sanger. He began to write, became a frequent contributor to Pacific Monthly magazine, and was a leader of Portland's literary community.

In 1896, Wood was Oregon’s sole representative on the national committee of the National Democratic Party, known as the Gold Democrats. The party, which had the blessing of Grover Cleveland, championed defense of the gold standard and free trade.

Like many Cleveland Democrats, including his long-time friend Mark Twain, Wood joined the American Anti-Imperialist League. The League called for the United States to grant immediate independence to the Philippines and other territories conquered in the Spanish-American war.

As a lawyer during the early 20th century, Wood represented dissidents such as Emma Goldman. His politics verged upon anarchism. He wrote articles for radical journals such as Liberty, The Masses, and Mother Earth.

Wood was unflagging in his opposition to state power. He advocated such causes as civil liberties for anti-war protesters, birth control, and anti-imperialism. In 1927, he wrote in Heavenly Discourse that the "city of George Washington is blossoming into quite a nice little seat of empire and centralized bureaucracy. The people have a passion to 'let Uncle Sam do it.' The federal courts are police courts. An entire system with an army of officials has risen on the income tax; another on prohibition. The freedom of the common man, more vital to progress than income or alcohol, has vanished.”

Later years

From 1925 until his death in 1944 Wood lived with his 2nd wife, Sara Bard Field, in Los Gatos, California, in a house named "The Cats."

During his lifetime, he numbered among his friends Chief Joseph, Emma Goldman, Ansel Adams, Robinson Jeffers, Clarence Darrow, Childe Hassam, Margaret Sanger, and John Steinbeck.

Wood was the father of Nan Wood Honeyman, Oregon's 1st U. S. congresswoman.

Writing

Wood is best known as the author of 1927 satirical bestseller, Heavenly Discourse.

Recognition

In popular culture

Wood was portrayed by Sam Elliott in the TV movie I Will Fight No More Forever. In the film, he is a United States Army captain who fights in the Nez Perce War.

Publications

Poetry

• The Poet in the Desert. Portland, OR: Press of F.W. Baltes, 1915; New York: Vanguard Press, 1929.
• A Christmas Cantata. Portland, OR: Press of F.W. Baltes, 1915.
  • New York: Vanguard Press, 1929.
• Maia: A sonnet sequence. Portland, OR: privately printed, 1918.
• The Testament of Charles Erskine Scott Wood. Portland, OR: privately published, 1921.
• Rome: a poem. San Francisco: privately printed at the Grabhorn Press, 1924.
• Poems from the Ranges. San Francisco: Lantern Press, Gelber-Lilienthal Inc., 1929.
• Selected Poems. San Francisco: privately printed at the Grabhorn Press, 1937.
• Sonnets to Sappho. San Francisco : privately printed by E. & R. Grabhorn, 1939.
• Collected Poems. New York: Vanguard Press, 1949.

Plays

• A Masque of Love. Chicago, W.M. Hill, 1904.

Novels

• The Legend of King Luke of Brittany. Portland, OR: F.W. Baltes, 1912.
• The Beggar at the Gate. Portland, OR: Press of F.W. Baltes and Co., 1913.
• Civilization ... Portland, OR: 1914.
• The Woodchild: A Christmas tale. San Francisco: J.H. Nash, 1919.
• The Beautiful Wedding. Los Gatos, CA: privately printed, 1929.

Short fiction

• A Book of Tales: Being some myths of the North American Indians. New York: Vanguard Press, [1929].

Non-fiction

• "Among the Thlinkits in Alaska."" New York: Century, 1882.
• Heavenly Discourse . New York: Vanguard Press / New Masses, 1927.
• Mark Twain; with comment (with John Henry Nash), San Francisco: Book Club of California, 1935.
• Earthly Discourse. New York: Vanguard Press, 1937.

Collected editions

• Wood Works: Life and writings (edited by Edwin Bingham & Tim Barnes). Corvalis, OR: Oregon State University Press, 1997.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Poems by Wood

1. Fuschias and Geraniums

See also

• Cowboy poets
• List of U.S. poets

References

Books

• George Venn, Soldier to Advocate: C.E.S. Wood's 1877 Legacy (La Grande: Wordcraft of Oregon, LLC, 2006) ISBN 1-877655-48-1
• Robert Hamburger, Two Rooms: The Life of Charles Erskine Scott Wood (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998) ISBN 0-8032-7315-0
• Edwin Bingham and Tim Barnes (eds.), Wood Works: The Life and Writings of Charles Erskine Scott Wood (Corvallis: Oregon Sate University Press, 1997) ISBN 0-87071-397-3
• Edwin R. Bingham, et al., (eds.), Charles Erskine Scott Wood (Boise, Idaho: Boise State University, 1990) available online via Western Writers Series Digital Editions ISBN 0-88430-093-5
• Erskine Wood, Life of Charles Erskine Scott Wood: A Renaissance Man (Vancouver, Washington: Rose Wind Press, 1991) ISBN 0-9631232-0-3

Articles

• David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito, "Gold Democrats and the Decline of Classical Liberalism, 1896–1900," Independent Review 4 (Spring 2000), 555–75.
• George Venn, "Soldier to Advocate: C.E.S. Wood's 1877 Diary of Alaska and the Nez Perce Conflict", Oregon Historical Quarterly Spring 2005 (12 November 2005)
• Ted Mahar, "Oregon icon who fought conventional wisdom", Special to The Oregonian newspaper (9 February 2008)

External links

Poems

• 2 poems by Wood: "Sunrise," "First Snow"
• from "The Poet in the Desert"
• Wood in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "The Buddha," "Kitty," "Songs from 'The Adventurer'," "Fuschias and Geraniums," "[

Prose

• The Pursuit and Capture of Chief Joseph. Appendix in Chester Anders Fee, Chief Joseph: The Biography of a Great Indian, Wilson-Erickson, 1936. Retrieved from pbs.org 2008-04-08.
• Among the Thlinkits in Alaska, The Century , vol. 24, issue 3 (July 1882)
• Chief Joseph, the Nez Perce,The Century vol. 28, issue 1 (May 1884).
• Famous Indians, The Century , vol. 46, issue 3 (July 1893).
• An Indian Horse Race, The Century , vol. 33, issue 3 (Jan 1887)

Audio / video

• Oregon Experience, "C.E.S. Wood", A documentary by Oregon Public Broadcasting (11 February 2008) A video preview.

Books

• Collected Poems at Amazon.com

About

• Charles Erskine Scott Wood (1852-1944) at Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and Poetry
• C.E.S. Wood (1852-1944) in the Oregon Encyclopedia
• C.E.S. Wood: Soldier, attorney, writer in the Oregon Blue Book