Around the state in the summer of 1861, flag poles were being set up in various towns, on which the national colors were hoisted. Confederate sympathizers in Oregon, referred to derogatorily as "secesh" by opposing Unionists, occasionally replaced the flag of the Union with that of the Confederacy. At the now-vanished town of Linn City, Oregon, on Monday, July 1, 1861, Pease and fellow steamboat captain James D. Miller led a group of pro-Union citizens in raising a flag pole, at the top of which was placed a Union flag made by the women of the city.
