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31 chapters
Oregon Historic Landmarks WILLAMETTE VALLEY
Oregon Historic Landmarks WILLAMETTE VALLEY
Oregon Society Daughters of the American Revolution The Blockhouse at Dayton, Oregon This building was a military blockhouse built at the Grand Ronde Indian Agency by Willamette Valley settlers in 1856. U. S. Troops were sent to the station the same year and it was named “Fort Yamhill.” Among the famous Army officers stationed at this fort were Phil Sheridan, Joseph Wheeler, A. J. Smith, D. A. Russell, and W. B. Hazen. By permission of the U. S. Government, Fort Yamhill was moved from Grand Rond
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Joe Meek Donation Land Claim Harvey E. Tobie, Ph.D., author of “No Man Like Joe”
Joe Meek Donation Land Claim Harvey E. Tobie, Ph.D., author of “No Man Like Joe”
Oregon’s first sheriff and marshal, Colonel Joseph LaFayette Meek, should be remembered, not so much as a witty adventurer, a part much overplayed by writers, but as one of the very most important—at times the most important—political leaders in this northwest society. True, distance and lack of formal education limited his contribution, especially to national developments. The fact that his mother was a member of the important Walker family, that his uncle Joseph married Jane Buchanan and that
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The West Union Baptist Church Ruth McBride Powers
The West Union Baptist Church Ruth McBride Powers
Oregon Historical Society “We the undersigned agree to pay the sum annexed to our names severally for the purpose of Erecting a house of worship; to be the property of the West Union Baptist Church of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour; said house to be built in Washington County O. T., upon a lot of land furnished by David T. Lenox which the said Lenox and wife secures to the church by lease as long as they shall use it for a house of Worship, together with a burying ground, the lot of land is o
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Old College Hall Irene S. Story
Old College Hall Irene S. Story
According to the caption on the bronze marker placed by the Multnomah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution on May 12, 1939, “College Hall (is) the oldest building in continuous use for Educational purposes west of the Rocky Mountains. Here were educated men and women who have won recognition throughout the world in all the learned profession.” In this building Tualatin Academy developed into what is now Pacific University. When the Academy was chartered in 1849, the classes met in
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General Joel Palmer Home Carl H. Francis
General Joel Palmer Home Carl H. Francis
The impressive home of General Joel Palmer, with its stately columns, catches the eye and excites the curiosity. In Dayton’s City Park one of the few authentic blockhouses remaining, compels attention, and each year thousands of tourists read that it stands as a memorial to General Palmer; out of the dusty past ride the well-known figures of Sheridan, Grant, Russell (who died at the Battle of Winchester), Wheeler, (both of the Confederacy in the War between the States and of the Union in the Spa
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George Fox College Mercedes J. Paul
George Fox College Mercedes J. Paul
Ten years after William Hobson settled near the site of Newberg in 1875, the Friends had opened an academy for their children, the first Quaker school in Oregon and the forerunner of Pacific College, now George Fox. In 1883 the pioneer Quaker parents, feeling the need of education for their children beyond that offered in the Oregon public schools, brought the subject of building an academy before the Monthly Meeting. Mary Edwards, Dr. Elias Jessup, David Wood, and Ezra Woodward were appointed t
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Belleque House Helen E. Austin
Belleque House Helen E. Austin
George W. Eberhard, at the age of 22, arrived at San Francisco by way of Panama from the State of Michigan. He remained in California for five years and came to Oregon by boat in 1859. The following year he bought 320 acres of the Pierre Belleque farm above Champoeg. At that time only 60 acres were cleared. He paid $1,500 for this land which had been farmed by the Belleque family over 25 years. Because of technical regulations in the Land Grant laws, no clear title had been issued, and it was 28
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Champoeg Farm House Henry Zorn
Champoeg Farm House Henry Zorn
The house on Champoeg Farm was built between 1867-70, by John Hoefer and Casper Zorn. It is a combination of southern and western design, a two-story frame building, consisting of fourteen rooms. The structure has a brick pillar foundation and the pillars are covered with zinc sheeting, to protect the sills from moisture. The fir lumber used in the building was produced on the farm and wrought-iron square nails were used in the construction. In the front part of the house the lumber was planed,
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The Old Mission Hospital Robert Moulton Gatke
The Old Mission Hospital Robert Moulton Gatke
In the late fall of 1834, under heavy rains, Jason Lee and his few co-laborers built the log cabin which was to house the Oregon Indian Mission of the Methodist Church. The crudely built cabin of twenty-by-thirty feet was on the banks of the Willamette River, about ten miles below the present city of Salem. As the mission became an Indian orphanage and school, and its mission workers and their families increased in numbers, the log cabin received additions; and a small colony of cabins serving a
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The History of Wheatland Ferry Mrs. Ross Rogers
The History of Wheatland Ferry Mrs. Ross Rogers
Wheatland Ferry crossed the Willamette River at a very historical pioneer spot. Jason Lee chose the location for the first Methodist Mission of the valley, a short distance south of the village of Wheatland on the east side of the river. There were no roads, so traveling was by water or horse-back, and the first river crossings were in Indian canoes, with often a horse swimming behind. In 1837, David Leslie came to help at the Mission, bringing his wife and three daughters. They lived in a log c
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George Kirby Gay Lenna J. Wilson
George Kirby Gay Lenna J. Wilson
Oregon Historical Society George Kirby Gay was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1796. Gay went to sea at a very early age as a messboy on a voyage to the South Sea Islands and other foreign ports. He left London on the whaler “Kitty.” Landing in New York, he made his way westward to Missouri, where he joined the Pacific Fur Company as camp-tender. Soon he started the overland trek through the wilderness, arriving at Astoria in 1812. The following year, Gay left Astoria and for years sailed t
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The Amity Church Dr. James Matthew Alley
The Amity Church Dr. James Matthew Alley
The Amity Church of Christ was born in a pioneer log cabin about two miles north of present-day Amity in March of 1846. This makes it the oldest Christian Church of the Disciples of Christ, west of the Rocky Mountains. Elder Amos Harvey, a pioneer of 1845, was the organizer of this congregation of thirteen charter members. In a letter to an Eastern religious journal, he tells of the humble beginning of this congregation in these simple words: “We met, as the disciples anciently did, upon the fir
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Bethel College Dr. James Matthew Alley
Bethel College Dr. James Matthew Alley
Oregon Historical Society In the figures of the 1850 census, there were no illiterate persons in Polk County. This was due to the high quality of the pioneers who settled in this area of present-day Yamhill and Polk Counties, which was called “The Athens of the West.” Between the years of 1843 and 1860 some of the best educated and most dedicated men ever to come over the Oregon Trail gravitated to this section of the Oregon Territory. Wherever they settled they started a school and a church. Ma
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La Creole Academy at Dallas Joseph D. Lee
La Creole Academy at Dallas Joseph D. Lee
In Waverly, Ohio, Nicholas Lee and Sarah Hopper were married August 4, 1840. That same year they moved from Ohio to Iowa, while Iowa was still a territory. In the spring of 1847, they left for Oregon, fully equipped with a good team of oxen, two cows (Rose and Lilly) and necessary household goods. Raids by Indians upon the cattle of the train and losses by stampedes left them practically without a team. They threw away much of the household goods and fortunately purchased a yoke of oxen (Dave an
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The David Stump House in Monmouth David Campbell
The David Stump House in Monmouth David Campbell
David Stump, of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, was born in Ohio on October 20 (or 29) 1819. As guard, outriding scout and hunter, he came to Oregon with the immigrant train of 1845. An experienced surveyor, his services were in demand for surveying the virgin territory of what is now Benton, Polk, and Yamhill counties. In 1851, he was married to Catherine Elizabeth Chamberlin, who had come, a child of nine, with her family in the wagon train of 1844. David and Catherine Stump took up a donation claim
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Christian College—Oregon Normal School—Oregon College of Education David Campbell
Christian College—Oregon Normal School—Oregon College of Education David Campbell
The early settlers in the Willamette Valley were not only provident and God-fearing, they were also deeply concerned with higher education for their young people. Academies and colleges sprang up in many of the valley communities. A group of prosperous farmers in Polk County, consecrated members of the Christian Church, gave land and financial support to found a church-affiliated school at Monmouth, to become known as Christian College. In 1869, Thomas Franklin Campbell was engaged to head this
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Fort Hoskins Preston E. Onstad
Fort Hoskins Preston E. Onstad
The site of Fort Hoskins, Benton County’s first military post, was chosen by second lieutenant P. H. Sheridan with the help of Oregon Indian Superintendent, Joel Palmer. The name Hoskins was chosen by the Fort’s first commander, Captain Christopher Colon Augur, as his first official order, on July 26, 1856. For the next nine years Fort Hoskins served as the home and training ground of regular U. S. Army troops as well as volunteers from California, Washington, and Oregon. Although a few troopers
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Bishop Simpson’s Chapel Madeleine L. Nichols
Bishop Simpson’s Chapel Madeleine L. Nichols
In 1858, the old Simpson’s Chapel was completed. It stood on a hill about halfway between the present towns of Bellfountain and Alpine. The church was built of hand-planed lumber and was a plain oblong with three windows on each side and a porch in front. It was surrounded by oak trees, many of which are still standing and which served as hitching posts for horses. The history of the Alpine community may be said to have had its beginning at the time of the erection of two buildings, the Ebenezer
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The Mitchell Wilkins Family Home Lucia Wilkins Moore
The Mitchell Wilkins Family Home Lucia Wilkins Moore
Painting by Lucia Moore. In 1847, Mitchell Wilkins and his young wife, Permelia Ann Allen, then eighteen, arrived on foot at “The Falls.” He was twenty-nine. Their wagon, plus goods and tools, were beside the Barlow Road with the last-dying oxen. Permelia’s father Robert Allen, still driving wagon and ox team, made their last miles easier. The three pushed on from Oregon City toward Silverton and, on October 1, came to Butte Creek. There they halted to build cabins, plow, and plant. Ten months l
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The University of Oregon Nina Wilkins McCornack
The University of Oregon Nina Wilkins McCornack
Oregon Historical Society Deady Hall, the first building of the University of Oregon, was the realization of a great dream. In 1803, a Government policy was declared for the purpose of establishing State universities, this to apply to any state entering the Union after that date. Forty-seven years later, in 1850, by a donation land act, the Territory of Oregon was given this grant. At first, state politicians handed the Capitol to Salem, the Penitentiary to Portland, and the University to Corval
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The Applegate House Josephine Evans Harpham
The Applegate House Josephine Evans Harpham
Boychuk Studio Applegate, one of the most famous names in Oregon history, belongs to a family whose origin was English. As early as 1635, there were Applegates who came to New England, and from there they went to New Jersey, thence to Maryland, and on to Kentucky in 1784. In 1843, three Applegate brothers, Charles, Jesse and Lindsay, became greatly interested in the far Oregon country and made their departure from Missouri (Independence). Jesse’s experience had included school teaching, sawmill
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The Cartwright House Josephine Evans Harpham
The Cartwright House Josephine Evans Harpham
Boychuk Studio One of Lane County’s most historic, most well preserved, and architecturally charming houses is that known as the Cartwright place or Mountain House hotel. It is located on the Old Territorial Road, three miles south of Lorane, Oregon, and is now the property of Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Thompson. It was built in 1853 by Darius B. Cartwright. Dee, as he was familiarly known, was born near Syracuse, New York, February, 1814. In 1832 he served in the Black Hawk War. Some years later his fa
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The Condon House Josephine Evans Harpham
The Condon House Josephine Evans Harpham
Boychuk Studio The early-day house of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Condon stands at 1268 Jackson Street near 13th Avenue West. The home, built in the late seventies, originally stood at the Southwest corner of 11th and High Streets and was purchased by the Condons in 1882. It is a two-story house of wood construction with approximately ten rooms, which include a parlor and a charming living room with an old brick fireplace and plank walls, 2×10 and 2×12, set vertically. In earlier days a low white railin
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The Christian House Josephine Evans Harpham
The Christian House Josephine Evans Harpham
The historic house at 170 East 12th was built by Daniel Christian, III, about 1855. In 1852, a year of great westward emigration, Daniel Christian, III, his wife, and five children, joined a party of over 100 wagons headed by Samuel and John Alexander, whose destination was Oregon. This well-managed train encountered few real difficulties. It was well supplied with dried fruits, berries, corn, and flour, while the cows provided milk, cream, and butter. They escaped the dread cholera and had no t
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The Montieth House Henrietta Stewart Brown
The Montieth House Henrietta Stewart Brown
Although modern in appearance, this was the first house in Albany, built by Thomas and Walter Montieth in 1849. The house was erected on the corner of Second and Washington streets but since has been moved back from the corner. The house was much smaller when first built but has been remodeled and enlarged several times. The most extensive remodeling work was done by Henry Wolz in 1925. Although remodeled, the original Montieth house is still embodied in the structure. In 1845, Abner Hackleman h
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Providence Baptist Church Lenore Powell
Providence Baptist Church Lenore Powell
Helen Horton The Reverend Joab Powell was of Quaker descent, born on July 16, 1799, in Claiborne County, Tennessee. He went to Missouri in 1832, crossed the plains by covered wagon train with his large family in 1852, and took up an Oregon Donation Land Claim south of Scio, Oregon. The next Spring he had his farm underway, so that he, several members of his family, and neighbors built a log church in a beautiful fir grove on a hilltop on his farm. They named it Providence Baptist Church, and on
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White Spires United Presbyterian Church Mrs. Wayne Dawson
White Spires United Presbyterian Church Mrs. Wayne Dawson
Helen Horton In the late 1840’s, missionaries of two branches of the Presbyterian faith—the Associate and the Associate Reformed—arrived in the Willamette Valley. In July, 1850, Dr. T. S. Kendall organized the Associate Presbyterian Church in the Oakville neighborhood, and this is still a strong rural church. In 1851, Wilson Blain arrived in the valley. He had lived in Oregon City and had been editor of the “Oregon Spectator.” He organized a church at Union Point, near Brownsville, Oregon. Other
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Boston Mills (Thompson Mills) Lottie E. Morgan
Boston Mills (Thompson Mills) Lottie E. Morgan
Helen Horton “Boston Mills” was a familiar name to early Oregon pioneers. It was one of the early gristmills. Men would take their wheat by horseback or in wagons from miles around to this mill and take home the flour for their families. Boston, like many other settlements, hoped to be a city and perhaps the county seat. Eliza Finley Brandon (Mrs. Thomas Brandon), 1850-1948, says: “My father, Richard Chism Finley, built the original mill at the old town of Boston in 1856-1858. He owned a half in
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The Chase Orchard Fannie Chase
The Chase Orchard Fannie Chase
Oregon pioneers must have had a diverting time clearing the land, planting orchards, tilling fields, and erecting homes. Doing all the planning called for constructive creation and real achievement. However, I wonder whether the one who moves into a ready-made house doesn’t have even more thrills and flights of imagination. I consider myself a fortunate mortal to dwell in a place with an interesting historical background. I was fascinated by the Oregon farm that my father and mother bought, near
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History of Early Albany Schools Mary Myrtle Worley
History of Early Albany Schools Mary Myrtle Worley
The account of perhaps the first instruction given in Albany, dates back to the 1840’s. Since there were not enough children in the community for organization of a school, it cannot be classed as one. Mrs. Abraham Hackleman gathered a few small children into her home, a log house which stood in Hackleman’s Grove, and taught them reading, writing and numbers. The following incident illustrates the very busy life of these pioneers: When it came time for the geese to be picked, Mrs. Hackleman did n
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Linn County Courthouse Florette Nutting and Helen J. Horton
Linn County Courthouse Florette Nutting and Helen J. Horton
Linn County, Oregon, is a mountain and river-valley region, extending from east to west from the summit of the Cascade Mountains to the Willamette River. The Santiam River and the Calapooya River, tributaries of the Willamette River, which have their sources in the Cascades, traverse the valley at approximately the county’s northern and southern boundaries. In mounds south of Albany have been found human skeletons, and utensils and weapons of possibly Indian manufacture, pointing to the custom o
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