Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

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Thum

Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by Thum » January 4th, 2012, 11:31 pm

I have been doing some research about the origin of the names surrounding some of the creeks and areas along the Wilson River. I have mostly used documents about the Tillamook Burn but also lots of other sources like Oregon Geographic Names by McArthur and countless web sources. Here is a list I have compiled. If anyone has any more even remotely related info I would really appreciate it:):) Hopefull this will give a little background to the names of the places some of us visit so much:)


* Gales Creek - Joseph Gale owned land near present day Gales Creek and Gales Peak. He was a trapper, politician and moved here in 1834 from Washington D.C.

* Browns Camp - Victor Brown owned land near the Summit TH off highway 6 just west of the Gales Creek campground.

* Reehers Horse Camp - James F Reeher owned land where the North Fork of the Wilson River meets the main fork. He operated a small hotel out of his house called the White House on the Wilson.

* Lester Creek, Lester Pinnacles and Lester Creek Falls - Joseph B. Lester owned a homestead where the Diamond Mill OHV staging area is today. The name Lester lives on in the Lester Creek Pinnacles, Falls and the creek itself.

* Jones Creek - John Jones and David Jones owned two pieces of land right next to eachother near Jones Creek and today's Jones Creek campground.

* Smith Homestead - There were several Smith's in the area. Walter J. Smith owned a piece of land right next to/just southwest of James Reeher and B. Smith owned land just east of Reeher near todays Lees camp.

* Scotty Dog Timber Sale - John W. "Scotty" Anderson owned the land claim inbetween B. Smith and Mr. Reeher.

* Ryan Creek(Ryan Creek is a tributary of the Wilson, the Wilson River trail crosses many of ryan creeks side streams as it heads towards keenig creek) - Dennis W. Ryan and F. Ryan owned land near the Footbridge TH and where Ryan Creek meets the Wilson River.

* Kings Mountain - A man named C. King lived south of Jordan Creek goind toward Tillamook, im not sure if Kings mtn is named after him or not as he lived a fair ways away.

* Rogers Camp/ Rogers Peak - Nelson Rogers roll in the area came later than the previously mentioned settlers. He was a forester in the 1940's who played a big role in the rehab of the forest after the burns.

* Wilson River - Apparently there is some controversy on the origin of the name. Early settlers called the river the Georgia River or Georgie River. It seems the Wilson was named after Henry W. Wilson who was the first man to move dairy cows into Tillamook County from Astoria/Seaside in the 1850's and 1860's. Some believe he was the beginning of the incredible dairy production that still exists in that area today.


If anyone has anything to add or correct me on please do. Much of the information on the land claims/holdings came from Ellis Lucia's great book, Tillamook Burn Country. I would really love to know more about the history of this amazing area so help me out if you can:)

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Eric Peterson
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Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by Eric Peterson » January 5th, 2012, 6:40 am

Great stuff Thum!

I'm pretty sure Dog Creek is named after a dog, if that helps?

:D

But when are you going to find out which creek is wrongly named Dog?

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Crusak
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Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by Crusak » January 5th, 2012, 7:43 am

That's very cool! And now you've got me thinking that it would be interesting to do some snooping around myself to learn a bit more about the history of my favorite stomping grounds.
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Thum

Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by Thum » January 5th, 2012, 9:38 am

Thanks guys

hahaha idk, Im confused on who to call lol. If i call the state they will say usgs is wrong, if i call usgs they will say the state is wrong :lol: actually, i shouldnt borrow trouble or assume wrongly so maybe i will email an try to find out.

crus- yes, anything you find would be awesome and i'd love to know :)

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Koda
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Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by Koda » January 5th, 2012, 12:15 pm

Great topic Thum, its always fun to learn about the history of the land. Here is one I like.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiotville,_Oregon
lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

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Dustin DuBois
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Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by Dustin DuBois » January 5th, 2012, 1:53 pm

Ahh neat stuff!

I like to research a lot of the stuff in town and along the columbia river, as that's where most of my travels go. Over the last couple of years though I've started getting out into more of the wilderness areas so I have a lot of research to do =D.
Hi!

Thum

Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by Thum » January 9th, 2012, 12:48 pm

hahah thanks koda, i missed your link when i checked last time. seems like ive been spending too much time up in idiotville lately:shock:

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Roy
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Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by Roy » January 9th, 2012, 1:47 pm

thats great your looking at the history of an area i am a history nut on my own stuff. we just cant forget these pioneers in IMO. they were the the real loonies.

Koda you to.
The downhill of the mind is harder than the uphill of the body. - Yuichiro Miura

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bobcat
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Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by bobcat » January 9th, 2012, 1:58 pm

Nice compilation!

The Smith Homestead site was owned by Walter Smith and his wife Alice. They were instrumental in establishing the Wilson River Wagon Road (can still be hiked in the vicinity of University Falls) and the homestead site was an overnight stagecoach stop on the route.

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mayhem
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Re: Wilson River Homesteaders and Early Land Holders

Post by mayhem » January 9th, 2012, 3:02 pm

Cool! Thanks for sharing...finally! :). I remember you telling me about the mayhem area on our end of 2011 garter hike!
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