OR and WA HISTORY YOU SHOULD KNOW

J.E. Freeman surveyed the exterior boundaries of T23S, R14E, MDM in 1855. We are visiting Section 27 this week, it was surveyed by William Minto in 1872.

It's on my bucket list to visit the park.

https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=180

@ruffbrew The park is kinda unremarkable. Our local PLSO chapter did a volunteer "spruce up" day this past spring. (I did not attend.) The marker is down a slope and now surrounded by trees. When you get there you think "how did they survey out of this?"

It's easy to get to and a good little field trip for every local surveyor a least once.

Here is a great book all about it. ?ÿDefinitely worth a read for anyone in Oregon and Washington and maybe other PLSS areas as well. ?ÿ

https://www.powells.com/book/chaining-oregon-surveying-the-public-lands-of-the-pacific-northwest-1851-1855-9780939923205

In some ways the Willamette Stone site and park can be described as unremarkable, but in other ways it is quite remarkable and meaningful. ?ÿPartly due to the ease of access, Iƒ??ve been dozens of times and enjoyed each visit.?ÿ

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Several decades ago I had a couple of co-workers get hitched at the Willamette Stone.?ÿ Seemed appropriate since they are both surveyors.?ÿ The park was barely big enough to hold a wedding.

@protracted?ÿ

Bonus field trip points if you visits Powell's Books which is literally just down the road.?ÿ

@john-putnam That's awesome!

@protracted

To clarify, what I meant to imply by "unremarkable" is that to me, as a surveyor, this park is one of the most important land marks in the Pacific Northwest. It should have a grand arched entrance, manicured lawn, exquisitely maintained landscaping, etc.

Alas, the parks department doesn't hold it in the same esteem.

@john-putnam hopefully they created 10 little surveyors to fill the void!?ÿ Jp

@ruffbrew?ÿ

I visited the stone last Saturday afternoon, for the 2nd time in 26 years. I had the place completely to myself. It is a 5 minute walk on a fairly steep paved path from the parking lot on Skyline Blvd to the stone.

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The monument itself

@john-putnam?ÿ

I was at Powells flagship on Burnside several years ago in the rare book room, and asked, " What is the most expensive book you have in here right now?"

No surprise it was a 1st copy of Lewis and Clark.?ÿ Only 35k then.?ÿ Pretty frickin cool!

@mark-mayer?ÿ

My Ex-wife and inlaws routinely mocked me every time we cruised by the Skyline Cafe and I joked about stopping by the burger joint to get one.?ÿ THis is cooler than that, and well, glad to know they're not interested in this kind of stuff either so i'll never see them visiting there either.

COOL!!!

My gps says its off... ????

@jed?ÿ

You're going to need Nate's gear for this point.

So the surveyor general went out and put a stick in the ground and then told some other guys to do the work.?ÿ Sounds like a pretty sweet gig if you can get it.?ÿ ????ÿ

@bstrand?ÿ

Left unsaid is the work that must have gone into figuring out a spot that would keep the base line south of the Columbia River and the meridian west of Vancouver Lake, and all the while having the meridian run south down the Willamette Valley floor for nearly a hundred miles before striking off into the mountains. You can't just stand on the spot, or any spot near it, and see that.?ÿ The location was selected within a few months of Preston's arrival in the Oregon territory. It must have been a very busy few months. And it's not like he could just place a craigslist ad and hire up competent field crews just like that.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ

And all the while the place is teaming with settlers anxious to perfect their claims. In most places the (non-native) settlement was sparse to non-existent when the surveyors arrived to lay out their townships and sections. In this case the area had been settled beginning 26 years before he arrived and things were getting pretty far advanced. The City of Portland had been founded 5 years before that.?ÿ

So maybe he didn't do a lot of the field work himself.?ÿ But that doesn't mean that he didn't have his hands full.?ÿ

If other meridians are feeling left out, you can explore your initial point in this book, https://www.powells.com/book/initial-points-of-the-rectangular-survey-2221114631373 or maybe via this link, https://www.blm.gov/or/gis/geoscience/geosciencespublications.php

@norman-oklahoma?ÿ

My comment was intended to be more humorous than a serious criticism of the guy's work ethic, but OK...?ÿ