ORCLACKA-L Archives

Archiver > ORCLACKA > 2000-09 > 0970381972


From: "Laura C" <>
Subject: [ORCLACKA] [ORMARION-L] FIRST SETTLEMENT LA CREOLE
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 23:32:52 -0700


HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY
JOHN TURNER FIRST RECORDED WHITE SETTLER
FIRST SETTLEMENT LA CREOLE
http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/provisionalguide/PolkCounty.html

Polk County was created on December 22, 1845 from all of Yamhill County
south of a line from George Gray's house (on the coast) to the Willamette
River. In 1847, Benton County was created from the portion of Polk County
south of a line from the junction of the Willamette and Santiam Rivers and
the coast. The county's boundaries remained unchanged until Lincoln County
was created in 1893.

Polk County was the sixth county formed in Oregon and was named for
President James K. Polk. It occupies 745 square miles from the west bank of
the Willamette River to the crest of the Coast Range.

Polk County was originally inhabited by Kalapuya and Luckiamute tribes.
Major epidemics in 1782-1783 (smallpox) and 1830-1833 ("fever") killed
between eighty and ninety percent of the Indians in the Willamette Valley.
By the time of white settlement in Polk County, few Indians remained. In
treaties signed in 1851, 1854, and 1855 all tribal claims to county lands
were ceded to Polk County for $40,000.

The earliest recorded white settler in Polk County was John Turner, who
lived in what is now West Salem with his Cayuse wife. The first settlement
established in Polk County was La Creole, in 1843. Within a year, a Baptist
church (the second in Oregon) was founded at La Creole.

Independence was founded in 1845 as a terminus for immigrant wagon trains
from the Midwest. Over one hundred wagons arrived during the next year.
Settlement had also expanded at La Creole. A new town, named Cynthian, had
been formed west of La Creole by Cornelius Gilliam. This settlement, renamed
Dallas, was made the county seat in 1851.

Monmouth was settled in 1850 by Methodist visionaries. By 1854, Monmouth
University had been established on 640 acres donated by the Methodists. The
legislative assembly chartered Monmouth University in 1856 and in 1859 it
appropriated $5000 to expand the university curriculum and buildings.
Another college, La Creole Academy, was built in 1856 between La Creole and
Dallas. It began operations in 1857.

Polk County industries were predominantly agricultural and commercial, but
timber, ranching, and water transportation were also significant.

Series Descriptions for Polk County

Administrator/Guardian Appointment Record
Assessment Rolls
Census Rolls
Confession Judgments
Estate Account Ledger
Probate Bond Record
Probate Case Fee Ledger
Probate Case Index
Probate Court Journal
Probate Court Journal Index
School District Record Book
Tax Rolls
Will Record

QUICK LINK to the records inventories!


Laura of Seattle, WA
GALLOWAY, HALES, GIBSON, PORTER, TURNER, FINE, JOHNSON, TEEL, KIRBY,
ALEXANDER, SMITH, KEELE, LEWIS, CHAMBERLIN, LONG, BELIEU, WHITAKER, HEDGES,
FUDGE, POLLARD, BATEMAN


==== ORMARION Mailing List ====
Listmom: Linda Nichols
Marion County, OrGenWeb Homepage
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ormario

This thread: