The Sunday Oregonian, Portland, June 23, 1912

TRANSPORTATION OPENS FINE VISTA WHERE PIONEERS MADE HAPPY HOMES

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Council Crest, for Years the Limit of Portland’s Knowledge of Country to the South and West, Overlooks Beautiful Panorama Which Attracted First Settlers

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BY HILDEGARDE PLUMMER

UNTIL electric cars were run to Council Crest, people in the city were not well acquainted with the region beyond the hills. People who are active and interested in out-of-door life made Fairmount the goal of their tramps, and picnickers of the energetic type considered the old orchard on the top their ideal camping place; but persons born and raised in Portland, admitted when they took their first ride to the Crest that they “just supposed there was nothing but hills all the way to the ocean.”

When Albert Kelly decided to leave the old Kentucky home and rear his family in a peaceful country, away from the dissensions which were already waxing warm over the slave question, he looked for a home in his own land where all men were free.

With this end in view, he and his three brothers, Clinton, Gilmore and Thomas Kelly, moved to Missouri in the Fall of 1847, on the way to Oregon, expecting to complete the trip the next Spring. The three brothers made the trip in 1848, but Albert Kelly’s cattle had stampeded in a blizzard and he and his family did not cross the plans until 1849. In the meantime the news of the Whitman massacre had reached the East, so this emigrant train was fortunate in having the escort of a regiment of mounted rifle men, which the Government “was sending to Oregon to keep the Indians in check.

The brothers and their grown sons had already taken possession of what is now known as Kenilworth, Waverly, Richmond, Kelly Butte and out at Pleasant Home, Albert decided on the region now reached by the Irvington and Broadway cars. There he built a cabin and started a well. After digging a hole 117 feet deep, he go discouraged and abandoned the claim as worthless.

The next year, he met Finice Caruthers, who with his mother had the land which is now South Portland. Mr. Caruthers said that campers had had trouble, because their stock would wander and not come back for days, but the cattle were always well-fed and fat when they returned. The unknown pasture was found to be in an exceedingly fertile valley over the hills to the west.

Fanno Is First Settler

Mr. Kelly followed the cattle trails over the hills to investigate this land and tool the section lying at the head of the valley. There was an abundance of water and wells were unnecessary. Throughout the forest wre numerous springs and streams draining into Fanno Creek. Only one family had ventured into this land. Three years earlier, Augustus Fanno, a native of Maine, had come over from Oregon City and started his farm, which is south of Raleigh. He was the first settler between Portland and Hillsboro.

In September, 1850, the Kellys moved into a tent, which protected them from the intrusion of wild animals until the house was built. Wolves and coyotes were close at hand and the deer quenched their thirst at the spring at the edge of the clearing. The first house was destroyed by fire, but the white lilac and old-fashioned white rose, planted in 1854, are still flourishing. The clearing is the front lawn of the Henry E. Dosch residence and the spring, with the mint in it, is under the ash trees at the west end of the lawn; while the Oregon grape, which one of the boys planted at the side of the house almost 50 years ago, is at the east end. The Dosches call their home “Villa Eichenhof,” for though Mr. Kelly was a good farmer, his artistic nature demanded that seven large oak trees and some ash and elm trees be left for the pleasure of his family and those who would succeed him in the possession of the home place.

The children who were pioneers with their parents were Bingham, Carrie, Maria (Mrs. Van B. DeLashmutt), and Silas G., who though an infant at that time, is the oldest resident of the valley. He is still living on his ancestral acres. That Winter Martha (Mrs. O. P. S. Plummer) was born in the new home.

December 4, 1850, Mr. Kelly went to town for supplies. While there he learned that some enterprising young printers were setting up a newspaper, which would be out in a few hours, so he waited for a copy of The Oregonian to take home.

John A. Slavin Arrives.

Another time, when he was buying meat at the market on the corner of First and Taylor streets, he overheard a young man asking where he could find a “bachelor’s” claim. Married men were given 640 acres, while single men received 320 acres. Mr. Kelly said there was a good one adjoining his to the east. The next morning the stranger called at the cabin and introduced himself as John A. Slavin. He had started west from Boone County, Missouri, intending to go to California, but after various experiences on the plains, his course had been changed and he now wanted to stay near Portland. The two men inspected the tract available and Mr. Slavin immediately took it up. The townsite of Bertha is a part of the old place and was laid out by the original owner.

 As there were no neighbors nearer than town on one side and Fannos to the west, a new neighbor was considered a blessing. Mrs. Kelly immediately set out “mothering” John Slavin. She did his washing and mending and looked out for his welfare, until he built an addition to his house and brought his bride home.

Meanwhile, the Talbots had established a home on what is now Council Crest, and in 1857 Hodge P. A. Marquam bought the Donner place, south of Talbots. With so many new families, the education of the little ones had to be attended to, so the Westons opened a private school in their home in 1857. Every day, the Kelly children took the long walk through the timber to what is now Green Hills. They followed the main road directly west from home to the present site of Fairvale, then northeast to their destination, making a trip of three miles to a point only about a mile distant. With the Winter storms, the children were compelled to stay home on account of the danger from swollen streams and falling trees. The school work was carried on at home, and Silas Kelly has the old school books, which were among the precious necessities brought from the East.

Meantime, Albert Kelly was not devoting all his time to the welfare of his own. That was not his business in life. He was a Methodist circuit rider, as were his brothers on the east side of the Willamette, also the brothers who remained in Kentucky. In his house were held the first religious services of that section, and there he preached to the neighbors; but that was not the extent of his labors, for he faithfully walked, or rode, miles out through the wilderness, holding meetings and performing all the duties of a Christian minister.

First “Camp Meeting” in 1857.

In 1857 the great social and religious feature of the valley, a “camp-meeting,” was organized as Ames’ Chapel, near Metzger. Speakers were imported for the occasion, and the session was looked forward to as the event of the year. June was chosen as the most convenient season, on account of the farm work, and between 30 and 40 families drove over with their stores of provisions. These five or six days of friendly association are still bright in the memories of those who are living. The women seem to have been better providers than the women of today, and all comers were welcome at any of the spacious family tables Maybe the religious spirit of the meetings was not thoroughly appreciated by the younger ones, but when the houses a mile apart, it is a wonderful thing to have all the neighbors together for several days. Friendships formed under such circumstances are substantial.

Among the regular campers were these families: Cornell, Slavin, Tigard, Kelly, Gault, Davis, Stott, Durham, Bryant, Nathan, Robinson, Mitchell, McKay, Denny, Fanno, John Patton and Hoover. Then on Sunday other folk would come five or ten miles for the day’s services. Some of the women were handsomely gowned, and they made a memorable picture as they rode in with their fine hats and veils and stylish skirts, which hung well down as they sat on their horses.

In 1866, a subscription schoolhouse was built at Mount Zion. The material for that building was hauled by oxen from Portland. The Patton road had been built the year before, and was a benefit to the community, as the other road was very steep. The old road had followed up Marquam Gulch from the river to Fourth street, then followed what is now a trail to Portland Homestead, or New Berlin. It crossed over what is now Healy Heights, past the Marquam house, and dropped into the valley, going by the Kelly house.

Schoolhouse Meeting Place.

The new schoolhouse was the scene of many celebrations. It was need for meetinghouse, and, as Father Kelly said, it reminded him of Zion Meeting House back home, it was called Mount Zion. The Slavins, Marquams, Talbots, Kellys and Humphrys had many all-day Thanksgiving services there, with meals not to be surpassed.

These pioneers lived well. They were foresighted and had the energy and adaptability essential for success in their enterprises. Their gardens had as fine a variety of vegetables as the gardens of today, and wild black raspberries and game were abundant. At the time of the California gold excitement, shiploads of food were sent around the Horn, and the market was glutted, so the ships disposed of their cargoes wherever they could. This provided table luxuries at a minimum cost. A Chinook salmon could be bought for 25 cents. There was no waste – for they must be prepared for emergencies.

Albert Kelly sold the south half of his claim to Finice Caruthers in 1859 for $6.25 per acre. Mr. Caruthers died a few years later, and when the estate was settled in 1869, Judge Marquam bought 240 acres of that piece at $1.50 per acre. After deeding pieces to his children, Mr. Kelly sold the home to the Bradfords and moved to Yakima, where he died.

Soon talk of a railroad was started, and in 1868 the grade to Hillsboro was made under the management of Joseph Gaston. Among the men in the camp was a Dutchman, who was the butt of all the jokes. As this was before the day of the Italian, Greek and Japanese section hands, there are men who still remember the fun they had guying the Dutchman. They assured him that the woods were full of ghosts, and he would not be confined until they fired a blank cartridge at a “ghost.” After that all of the country along the grade was called Ghost Hollow.

Ben Holladay took up the project in 1871, and put the road through to Corvallis. The first stop out of Portland was on the Slavin tract, and for years was called Summit Station, being at the summit of the climb from town. That same year Dr. Plummer, now a resident of the valley, built a telegraph line along the railway.