Every piece of land in America is hiding a time machine under your feet. Before you search your own house or school, work backward through four clues on one of Oregon's most inspiring pioneer homesteads.
Oregon is OR-ih-gun • Willamette Valley is wih-LAM-it (like 'damage' without the -age) • Bob Zybach is ZIGH-bahk.
| Shot | Time | Visual | Dave's Spoken Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shot 1 | 0:00–0:18 | Selfie shot in Douglas-fir woods | "Hi, I'm Dave Sullivan, here in Oregon's Willamette Valley—that's wih-LAM-it! If you look at the woods behind me today, it just looks like quiet forest. But every piece of land in America is hiding a mystery right under your feet." |
| Shot 2 | 0:18–0:38 | Walking trail along creek | "My friend Doctor Bob Zybach—that's ZIGH-bahk—is a forest historian who solves land mysteries by working backward in time. We start with what the land looks like today, peel back old airplane photos from ninety years ago, and then read the handwritten notebooks of the first surveyors who walked here with an iron chain in the eighteen-fifties." |
| Shot 3 | 0:38–0:58 | Holding 1853 survey map | "Right below this video, you can try it yourself on one of Oregon's most amazing places: Soap Creek Valley. In four quick clicks, you'll peel back the trees, find the valley's eighteen-fifty-three Survey Birthday, and uncover the true story of Letitia Carson—a brave Black pioneer woman who went to court in the eighteen-fifties and won." |
| Shot 4 | 0:58–1:15 | Pointing to map and search bar | "Once you solve the four clues at Soap Creek, type in your own house, your school, or a family farm, and run the exact same time machine on your land. Or, if you want to search your own address right now, just click the search bar at the top. Let's get started!" |
Today Independence is a thriving riverfront community along the Willamette River. Riverview Park and downtown brick commercial buildings border the water.
In 1936, Independence was world-renowned as the 'Hop Capital of the World.' Giant wood-fired hop kilns and vast trellis fields surrounded the town.
Surveyor Butler Ives mapped this township in June 1852, recording Henry Hill's 1847 Donation Land Claim #43.
Henry Hill arrived in Oregon in 1847 from Independence, Missouri and founded this town as a steamboat port connecting Willamette Valley wheat farmers to Portland and the Pacific.
Donation Land Claim #43 Patent issued under the 1850 Act.
The Kalapuya used cedar canoes on the Willamette River for thousands of years, fishing for chinook salmon and trading dried camas bulbs.
Section 16 in Township 8 South Range 4 West funded early public schools for the growing river town.
You've earned the Junior Land Detective Badge. You proved how laser ground scans [Lidar] reveal hidden pioneer roads, how 1930s airplanes map forest change, how 1850s surveyors marked witness trees, and how Letitia Carson won justice in the Oregon territory.
Compare your square mile and witness trees with classmates using a private 6-letter class code. Zero personal names or private addresses are shared.