AMERICA'S SCHOOL TRUST LIBRARY · JUNIOR LAND DETECTIVE RECORD
Independence, Oregon (Willamette River)
Historic River Landing · Polk County, Oregon • Township 8 South, Range 4 West, Section 28 & DLC #43
SURVEY BIRTHDAY
1852
June 22, 1852
🌲 Step 1: The Land Today & Lidar
Lidar laser scans reveal the ancient Willamette River oxbow channels and steamboat landing terraces.
Soil: Chehalis and Newberg silty clay loams formed in recent river alluvium.
✈️ Step 2: The 1936 Sky View
Thousands of pickers came by train every autumn to harvest hops from the rich river soils.
Earliest biplane flight: 1936 aerial photography.
📐 Step 3: First Survey & Witness Trees
Surveyed by Butler Ives using a 66-foot iron chain.
- Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) (36 inches): 22 links (14.5 feet) blazed [Historical Example].
- Oregon Ash (Fraxinus latifolia) (18 inches): 40 links (26.4 feet) blazed [Historical Example].
🏛️ Step 4: First Legal Patents & Schools
First Claim: Henry Hill, Donation Land Claim #43 (640.0 Acres)
School Trust Section: Section 16 & 36 perpetual public education endowment.
Letitia Carson Historical Note: Settled Benton County farm (1845–1856); successfully sued in Benton County court (1855–1856) winning $300 back wages and $1,200 for cattle; filed Douglas County homestead in 1868 and earned 1869 federal Homestead Patent ORRAA 008939 signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. Research by Dr. Bob Zybach / ORWW / OSU.
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Official Certified Land Record · kids.yourlandhistory.org