JOHN H. WALKER
ON THE OREGON TRAIL

Hundreds of thousands of Americans traveled the Oregon Trail, seeking a better life in the form of farmland they could call their own.

John H. Walker and his family joined a group of 200 other families in 1845 to travel to Oregon. They started their journey from Missouri. The captain of their wagon train was Sol Tetherow.

It took courage to venture into a strange and forbidding land. The pioneers on the Oregon Trail faced many obstacles - climate, terrain, Indians, sickness, scarcity of food and water, to name only a few. More than 30,000 still lie in graves along the trail.

This group of travelers discovered the much discussed “Blue Bucket Mine”. They were searching for water and found a nice stream. They also found gold at this spot. The spot was somewhere between the Snake River and The Dalles of Oregon. Some of the men returned to camp with the nuggets but no one knew it was raw gold. It was not until they reached the valley that they became aware it was gold. For years, prospectors have been looking for the location of this mine. Gold was found in the area on what became Grimes Creek.

Many people have asked these men why they didn’t return and find the Blue Bucket Mine and claim the gold. These people had endured severe hardships to reach the valley and did not wish to endure any more. They had set out in search of farmland and only wanted to build their homes and forget the hardships they had endured on their six month journey from Missouri to Oregon.

When John H. Walker arrived in Oregon City with his family, they were sick and out of money. They had no food or clothing, no farming tools. His first job was splitting rails at 25 cents per hundred. His first homestead was in Scoggins Valley. He built a home in Gaston and that is where he lived the remainder of his life. Laurelwood Academy was later built on this land.

Story by Ruth Lewis

With the Emigrant Train of 1845

By Chester P. Walker

My grandfather, J. H. Walker, and family came to Oregon with two hundred other families with oz team in the year 1845 via the Old Oregon Trail. The captain of the train was one Sol Tetherow. Steve meek, one of the train crew, claimed to know a shortcut to the Willamette. A lot of the train branched off and followed Steve Meek. They became lost, endured severe hardship and some died before reaching the valley. Meek escaped hanging from a gibbet made of three uplifted wagon tongues only by his disappearance at night.
It was this group of emigrants that discovered the much discussed Blue Bucket mine. I have heard my grandparents tell of the route they traveled on the last lap of the journey from Boise, Idaho to the Meacham river, thence up the river to a point where they left the river and started their mountain climb.
They traveled three and one-half days through sage brush, making about ten miles per day. It was here my grandfather's wagon broke down; my grandmother said she lost her clay pipe here, too.
This is the spot where the men found gold. They went a few hundred yards from camp in search for water. They also found gold and some of the men returned with gold nuggets in their blue buckets; one man, a blacksmith, pounded out some of the nuggets on the wagon tire but no one knew it was raw gold. some of the men emptied their buckets in their trinket box and carried the nuggets through to the valley. It was not until then they were aware it was gold.
Many people have asked these men why they did not go back and find the Blue Bucket mine. My grandfather said they all felt like he did about the Blue Bucket. He said these people had endured all the hardship they wanted. He said they started out in search of land where they could take up their 640 acres of D.L.C., build a home and forget the hardship they had endured on their six months travel from their home state of Missouri.
My grandfather said when he arrived in Oregon City , "their destination", one of his family was sick and he spent his last 25 cents for medicine. When his wagon broke down grandfather gave his oxen to Colonel Cornelius, "who located at Cornelius and for whom the town was named, to bring his family through to the valley. Many settlers were financially embarrased, some had quite large families, no food or clothing; no farming tools; it was a matter of existance rathe than gold they were seeking.
My grandfather said his first job was splitting rails at 25 cents per hundred and that he was only too glad to get that much. His first homestead was in Scoggins Valley, but before proving up he relinquished and traded a horse for for 640 acres two miles east of Gaston where he proved up and built his home where he lived the remainder of his life. My father was born here and raised his family on the home place.
A part of the D.L.C. remained in the family until three years ago when my cousin sold it to the Laurelwood Academy. The academy now owns about 200 acres and their buildings are all built on our homestead.

The following is a transcript of a recording made 100 years ago this month with the county clerk of Washington County, Oregon

J.H.Walker marks with a smoothe crop off the right ear and an underbit in the same, and brands with a J on the hip. I certify that the foregoing Mark and Brand are recorded in the Records of Marks and Brands, Page 10, the 7th day of June, A.D. 1852

William Geigen
Clerk and Recorder
Washington County, O.T.

Article from the Carlton - Yamhill Review July 24, 1952

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