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I i ~ _ eastern United States. By the 1840's, the Oregon Territory had begun to open up to immigrants following the Oregon Trail and i seeking to settle the fertile lands. In 1846, Eugene Skinner arrived from ~ California with a small group of immigrants - ~ ' 1 that became the first to establish a ~ permanent settlement in the upper Willamette Valley, Skinner staked a 640- ~ acre Donation Land Claim in the area A~ i I around Skinner Butte Park, and built his first ~ cabin in the fall of 1846 on the western ( ' ~ slope of Skinner Butte. A marker ~ commemorates the location of the cabin ~ ; ~ near First Avenue and Lincoln Street. The ; ~ ~ , ~ ' actual location of the original cabin, however, is still subject to debate and ~ ~ ~ i InVBStlgatlOn. Eugene Skinner, the first settler in the area, staked his For the settlers, the first winters were , claim around what is now i extremely difficult. Arriving in the fall, they skinner Butre Park were forced to live off provisions until crops could be planted and harvested atthe end on the new trail. Historical references of the next season. Letters and reports tell indicated that the Applegate Trail passed of hardship and hunger, and mutual just to the north of Skinner Butte, along what dependence to make it through the cold is now Cheshire Avenue. Today, the ' and wetwinter. Other references are made to the friendliness and support of the Applegate Trail Committee is an active and Kalapuya living in the area, important advocate of history and historic interpretation in Skinner Butte Park. The Applegate Trail q Town is Born Also in 1846, two brothers, Jesse and Ma Skinner and dau hter Ma Elizabeth ry g ry Lindsa A le ate be an their uest to y pp g g q joined Eugene m 1847. By the summer of establish a safe overland wagon route to the Willamette Valley. At the time, the 1847, many more settlers began arriving on the Applegate Trail. As other early Oregon trail included a treacherous water f ~ route along the Columbia River for those settlers staked claims in and around the j seeking to reach the Willammette Valley, region, Skinner opened up a trading post out of his cabin, and eventually began and many lives were lost along this treacherous section of the trail. The operating a ferry near the present-day location of the Ferry Street Bridge. The en#ire structure 4 Applegate brothers had themselves each Skinner's Post Office was authorized in of the city is based lost a child in a rafting accident and vowed 1850, and the settlement was officially on geometry with , to spare other families this same grief. Skinner Butte at its designated with the same name. i center ' - The new southern route of the Oregon Trail The following year, Eugene Skinner and became known as the Applegate Trail. Judge Risdon set up meridians to plan a Branching off the Oregon Trail at Fort Hall, new town, Reports indicate thatthey stood I ' Idaho, the trail dipped south into the deserts of Nevada, and crossed through on the summit of Skinner Butte, marking the Rogue Valley before approximately the line from Skinner Butte to the summit f , , following the present-day route of I-5 into of Spencer Butte as the north-south axis of , . the Willamette Valley. Almost immediately, the town, and the line from the western thousands of settlers began their journey summit of Skinner Butte due west as the 28 Chapter 2: Natural History and Cultural Context