John Day Fossil Beds Historic Resources Study

Chapter Four:
SETTLEMENT (continued)

Early Settlement in the Vicinity of the National Monument (continued)

Painted Hills Unit

Situated in the watersheds of Bear and Bridge creeks northwest of Mitchell, this unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is in Wheeler County. A portion of the wagon road from The Dalles to Canyon City traversed Bridge Creek, thus opening its bottomlands to settlement at an early date.

In 1872, a cadastral surveyor found only two settlers in T10S, R20 E, W.M. These were Al Sutton and McConnell who lived on the "Dalles Military Wagon Road" in the Bridge Creek drainage. John S. Kincaid, the surveyor, wrote:

There is a small quantity of good land in this township, chiefly situated along John Days River and Bridge creek, but without frequent irrigation it is comparatively worthless in an agricultural point of view. The general surface of the Township is very hilly. It is well watered by John Days River and its tributaries (Kincaid 1872).

He referred to Bridge Creek as a "small stream with a rapid current". Sutton secured appointment as postmaster of Bridge Creek post office on July 2,1868; the station closed on January 20,1882 (Fussner 1975: 23; Landis 1969: 9).

In 1873 John S. Kincaid subdivided T11S, R21E, W.M., an area bisected by Bridge Creek and through which passed The Dalles-Boise Military Road. Here Kincaid noted the presence of early settlers Christian A. Myers, James Curry, McGarth, and Thomas Caton. He noted an unidentified claim with a fenced field in Section 5, subsequently part of the National Monument. Jesse L. Miner secured a homestead patent to this tract later, in 1899 (Kincaid 1873; BLM n.d.g, n.d.h, n.d.i).

In 1881 Fullerton, cadastral surveyor, found only one settler in T11S, R20E, W.M. This was S. A. Lawrence who resided in Section 25, more than three miles due south from subsequent National Monument lands. Fullerton noted: "There is but little land in this Township susceptible of cultivation, though it is totally well adapted to grazing purposes." Fullerton was aware of the fossil deposits. He continued: "This Township [is] composed of slate rock which bears the imprint of various kinds of leaves to a very perfect degree" (Fullerton 1881).

In 1880, surveyor Aaron F. York subdivided T10S, R21E, W.M. York found only one settler in the entire township: "Sam'l Carrol." The Carroll house stood east of The Dalles Military Road in the SE 1/4 of Section 31, some distance east of Bridge Creek.

BLM Master Title Plat, Historical Index, and the Control Data Inventory confirm grants and filings on lands within the Painted Hills Unit, as given below. Claims filed under the Homestead Act which were later relinquished are not identified by name in the Control Data Inventory; only the serial number and dates of filing and relinquishment are preserved.

• T11S, R20E, W.M.

Section 1 All of this section was granted to The Dalles-Boise Wagon Road Company and patented 12/03/1901.

Section 2 All of this section was filed upon 11/15/1920 under the Stock Raising Homestead Act; it was relinquished on 11/30/1921.

Section 2 All of this section was filed upon 1/6/1922 under the Stock Raising Homestead Act; it was relinquished on 8/22/1923.

Section 11 All of this section was granted to The Dalles-Boise Wagon Road Company and patented 11/17/1900.

(BLM n.d.j, n.d.k, n.d.l)

• T11S, R21E, W.M.

Section 5 All of this section was granted to The Dalles-Boise Wagon Road Company and patented 4/18/1900.

Section 6 160.74 acres in SENE, NESE, and SESE were patented as a Homestead to Jesse L. Miner on 2/25/1899.

Section 6 160.62 acres in SWNE, NWSE, SWSE were filed upon 9/20/1916 under the Homestead Act; the claim was relinquished 2/23/1917.

Section 7 All of this section was granted to The Dalles-Boise Wagon Road Company and patented 11/17/1900.

(BLM n.d.g, n.d.h, n.d.i)

• T10S, R20E, W.M.

Section 36 All of this section was a School Grant to the State of Oregon on 2/14/1859.

(BLM n.d.m, n.d.n, n.d.o)

• T10S, R21E. W.M

Section 31 160 acres in the SSE, NWSE, and SWNE were patented as a Homestead to Samuel Carroll on 22/1/96.

(BLM n.d.v, n.d.w, n.d.x)

In 1868 Samuel Carroll and his family settled on Bridge Creek in view of the colorful formation now called Carroll Rim. Carroll lands occupied much of the area now within the present-day visitor center at Painted Hills. In 1971, grandson George Carroll reported, "I used to irrigate alfalfa where the Painted Hills state park ground is, on part of the Carroll place. On the Painted Hills I learned to ride my first bicycle — just took it up one of those steep, colored slopes, got on it and let it go" (Brogan 1972: 266).

Samuel Carrol and his wife reared twelve children on their ranch and grazed sheep in the nearby mountains. Like others in the region during the Bannock War scare of 1878, the Carrolls fortified their property. Phil Brogan, historian of central Oregon, later wrote: "Fearing further Indian attacks, Samuel Carroll built a small fort, using blocks of limestone he had sawed from a quarry. In the 1880s, the Carrolls razed the fort and used the stones to build fireplaces and irrigation dams." With the opening of stage connections between The Dalles and Canyon City, the Carrolls served freighters and travelers, by maintaining the road, and charging tolls. A flashflood in 1884 tore down Bridge Creek and overtook the Carroll home. A daughter and three grandchildren of the Carrolls perished (Brogan 1972: 258-261).

The Carroll family of the Painted Hills lived like hundreds of other families in the John Day country in the last half of the nineteenth century. They eked out an existence. They secured meat by raising livestock and by hunting deer. They raised vegetables in a garden irrigated by Bridge Creek. They raised grain and harvested wheat for bread. They tanned hides and made moccasins and shoestrings. They set out orchards and raised fruit. Because of the alkaline water, they made cider vinegar and treated the water with it and sugar (Brogan 1972: 261-263).

In spite of isolation, the Carrolls and others living along Bridge Creek were connected to the outside world. In 1899, an expedition of students led by Prof. John Merriam from the University of California camped in the area to excavate for fossils. In 1902, the men in the family cut juniper poles and helped stretch the first telephone line up Bridge Creek. After 1900, family members began to leave the area, and the ranch was sold to the Hudspeth firm of Prineville after World War Two (Brogan 1972: 264, 267-268). None of the ranch buildings are extant.