Landing A Treasure From The 1850's William Wilson DLC Highlights Battle To Save The Tualatin Plains

If you knew you were watching something important be destroyed forever you would try to stop that, wouldn't you?  What if that something was so rich in history, and so important to the world, that loosing it could signal the end of all you knew?  Would you care then?

I hope so.  Because today as I drove off from the farm of Larry Duyck out on NW Roy Road I realized, more than I ever have, what the cost of rampant development here in the Tualatin Plains can cost us all.  The Duyck Farm was started in 1907 and remains today in the capable hands of the 3rd (Larry Duyck) and the 4th generation (Jacque Duyck Jones; daughter).  The farm is stunningly beautiful with the classic farmhouse and barns setting the scene for acres of kotata blackberries, blueberries, and other rotation crops which are bursting from the ground this Spring.  Irrigation systems are in place and there is a palpable blend of modern machinery and timeless farming know how.  I hope it will be another productive year on the farm for this family whose name is synonymous with Washington County and productive sustainable farming.

15,000 years ago, as the Ice Age was ending, giant Lake Missoula in Western Montana broke through a massive ice damn and sent torrents of water, rock, silt, gravel, and anything and everything in its path towards the Columbia Basin.  Imagine water 1,000 times the volume of the Columbia River coursing through our Region and making valleys and lakes and gaps wherever it chose to do so.  This went on for hundreds of years and these floods created the land we know today.  Through the Willamette River, Lake Oswego, and Tualatin River gaps, coarsed billions of tons of fine silt from Eastern Washington and beyond.  It filled the Tualatin Valley and Tualatin Plains and settled here as the waters receded against the Tualatin, Coastal, and Chehalem Mountain Ranges.  What was left was arguably the greatest farmland in the world.  Here we are, us locals, in the middle of the most productive land on Earth and yet most of us do not even know it.  The Duyck's know it and have fought to protect the very asset that supports them and their neighbors.

Surrounded by hills and mountains (red) the Tualatin Valley was one of the few places where the Missoula Floods deposited so much rich soil and silt making for incredible farmland.

History Took Me Out...   What led me out to the Western end of the Tualatin Plains today was my interest in History; the history of our valley and our people.  Granted most of you reading this are new to the Valley.  But pay attention because you are going to play a bigger role in what happens to people like the Duyck family than those of us who have been here for decades and that is because you outnumber us 3 to 1.  In fact, 2 out of 3 people now in Washington County have not been here longer than 20 or 30 years. 

Today I came looking to preserve some of the historical past of William and Polly (Mills) Wilson who settled the 642.50-acre land claim that the Duyck's farm is located upon.  The Wilson's came over in 1843 with their children John,  Caroline, and Rachel.  Reverend Marcus Whitman acted as their guide and brought them much of the way along with  3 other pioneer families (Constable's, Arthurs, & Mills).  Their arrival was 4 years prior to the opening of the Oregon Trail and they could count on 1 hand the neighbors they could see on the clearest of days from their farm. 

In 1847 the Oregon Trail officially opened and thousands came pouring into the Oregon Territory chasing the promise of free fertile farmland.  In that same year Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa and family, along with many others, were massacred in Walla Walla by the Cayuse Indians who were reacting to the death and destruction put upon them by the White man's diseases and influences.

Seen here in the 1851 Survey map is the William Wilson Claim of 642.50 Acres and the surveyor clearly is showing the location of their home and barn.  Some of their neighbors names are well known today.

The Duyck's recently took down a barn - a very very old barn.  It had to go but when it did they made sure to have as much of the wood as possible reused and repurposed.  Out there on the farm was a large pile of huge log floor beams and it occurred to me that reusing wood from our valley as old as this wood is was the right thing to do.  The Wilson's may have cut this wood, built the barn, and sat under the shade of these trees.  God knows the Duyck's used this barn for 4 generations and the fact that there was something that old of that much use to these families meant that the historian in me wanted in.  

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The Bigger Story-  

Today I moved the massive beams.  They are truly wonderful and we will be making some log benches out of them over the Summer.  Larry Duyck helped me move them and we had a nice chat.  A small part of that 170 plus years of History from the Wilson-Duyck farm left with me today and we will cherish it and tell its story for decades to come.

As I left Roy Road today with my bounty I realized how unchanged that area is.  The reason for that is partly geography - growth and our "wonderful" Urban Growth have not come knocking yet.  But just as big of a reason is that Larry and his family, as well as some others, have fought for decades to have this legacy protected.  

Heading North from my home in Orenco is the East end of the Tualatin Plains.  It was 45 years ago when my buddies and I roamed the vacant farms and creek bottoms of this area, free from disturbances, hunting squirrels and chasing girls.  People never thought it would change.  But it did.  Today we cannot move here at rush hour.  The farms are all gone.  So are the original people.  And history?  With the exception of yours truly and a few others, there is no sense of history here. 

The Intel Ronler Acres Fab has now covered over 100 acres of Prime Farm land on the East end of the Tualatin Plains taking out native american and local history as it went in.

As I drove past INTEL RONLER ACRES heading to the Duyck's Farm melancholy overtook me.  If your local you understand this feeling when you travel around this area.  Another mile West along my route is the Shute Road Industrial Park and the Majestic Business Park; now home to Amazon.  This area was bucolic farm land not even a decade ago.  It was all a part of the Tualatin Plains that the Missoula Floods had created.  But we needed it for the "High Paying Jobs" that were coming to the Valley.

Looking West towards the Duyck Farm we see the rapid expansion of the Industrial parks and Gas and Chemical storage faciliies.

Even further West I rolled past the Historic Shute Farm, which has just been added to the National Historic Registry thanks to the hard work of the Haag Family who have been there since the 1960's.  Change is coming all around them too as it rolls West towards the Wilson-Duyck Farm.  Across the street from the Shute House in an ancient field, the bodies of 5 children of Colonel Joe and Virginia Meek are buried.   Colonel Meek and his Nez Perce Wife, Virginia, settled in the Tualatin Plains just 3 years before the Wilson's did (1840).  They likely knew each other and all of them made this valley the great place that it is.  

In the coming months, you will all hear about the Meek children.  It seems that the Majestic Development group has decided to excavate the site where the City believes the Meek children and the adjacent Methodist Meeting House historic site are located to make way for a new 800,000 SF Warehouse and parking lot with drainage pond.  This statement is based upon the plans that they have turned in to the City of Hillsboro as shown below.

This proposal to Develop 45 plus acres in the Tualatin Plains was submitted to the City of Hillsboro recently by a consultant for Majestic showing a massive drainage pond being excavated where the Methodist Meeting House and the bodies of the Meek Children have been documented to have been buried.

This aerial photo shows the location that the City of HIllsboro in 2004 said they believed was the probable location of the Methodist Meeting House and burial griounds.  The Shute home is located just to the west.

In Case the Point is Muddled or Subtle -

As I continued West the facts are self-evident.  Traffic and development are going on all the way West to the City of North Plains (OR) which just so happens to be the 1/2 way point from my home on the East end of the Tualatin Plains, to the West end where I was going to get the logs.

We are losing our valley.  We are losing our farms.  We are losing our countryside and perspective as to who we are and how we fit in.

Larry Duyck and his daughter know how they fit in.  And they know if they do not work hard to protect their farm, growth can and will come.  Others scoff and say that sort of thinking is ridiculous.  But the proof is everywhere.  It is coming from the East and it is heading to West.

The Tualatin Plains are being crowded out and built over quickly these days in North Hillsboro and growth is quickly coming to the West end.  The richness of the land is obvious to anyone driving through it or who see the pacthwork fo large farms from above.

The reasons that our farmland is being plowed under were promoted primarilty as a way to provide much needed Industrial land for "High Paying" jobs.  INTEL did create those jobs but they are taking our Water at a rate that threatens our own supplies.  And that was over a decade ago.  Since that time we have had Data Centers erected which employ virtually no one while using massive amounts of power.  We also have Top Golf and those low paying jobs.  And of course there is Amazon who recently moved into the Majestic business Park and those jobs are low paying as well.

Outsiders, foreign investors, non-Oregonians, and others are coming to our Valley, developing the land, and taking all the cream off the top as they head to their next conquest.  They higher slick consultants who spin a good line of BS and talk in codes and get tax giveaways in a smugness that rivals anyone.  But the facts are right in front of us.  We are losing the Valley and now the line has been drawn between Jackson Road and Banks.  The lands West of Jackson Road are currently zoned Rural Reserve and they are supposed to be preserved for future generations of farmers.  East of Jackson Road is now being prepared for more buildings.  I do not believe that this line will hold and attempts have already been made to break the agreements that put it in place in order to keep the machine marching West.

The X shows he Duyck farm on the west end of the tualatin plains and the brown line seperates the build up occuring at a record pace.  In between these lines and the Sunset highway 26 the final battle to preserve farmland and the historic sites in the plains is being waged.

I am all for jobs- all for smart growth.  But this insane plowing and grinding and gnashing of machines and explosion of cement to put in more computers and pipe and roads is wrong,

Let me suggest that the attempted excavation of the great Meek family childrens graves is the single biggest insult and act of aggression that anyone could attempt to perpetrate on the people of the Tualatin Plains.  This event may be the flashpoint in a big pushback in policy and public thinking that is going on right now. Growth must slow while we all re-evaluate what we are really doing.

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What is the Right way ahead? Lest you all assume I hate growth or want everything rolled back to the 1900's let me say for the record we need growth.  But the type of wholesale boundary and community destroying growth we are seeing in parts of the Tualatin Valley is wrong and we all know it.  We need to slow down. 

For every job we are creating thereby attracting new comers let's make sure those new comers have a proper place to live so we balance housing and jobs.  We have failed to do that miserably.  Let's make sure our local people and their children are not forced out by housing costs that have now grown so high that most locals could never remain here.  Let us honor our History and our Farmers and our homebuilders and business owners too.  One is not better then the other but I am a value-added person. If what you are doing is not adding value to our current citizens then it should not be done.  Lastly land owners around Oregon and here in the Tualatin Plains have been told "You Can Not Live There" by our current zoning systems.  The thought of a large or small farmer who has had land here for any number of years being told that they are not allowed even 1 home on their land is wrong.  It is part of the reason we have landowners who have given up and who do want to see their land rezoned so they can benefit from it.  I would urge those on the restrictive side of this battle to see that allowing people to live on their land is what will protect it the most.  If we do not let more people love the land and the country life how are we going to expect them to support that it be preserved?  So, I would encourage and support land owners being able to build on their land; at least one home and maybe more then one based on some reasonable formula (one per 40 acres for instance).  In this way we can add a wall or at least more fortresses between the developments spreading West and North from Hillsboro.  In this way the economics of the country life can stop the economics of the asphalt jungle.  In this way we can maintain or find a balance once again.

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I have the wood posts.  The drive out today confirmed to me that I know too much and care too much.  Maybe me getting that wood is really me trying to hang on to something that is going away before it is gone.  But leaving today, as Larry and I spoke, I was encouraged that maybe, just maybe, the tides may turn in favor of farmland, of people, and of history.

I can feel the Wilsons, and Meeks, and many more cheering us on.  We need all of you to ask questions and to care.  To get involved.  Newcomers this is your world too now.  Your valley!  The promise of the Missoula Floods and the leagcy of the natives and pioneers is still here for you to enjoy and celebrate.  Take a stand and begin to rise. 

Together we can find a balance for our futures.  We can honor our rich past while facing a brighter tomorrow.  But growth for the sake of growth is a fools game.  Anyone who has lived this reality, like those from LA or the Bay Area, know that the stakes are very high.

While I plan my next move, I am off to make something wonderful of these beauties!

Ancient Tualatin River Once Lifeblood of Tualatin Valley

The Tualatin River is the largest river that runs through the Tualatin Valley in Oregon.  It starts its flow to the East from high up in the Coast Range above the historic town of Cherry Grove.  Rushing forth from those tree covered ravines that resemble a rain forest the frothy white water comes crashing down at Lee Falls and rushes its way down the Patton Valley heading East and gaining steam.  By the time the River hits US Highway 47 at Gaston, Oregon it has slowed to a fast crawl.  

Flowing East on it's way to the Willamette at West Linn, Oregon the river takes on bigger and bigger volume.  Along the way, the water turns from a crystal clear stream to a dark brown muddy river which flows almost to a halt in the dog days of Summer.  

The 84-mile long Tualatin River drains over 900 miles of streams and a land area of 712 square miles. It runs from west to east, beginning in the Coast Range Mountains and ending in the Willamette River near West Linn. Major tributaries that drain into the Tualatin River include Scoggins, Gales, Dairy, Rock, and Fanno Creeks. There are also many minor tributaries that drain into the River.  Find out more about the Tualatin River Watershed here.

The muddy appearance is caused by run-off.  Much of that is from heavy plowing and farming in the Tualatin Valley.  There was a time when logging played a role but those days are over.  Development of huge factories like INTEL and Genentech have added to the problem.  The river has problems with pollution and it is not a great place to take the kids for a swim.  The currents and many snags can be very dangerous.  In the 1930's and 1940's many people in the Tualatin Valley would gather for a swim at Roamers Rest along Highway 99.  The water was clear in those days and there were places where the water flowed over rapids.  Steelhead and Salmon were caught in some numbers and crayfish were in great numbers.  

In 1980 we put a small boat in the water at Cook Park in Tigard.    Heading upstream under the power of a 5 horsepower motor and only 17 years old we figured we could conquer the river.  Boy, we were wrong!

About 20 minutes upstream we hit the first of 8 log jams.  Each one took us at least 20 minutes to cross.  The banks were steep and the foliage so thick that no one could get up or down the river banks.  After the second logjam, we found the first of several "river shacks" which were basically plywood boxes with people living in them.  One of them had a deer carcass hanging outside on a limb and the whole scene took on a real Deliverance feel.  A mile or two up we found several more animal carcasses in the water.  By the time we crossed under Scholls-Sherwood Road we had discovered 15 dead sheep floating in the water.  The scene was flipped into the surreal when we found the rest of the herd, over 40 of them, alive and stuck in the mud.  Two hours later, freezing cold and beaten half to death by the poor animals we tried to save in neck-deep water, we gave up.  

Confronting the farmer was an anger filled affair,  he tried to pretend they were not his animals and he had nothing to do with it.  We called the Oregon State Police and headed upstream to our take-out point.  It was a sad day and one that left me in shock.  That may have been the lowest period for this wonderful river that deserves better.

Looking back on that day and having been on the River a few times since I am always amazed at how much wildlife this river supports. It is a mysterious and unique body of water.  It should have perhaps been named The Snake because it serpentines its way right through the Tualatin Valley providing so many benefits as it flows.

The Tualatin in recent decades seems to be much improved and it provides irrigation through the Tualatin Valley Irrigation District for thousands of acres of farmland; the water so crucial for the berry industry, nursery business, and countless others.   Numerous places are being established for the modern day river goer to enjoy the Tualatin.  Canoeing and Kayaking are popular and bird and Duck/Goose migrations are observed at wetlands and habitats along the length of the Tualatin.  

True to our commitment to history these modern observations should never be allowed to overshadow the people who lived along its banks for thousands of years.  The Atfalati people,  members of the Kalapuya tribe, relied on the Tualatin River for their very existence.  They were hunter-gatherers and lived in concert with the seasons and the predictable rising and falling of the water.  They were also known as the Tualatin tribe and they harvested fish, ducks, eggs, willow, Wapato, Camas, and a wide variety of nutrients from the river and its many waterways and drainages.  Those people are gone but the river remains, continuing the ancient dance of life that has been performed since the Tualatin Valley was formed.

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GET ON THE TUALATIN RIVER -  In 2018 most of the 500,000 plus people that live in the Tualatin Valley do not think about the river as a place to recreate.  For the most part, they forget about it or do not see it because it is where they are not.  Flooding has kept development of housing and industry away from the river, thank God for that.  Because of a wonderful and determined group known as the Tualatin River Keepers the use of the river is up.  Several safe launches have been established and over the last 15 years, the group has done an amazing job of advocating for the health and safe enjoyment of the water. 

We encourage you to get involved and get on the water - but BE CAREFUL!  This river is a resouce for all of us, just as it was for the native people for eons before.

Check out this Usage Map and Brochure -

Also enjoy this drone view of the river below from the new Paddle Launch park at River Road and Farmington Road.

Telling Our Story Has Never Meant More

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The valley is big- not vast- but big.  contained Above and below the ground are stories enough to last into eternity.  Perhaps we can scratch the surface together!

This is no ordinary story, not one you can find on TV or in the Newspapers.  No, to tell this story we must dive into the deep end of the pool and take a serious and honest look at how things came to be the way they are here in Washington County and in our valley, the Tualatin Valley, Oregon.    Here is a map from the Washington County Visitors Association that shows, in one view, how our valley is situated.  For our purposes we will assume that any land lying within Washington County, Oregon is within the Tualatin Vallley.  That includes all the lush farmland, the river bottoms of the Tualatin and all of her feeder streams, and all of our mountain ranges and hills.  Without Mountains we have no Valley and therefore we honor these ancient guaradians and their peoples by way of telling their stories too.  Let us not get hung up on the "Valley" form a geology stand-point but rather inform you, our readers, that the land we are focused on here is all inclusive for our purposes.

As far as history and looking back goes let me say this.  If we do not do it now and capture the stories and artifacts that are left we never will.  This era we are in of massive growth and construction is the last push we will see before it is all over.  Lands in the Tualatin Valley long thought saced are disappearing forever including many of our best farms and early Pioneer sites.  We need your help as we move ahead.  Saving one photo, one tool, one legend or whisper of the past will preserve it forever.

Telling our story has never meant more.