18 continued community of Rickreall clearly holds a significant place in Oregon surveying history. As a side note, a well-known modern surveyor lived in Rickreall until just recently— former ODOT surveyor Mike Fallert lived near the small Burch family cemetery for many years. Samuel T. Burch arrived in Oregon in 1847 after crossing the Oregon trail from his birthplace in Missouri. The family settled in Rickreall, where his father became a member of the legislature and an original Incorporator of Willamette University. (Olson) Samuel Burch’s father was killed in Oregon City in the explosion of the steamer, the Gazelle, along with an original surveyor of the Willamette Meridian, Joseph Hunt. Several times during his life, Samuel tried gold mining in Alaska, California, Idaho, and Oregon. He also served with General Joe Lane (Oregon’s first governor) in the Rogue Indian War before becoming a compassman for his father-in-law, Nathaniel Ford. Before the end of his career, Samuel became a U.S. Deputy Surveyor, Polk County Surveyor, Sheriff and a judge. Samuel died in 1927 at the age of 96. Samuel and his wife Sarah lived at what is now 301 Main Street in Rickreall, where the house still stands. They had 13 children together and are buried in the Burch cemetery on their family farm in Rickreall. Prior to arriving in Oregon, Nathaniel worked as a surveyor, school teacher, and boatman, as well as County Clerk and Sheriff. Upon arrival at Rickreall, he located a claim of 640 acres which he purchased for $25. It is believed the wood for his home was milled at Applegate’s mill. Nathaniel served as a U.S. Deputy Surveyor in Oregon between 1853 and 1859. As previously noted, his son-in-law Samuel Burch served as compassman on several of these contracts, as did Elliott Bowman, who was a surveyor in Oregon for only about 10 years before returning home to Indiana. BLM surveyors have noted Ford’s bearings and distances on the contracts he surveyed as “wild.” (Olson) Returning to the slavery question, Nathaniel Ford is the real Lost Surveyor in this story. Minute changes in the course of his life and career could have significantly changed the history of Oregon, at least for a time. Ford, being one of the earliest settlers in Polk County, was undoubtedly one of the “yes” votes for slavery. Aside The Samuel Burch house at the intersection of Highway 99W and Church Street (as seen from Highway 99W). from being a fairly prolific surveyor in Oregon, Ford was also a notable politician who found himself at the center of a landmark case on slavery in Oregon. He held positions within Polk County as well as at the territorial legislature where he would have had the opportunity to influence Oregon’s policies on slavery. At one point The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 46, No. 4 The Lost Surveyor
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