PLSO The Oregon Surveyor March April 2021

The Lost Surveyor 22 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 2 continued T Photo 2: Odell Lake in winter. siblings in 1851. Upon arriving here, they settled in Yamhill county. He spent two years studying Civil Engineering at Wil- lamette University in Salem. Like many of his time, Odell held a variety of oc- cupations in his life including farming, teaching, newspapers, postmaster, and public servant, but surveying appears to have been his life’s work. He began sur- veying in the early 1850s while teaching. Odell’s teaching career included three years at Santiam Academy in Lebanon and a year teaching in Albany. Early in his surveying career, Odell resurveyed seven donation land claims in Yamhill County. [Photo 2] Odell’s teaching career ended with his appointment as United States Deputy Surveyor in 1864. As Deputy Surveyor, Odell assisted B.J. Pengra in surveying the route of the Oregon Central Wagon Road (Olson). The wagon road generally followed the route of present-day High- way 58 to the summit at Pengra Pass at the west end of the lake. From this point the road wound south to Klamath Falls and then extended east through Oregon to Idaho. Pengra and Odell continued to survey together in eastern Oregon, includ- ing surveying in the LaGrande area and Wallowa County. [Photos 4,5,6] Throughout the course of his career, he surveyed or held the contracts to survey dozens of townships spanning much of the state. Through the course of these contracts, he partnered with two of the Lost Surveyors who have previously ap- peared in this column, John Meldrum and David Thompson. His later career in- cluded Special Examiner of Surveys from 1890–93. Odell’s career was not without controversy. He was suspected of being involved with land fraud—selling public lands for cut-rate deals. This included suspicion of selling off Section 16 and 36, state-owned lands, from numerous township plats. It appears Odell avoided prosecution on these accusations. After a long and storied surveying career and somewhat troubled career of public service, WilliamHolmanOdell passed away April 28, 1922, and was laid to rest at the LeeMissionCemetery in Salem, Oregon. x Odell held a variety of occupations in his life including farming, teaching, newspapers, postmaster, and public servant, but surveying appears to have been his life’s work.