move2westlinn

Ron Ares February 6th, 2008

Actually, the fair city now known as West Linn was not named for the prized daughter of some politician or the niece of a high-powered developer.

A little history, courtesy of Wikipedia:

It was named after Senator Dr. Lewis Fields Linn of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, who had advocated the American occupation of Oregon as a counterclaim to the British.

Major Robert Moore arrived in 1839 having been the senior member of the first attempt to create an American colony in Oregon, the Peoria Party. His title stems from his military service in the War of 1812, where he served in the Pennsylvania militia, possibly as a battlefield surgeon.

Sometime after journeying around the Willamette Valley and Columbia Basin, Moore bought title to approx. 1,000 acres (4 km²) on the west side of Willamette Falls, across the Willamette River from Oregon City, from a local Native American chief named Wanax-ha, on which he platted a town known as the “Robin’s Nest” in early 1843. He also filed a provisional claim with the then government of the Oregon Country, not knowing if his unique transaction would be honored by the eventual governing laws.

The later Territorial Legislature of Oregon voted to rename it Linn City on December 22, 1845 as a memorial to Senator Dr. Lewis Fields Linn after whom Linn County is also named. Dr. Linn was a neighbor and family friend of the Moores from their time as settlers in the early Missouri Territory.

For many years Linn City was an intense political and commercial rival to the adjacent town of Oregon City, but it suffered a series of natural and manmade setbacks, including Moore’s death in September of 1857. A great flood put an end to the pioneer settlement in November, 1861, dispersing many of the surviving family members throughout the Pacific Northwest. Decades later, however, the seminal village site was redeveloped as a locked canal and industrial complex; the descendant companies still function to this day.

The current West Linn, incorporated in 1913 and merged with the adjacent town of Willamette in 1916, includes the former townsites/developments of Bolton, Multnomah City, Sunset City, and West Oregon City.

Now you know.

Read the rest about West Linn at Wikipedia.

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