Levi Scott (pioneer)
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| Levi Scott | |
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Oregon Territory Council
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| In office 1852 – 1855 |
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| Constituency | Umpqua, Douglas & Jackson counties |
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Member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention
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| In office 1857 – 1857 |
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| Constituency | Umpqua County |
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| Born | February 8, 1797 Monroe County, Illinois |
| Died | 1890 Malheur County, Oregon |
| Political party | Whig |
Levi Scott (1797 – 1890) was a politician in the Oregon Territory of the United States in the 1850s. A native of Illinois, he was a captain during the Cayuse War, helped lay the Applegate Trail, served in the Oregon Territorial Legislature, and in 1857 was a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention. Scott also founded Scottsburg, Oregon, and is the namesake for several natural features in Southern Oregon.
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[edit] Early life
Levi Scott was born on February 8, 1797, in what would become the state of Illinois.[1] He was married and had two children, and by 1844, he had moved to Iowa and was living in Burlington.[1] In May 1844, Levi and his son John Scott (b. 1828) immigrated to what was then Oregon Country and settled near Dallas, Oregon.[2][1]
[edit] Political career
In 1846, Scott, along with his son, as well as Jesse Applegate, Lindsay Applegate and others, set off to create a southern route into the Willamette Valley.[2] The route authorized by the Provisional Government of Oregon[3] would travel southwest from Fort Hall and take the Rogue Valley and Umpqua Valley before turning north to the Willamette Valley settlements.[1] This Southern Route has become known as the Applegate Trail.[1]
During the Cayuse War Scott was made a captain and was responsible for sending dispatches for the Provisional Government south to California.[1] Following his involvement in the war, he settled in 1848 along Elm Creek in Douglas County, Oregon, with the valley named Scotts Valley in his honor.[1] In 1850, Scott founded Scottsburg along the Umpqua River.[1] Mount Scott in Crater Lake National Park in Southern Oregon is also named after Levi.[1]
Scott then entered the political field when he was elected to the Oregon Territorial Legislature in 1852.[4] He represented three southern counties, Umpqua, Douglas and Jackson as a Whig in the upper chamber Council.[5] Scott won re-election twice, serving through the 1854-55 session.[6] He returned to politics briefly in 1857 as a delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention.[7] Scott represented Umpqua County as an Anti-Democrat.[7]
[edit] Later life
He died in Malheur County, Oregon, in the Southeastern part of the state on April 21, 1890.[1] In addition to the town, valley, and mountain named after him, Scott Mountain in Douglas County is also named after Levi.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Corning, Howard M. Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.
- ^ a b Flora, Stephenie. Emigrants to Oregon in 1844. Oregon Pioneers, accessed September 28, 2007.
- ^ Brown, J. Henry (1892). Brown’s Political History of Oregon: Provisional Government. Wiley B. Allen.
- ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (4th Territorial) 1852 Regular Session. Oregon State Archives, accessed September 28, 2007.
- ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (5th Territorial) 1853 Regular Session. Oregon State Archives, accessed September 28, 2007.
- ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (6th Territorial) 1854 Regular Session. Oregon State Archives, accessed September 28, 2007.
- ^ a b c Biographical Sketch of Levi Scott. Oregon State Archives, accessed September 28, 2007.
