Eugene’s history one of the deepest in the state
By Bill Holmstrom
Freelance Reporter
Those people new to Eugene, or
even those who have been in the
city for a while, might want to
know a little bit about its history.
Believe it or not, it didn’t get this
way by accident. The first people to
inhabit the area were the Kalapuya
Indians. The Kalapuya were a hunt
ing and gathering people who had
lived in the region for several cen
turies. The Kalapuya practiced
grass-burning techniques to create
better habitats for the animals and
vegetation that they used for food.
The first white settlers to the
southern Willamette Valley began to
arrive in the 1840s. The valley was
an agricultural paradise, drawing
people from all walks of life seeking
adventure and the promise of mak
ing something out of the wilderness.
At this time, the Willamette Val
ley was the prime location to settle
for pioneers heading west. Gold
wasn’t discovered in California un
til 1849, and there wasn’t even a oab
in in the Seattle area until 1851.
So, when Eugene Skinner built a
tiny cabin in 1846, he was among
the first of a plethora of pioneers
staking claims in the valley. Skinner
built his cabin just northwest of the
hill the Kalapuya called Ya-po-ah.
For the first few years, there was
not much of anything else in the
area. Oregon City was the largest
city in the region, as Portland was
little more than a "stumptown" of
fourteen houses. In the years just
before the gold rush, even San
Francisco was little more than a
rag-tag village of 60 houses, bams,
and tents. The creation of the Ore
gon Territory in 1848 started to
bring more settlers west.
The next few years brought more
progress to the area. The post office
arrived in 1850. 1851 was a busy
year, as Lane County was created by
the Territorial Legislature and the
first county elections were held. Eu
gene Skinner surveyed a town site
on his claim, a trading post was built
near Skinner’s Ferry landing and a
shallow slough was deepened and
lengthened to create the Millrace. A
mill was built along its banks.
Eugene Skinner filed the town
plat, a detailed surveyor’s plan, for
Eugene City in 1852. The Lane
County Commissioners chose it as
the county seat in the next year.
Eugene City grew, and incorporat
ed in 1862, shortly after Oregon
gained statehood. The name of the
town was changed to the City of
Eugene in 1864. But Eugene did
n’t really hit the big time until the
railroad arrived in 1871.
The University’s roots in the
community began in 1872 when
the Union University Association
was formed and began to gather
funds for the construction from
people around the town. Money
was tight for the University in those
days, and the first building, Deady
Hall, was barely complete in time
for classes to begin in 1876.
Today, Eugene bears the name
of that first pioneer, Eugene Skin
ner. Ya-po-ah, the hill that the first
cabin sat alongside, also takes his
name today, as Skinner Butte.
Skinner died in Eugene in 1964.
Today, if one walks up to the Ma
sonic Cemetery at University
Street and 25th Avenue, you can
see where Skinner and other Eu
gene pioneers are buried.
You may even recognize names
from local streets, parks, campus
buildings and other city landmarks.
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