By Peggy Sigler and Myra Weston
On the high plateau,
bordered by the Willamette and Molalla Rivers, Canby was once the seasonal
meeting place for tribes of local Indians and was well known for its annual
crop of wild strawberries. The area known as Baker Prairie was an open
expanse
of ground in the dense fir forest that stretched for miles.
Baker, one of the earliest white settlers in Oregon, arrived in the area
in 1832 with a cattle drive from California, took an Indian wife and was
soon farming. The land he "squatted" on was what is now
north Canby. Other settlers arrived, including Philander and Anna
Lee in 1848, who bought "squatter's" rights beside a spring-fed
creek on what is now SE First Avenue. The family's long-time home
nearby was on the site now owned by Package Containers, Inc.
Lee began growing apples
on 80 acres of land and shipped them to the gold miners in California. In
1850, the Lees gained title to their 647 acres through the Donation Land
Claim Act which brought many more settlers over the Oregon Trail to Baker
Prairie and surrounding areas. Joseph
Knight and four sons moved to Baker Prairie in 1868. They were instrumental
in Canby's early development as they opened one of the
first
general stores, built many local buildings, served as postmaster, school
clerk, sheriff, druggist, blacksmith, carpenter and more. William
Knight's 1874 home still stands at 525 SW Fourth Avenue as does the
1890
Knight Building on NW First Avenue, the original meeting place of City
Council and first home of Carlton & Rosenkrans, "Clackamas
County's largest department store."
Along with a meager
network of dirt roads and trails, some still visible, such as Territorial
Road with its tall fir trees lining the road, the Willamette River served
as main transportation. Steamboats took produce into the markets
of Oregon City and Portland from the little local communities of
Baker
Prairie, Barlow, New Era, Riverside, Macksburg, Mundorf, Lone Elder,
Mark Prairie and others.
While pushing the Oregon and California Railroad line from east Portland
to San Francisco, promoters approached Philander Lee for land in
1870. For $2,960, he sold 111 acres for the 24-block city,
12 lots per block. The Knight family and others sold the remainder
of the 300 acres to the
railroad. Lee would only sell land for a town if the streets were wide
enough for two span of oxen and a wagon to turn. So, Philander's
son,
Albert, hitched up the oxen and turned the team and wagon, measuring
the diameter of the turn to be 80 feet, which became the width of
Canby's
original streets. The City's plat was filed in Oregon City on August
9, 1870.
Major General Edward
R.S. Canby, hero of the Civil and Indian Wars, had arrived in Oregon
only one week earlier to assume command of the U.S. Army's Department
of the
Columbia and the new town was given this hero's name. Rails were laid
in 1870 and in 1873 the depot was built near what is now NW First and
Grant. Albert H. Lee, Philander's eigth child, was the first railroad
agent.
The first post office and depot was in the drug store across from the
depot, and druggist Charles "Doc" Knight, who came in 1870
and also built the first hotel, was the first postmaster.
Canby was incorporated on February 15, 1893, making it the second oldest
city in Clackamas County. Heman A. Lee, Philander's second son, served
as the first mayor. By 1890 Canby boasted three hotels and a bank, and
by 1910, the population was 587. The railroad tracks were quickly lined
with warehouses as the agriculture industry grew in the Canby area. Local
crops included grain, hay, potatoes, dairy products, turkeys, flax,
prunes,
rhubarb, asparagus, berries, nuts, livestock, lumber, bulbs, flowers,
and nursery stock. For many years, three covered bridges crossed the
Molalla
River from Canby and in 1914, local businessmen established ferry service
across the Willamette River.
Prior to 1920, the "Road of 1000 Wonders", now NW First Avenue,
was the main route through Canby, running northeast to Oregon City and
west to Barlow and
up the valley. That year marked the arrival of the Pacific Highway (Hwy
99E) to the south of the railroad tracks, making the beginning of yet
a new era of transportation and development in Canby. Canby has grown
from 998 people in 1940, to 1,286 residents by 1945. Now Canby boasts
a population of over 13,000, and the city covers a three-square mile
area. Many of the early buildings and homes in the original 24-block
town site
still exist and the city is surrounded by early farmhouses and barns,
reminders of Canby's early pioneer, railroad and agricultural heritage.
For more history
of Canby, check out the Canby
Depot Museum
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