Mark Hattan Farm, Oregon City
Submitted by Dr. William MacFarlane

2008 Sesquicentennial Award Family

“My Grandmother, mother, and two uncles would drive in horse and buggy to Oregon City to sell their butter and eggs for cash.”

My grandfather is Forsythe Hattan and my great grandfather is Mark Hattan, Jane Baker’s brother-in-law.  The following is some of the Hattan Family history, as excerpted from an article written by and appearing on the End of the Oregon Trail web site, entitled: “Horace Baker and Jane Hattan Baker: Pioneer Family of the Month, July 1998: Emigrants of 1846”.

“The Bakers and Hattans set out on May 7, 1846, in the company of fifty wagons and about 300 people.  Their journey to Oregon was relatively uneventful, though they encountered many of the same difficulties recorded in the diaries and reminiscences of other pioneers. At one point, the party’s dogs ran ahead of the wagons to slake their thirst at an inviting spring only to discover that it was a hot spring, so near to boiling that the party didn’t need to build cookfires that night – they cooked their rice and meat in the spring water. At Independence rock, many of the group climbed up and recorded their names on the massive rock formation. At Soda Springs, the wagon train paused to let the women cook and clean. “After nearly sixty years, I can still remember how good the water was.  It was splendid for bread,” Mark Hattan later recalled.

After 160 days on the road, the Bakers reached Oregon City on October 10, 1846 and chose a homestead site along the Clackamas River. Horace and Jane filed for a 640 acre claim, but Jane’s half of the claim was denied until the couple was legally married in 1852.  They chose the site of their claim because it included a large basalt rock formation, which Horace, a stonemason by trade, intended to quarry and ship downstream on the Clackamas to the settlements growing up along the Willamette River.  His venture was a great success and the high-quality basalt from Baker’s Quarry was used to build Willamette Falls Locks, the Tillamook Light House, the Portland Hotel, Portland’s Pioneer Post Office, and many other buildings, foundations and rock walls throughout the area.”

What makes me passionate about Oregon?  My family on my side (the Hattans) and on my wife’s side (Sawtell).  We have very deep roots in our county and state.

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These are authentic stories from real farmers.  Any editorial content does not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the Agri-Business Council of Oregon or our members.