PLSO July/August 2019

25 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org The Lost Surveyor Left: A replica Barlow Road Toll Gate welcomes travelers of Highway 26 near the community of Rhododendron, Oregon and the Zig Zag River. Below: Looking southeast with Chenoweth graves in center forefront. Bottom: Justin and Henrietta’s unmarked graves next to her mother, Mary Vickers. In addition to surveying he held many po- sitions during this time and apparently traveled regularly between The Dalles and Oregon City. In 1852 he married his wife, Marie Henrietta Vickers, at Butteville, Ore- gon (near the present day Champoeg State Park). They had four children before her death in 1862 while he was surveying for the Portage Railroad. Justin Chenoweth surveyed extensively in Oregon and Washington during his career. Notable events included Wasco County Surveyor; GLO Contract No. 1 under the Washington Surveyor General; US Depu- ty Surveyor; survey of the Vancouver and Orchards area in T2N R2E; railroad survey- or; and County Surveyor of Lewis County, Washington. During this same time peri- od, he held other positions throughout the northwest which were not related to surveying. Justin Chenoweth did eventu- ally live in California for a period of time beginning in 1890 before returning to Port- land to be near his daughter until the time of his death. Justin Chenoweth died March 16, 1898 in Portland. He is buried in the Pleasant View Cemetery near Sherwood on a gen- tle slope with a view to the southeast. He is buried in an unmarked grave next to his wife Henrietta in the Vickers plot with her family. His life and career are an inter- esting mix of ups and downs, controversy and success. Chenoweth’s contributions to surveying in the northwest are extensive and include the unincorporated commu- nity of Chenoweth and a creek which still bear his name today. The community of Chenoweth is recognized as a US Census Bureau “Census Designated Place” (CDP). What an opportunity for PLSO to create a Final PointMonument to honor the contribu- tions of an early surveyor to our northwest history! x Author Note: Jerry Olson of Olson Engineer- ing has prepared an excellent biography of Justin Chenoweth, as well as many other northwest surveyors. For much more detail and diagrams of the rather fascinating life and work of Justin Chenoweth please refer to the links below. References Oregon Book of Geographic Names, Sixth Edition Journal of the 31st Congress of the United States, 2nd Session, Senate Executive Document, Part II www.olsonengr.com/download/globios/ chenowethjustinbio.pdf Jerry Olson Biographies – Justin Chenoweth (1825-1898) www.census.gov (Referenced June 2019) www.findagrave.com/memorial/85811192/ justin-chenoweth (Referenced June 2019) http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark: /80444/ xv10960(Referenced June 2019) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Cavalry_ Regiment_(United_States) (Referenced June 2019)