PLSO The Oregon Surveyor July/August 2021

The Lost Surveyor 20 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 4 References • University of Oregon Library – Historic Oregon Newspapers - The Oregonian , June 15, 1902 • University of Oregon Library – Historic Oregon Newspapers - The Oregon Sunday Journal , June 3, 1917 • NOAA website, accessed May 30, 2021 - https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ geomag/calculators/magcalc.shtml?#ushistoric E ric Osman of the Pioneer Chapter sent me the idea for this issue well over a year ago after he stumbled across a Google Earth photo in the River View Ceme- tery in Southwest Portland. It took me a while to figure out what to do with the information since this figure in Portland history was not a surveyor. Many thanks to Eric for his idea and although it’s taken some time to wrap my head around this story, I did not forget. This story is about the difference in how mariners and sur - veyors might view the compass. The impact of this can be seen over 100 years after one such mariner left his mark on Portland, Oregon. The Google Earth photo caption reads, “An American sea captain, pioneer, and one of the key found- ers of Portland. He is known for establishing the alphabet streets running west of the Willamette River and laying them out according [sic] to true north rather than magnetic north as that of earlier Lovejoy/Pettygrove plat that parralled [sic] the Willamette River.” Now how does one prove or disprove this final statement? When looking at a map of downtown Portland it is obvious there is a significant change in the street orientation as you cross over West Burnside headed north. [Map 1] It appears this situation has bemused Portlanders for quite some time. A 1902 article in The Oregonian noted that much to a citizen’s consternation, Morrison Street does not run due east-west, but is in fact rotated about 20 degrees to the south of east. However, streets north of West Burnside are oriented east and west. No matter how puzzling this was to the author of the long-ago article, who simply was trying to view the sun- rise down SW Morrison Street, they did not have an answer for “why.” To unravel the “true north” question is more akin to a bound- ary resolution than the historical research of an individual. The mystery at hand is attributed to Captain John H. Couch who was in fact a ship captain, pioneer, and, as claimed by the photo caption, is credited with Portland’s alphabetic street naming. The land platted by Couch as “Couch’s Addi- tion” is known as Portland’s alphabet district and is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Couch is credited with many accomplishments after his ar- rival in June of 1842, including being incredibly civic minded and a friend to all of the 10,000 Portland residents of the time. He claimed his Donation Land Claim (DLC) in 1845. Lowns- dale platted his DLC in 1852, and as shown on that map the John H. Couch claim abutted the plat on the north. [Map 2] According to The Oregon Encyclopedia , Couch simply platted his streets to match the orientation of the river, which ac- counts for the change in bearing north of Burnside. A 2013 article published in the The Portland Mercury (“Off the Grid”), is a seemingly well-researched summary of Portland’s street history. This article also discounts the origin of the “true north” street orientation as no more than a colorful story in Portland history and restates the “parallel to the river” theory. While this seems a very plausible explanation, by visual inspec- tion, the streets “following the river” are primarily isolated to the original City of Portland plat in Daniel Lownsdale’s DLC. This does not appear to occur as Portland expanded south. Nor does it appear to be true for the streets within Couch’s Map 2 continues T