PLSO The Oregon Surveyor July/August 2021

The Lost Surveyor 22 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 4 Map 3 continued T Addition, which is on a bend in the river and stretches many blocks north of West Burnside. Couch’s streets only parallel the river for the first four to five blocks. It would seem if the river were controlling, there would be an additional change in direction consistent with how Front Avenue changes di- rection at the Steel Bridge and again at the Broadway Bridge. Front Avenue is the only street in the plat which changes course to follow the river. All other streets extend straight to the north edge of the Couch’s Addition plat, which in its entirety includes over 300 city blocks. To investigate this question from a surveyor’s perspective, I began my research effort with the historic compass declina - tions for Portland, Oregon. I found my answer using NOAA’s historic declination calculator website. This was quite simple as opposed to my college days at Oregon State University using a pencil, paper, and my trusty HP calculator to back- calculate declination. In a matter of seconds, I discovered that between 1850 and 1870, the declination for Portland ranged from 19°58’ to 20°59’ East, respectively. An average of about 20 1/2° East for round numbers. Digging a little deeper, the 1853 GLO plat of T1N, R1E ap- proved by John B. Preston depicts the declination range from 18° to 22°30’ East. The plat shows the west lines of the Chapman and Coffin claims to be N 20°45’ E in bearing. Numerous modern surveys south of West Burnside Street are close to this historic claim line bearing. It would appear the controlling factor for the bearing of the original streets of downtown Portland was not the river at all. In fact, the west line of the Donation Land Claim lines established by the claims of Chapman (a surveyor), Lownsdale (a surveyor), and Coffin is controlling the street orientation. Incidentally, the west line of the Couch claim does very roughly parallel the river bordering the east side of his claim at a bearing of North 24° West. If paralleling the river was the goal for Couch, it would seem these streets wouldmore closely follow his west line, just as the streets to the south follow those claim lines. The best clue to answer the “true north” question likely is found in a 1917 article in The Oregon Sunday Journal . The writer interviewed Henry E. Reed who was the county asses- sor at the time. The interview outlines why there is a break in the downtown park blocks causing them to not line up. It also addresses why Ankeny Street is only 30 feet wide. The former being because the owner died without a will before the park blocks could be dedicated, and the latter being be- cause Benjamin Stark backed out of dedicating his 30 feet to Ankeny Street. The answer to our primary question comes at the end of the article where Mr. Reed states “…Captain Couch in laying out his streets, did not attempt to make them conform to the streets in that part of the town south of An- keny street. Couch’s streets are laid out due north and south, while the streets south of Ankeny street the variation is 21 degrees and 30 minutes east of the true meridian.” Taking all of this together, the tale of the mariner’s “true north” streets would seem much more than just a colorful story. To this writer, the surveying and 1917 newspaper evidence seems to say Captain John H. Couch followed his mariner’s instincts, rather than his surveying neighbors to the south, to create the streets of Portland’s Alphabet District. x