The Lost Surveyor 29 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org References • Fort George (Fort Astoria); oregonencyclopedia.org • John Shively (1804–1893); oregonencylcopedia.org • John McClure, Speculator; archive.org • “The Land Surveyors Guide to the Supreme Court of Oregon – Volume 1” (2018), by Brian Portwood • John M. Shively papers 1841–1959 - Archives West; orbiscascade.org • John M Shively (1804–1893) - Find a Grave Memorial and harbors was instructed to investigate whether the Initial Point the town was surveyed fromwas correct and to set additional monuments. In August of 1860, A.B. Hallock (Lost Surveyor May/June 2021) was paid $52 for resurveying the town of Astoria. Then in August of 1863, a petition was presented by citizens to have Shively’s Astoria correctly surveyed. It’s unknown if the 1863 petition was the result of Shively’s surveying abilities or Hallock’s, however, the history would seem to point to ongoing issues with Shively’s surveying. Shively’s plat was re-platted by Hayden Gearhart in 1875 and then again in 1876 at the direction of the Circuit Court of Clatsop County. By 1879, things started to unravel for the Shively family and their land claims. Brian Portwood’s book notes, “The Shively DLC, whichwould ultimately prove to be themost judicially troublesome property ever patented inOregon…” Lawsuits in 1879, 1881, 1891, and 1892, to name a few, focused a spotlight on the family and set several precedents in Oregon land and water law. Shively v. Parker OR 500 (1881) addressed federal patents, platting, and tidelands. Bowlby v. Shively 30 P 154 (1892) dealt againwith patent and tideland rights and brought to the forefront a patentee’s rights related towharfing andwaterfront development on state lands. Check out Portwood’s book for the finer details of each case (see references). John Shively died in 1893 after spending the last five years of his life bedridden in an Astoria hospital. An obituary for John Shively could not be located for this article. One has to wonder why that summary of his life, the first settler and first postmaster of Astoria, appears to be missing from the record. The Shively saga encompasses some of the great landmarks of Astoria and is an example of how early surveyors were not always the problem solvers. Sometimes they were the problem. The next time you visit Astoria, be sure to drop in to one or more of their great breweries and ponder the complicated history of Astoria’s first surveyor and some of the great court cases of Oregon land history. x Astoria and the Columbia River as seen from the Astoria Column near the center of the Shively Donation Land Claim. Shively’s Astoria. Un-platted area near the northwest corner is said to be the location of Fort George. “McClure’s Astoria” abuts the west boundary.
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