8 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 46, No. 4 Featured Article Besides building a toll road, John Craig also carried the mail from McKenzie Bridge to the Sisters area. He carried it by horseback in the summer and on his back with cross country skis in the winter. In 1877 he was carrying the Christmas mail east when he was caught in a serious snow storm. He had a small cabin just west of the summit which he used to wait out the storm. Something happened and he died while he was there. They were not able to get to him until the following spring. His grave site is located where he perished. Only a small pond alongside the highway has his name attached to it according to MacArthur’s Sixth addition to Oregon Geographic Names. In 1930, 400 Oregon rural mail carriers erected a memorial at his gravesite in his honor. The Oregon Nordic Club sponsored an annual cross country ski race over the summit in his memory prior to Covid. I am not sure if that tradition will continue. It would be my hope that with all of the effort put into these projects that there would have been some surveying involved. Obviously the Deschutes Canyon railroads come to mind. In any event I thought it would be interesting to reflect back on some of our pioneers, and how they contributed to the development of this beautiful part of the state. Dick Bryant was featured as our Member Spotlight in the November / December 2021 Oregon Surveyor. He celebrated 50 (+1) years of licensure on September 22, 2021. Dick was licensed as Oregon Registered Professional Land Surveyor #920 in July 1970. He was voted PLSO Surveyor of the Year and was awarded Life Membership in 2004. In 1967, he and Tom McCullough formed McCullough, Bryant and Associates. References • “100 Hikes in the Oregon Cascades” by William Sullivan. • “Oregon Geographic Names,” Sixth Edition, Lewis McArthur. • William Sullivan, Salem Statesman Journal, 1853 Wagon Train, 6/2/16 article. • Oregon Nordic Club, “John Craig Story”. • Brooks Greer Ragen, “The Meek Cutoff”. continued A portion of road near Hand Lake. Scott Lake, where the toll road would surely have passed by.
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