The Oregon Surveyor
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Vol. 39, No. 5
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By Leland Myers, PLS
Chairman Comments
From the PLSO Chair
Mentorships may include ride-alongs, one-on-one tutoring, internships, mentoring for high school senior
projects, and chances for professional collaboration. We are currently looking to build a database of partici-
pants ready to assist in all parts of the state.
For more information, go to
contact me at the PLSO office or Lee Spurgeon
directly at Township Surveys, (503) 656-4915.
Continued from page 3
B
ob Taylor’s Cornucopia article in the last issue of
“The Oregon Surveyor” gave me a little inspiration
for this writing.
I have had the privilege to survey in several Northeast
Oregon ghost towns like Cornucopia. My definition
of ghost town is different from some folks, though.
In my view, a ghost town does not have any occupied
buildings or houses, and sometimes no evidence of
a town still exists at all. There are several books that
list the so-called ghost towns, including Sumpter,
my hometown. However, I classify most of them as
old mining towns. We have some stores, telephone
service, mail, and other services. Private rather than
federal ownership is the norm, not the exception.
An example of what disturbs me about the ghost
town classification: we were sitting at our dining room
table having supper when, without knocking, some
strangers walked in the front door of the log cabin
that my mom and dad, two brothers, and I built in the
1950s in Granite. We asked what they wanted and
they replied, “This is a ghost town isn’t it?” No respect
for private property rights.
Surveying in these old towns can be quite a challenge
as well as an exercise in archaeology. It’s interesting
what you can find in evidence of occupation—
including the remnants of old streets and roads—
when you look hard enough. Most of these old
mining towns were surveyed by the mine promoters,
but not necessarily monumented with anything more
than wood stakes. Fitting buildings, or remnants
thereof, and other evidence to the old plats can be
rewarding when the distances and bearings tend to
check out.
One of the things that helps in surveying these old
townsites is that most of them have mineral surveys
within their bounds and those generally are well
monumented. They sometimes
made ties to buildings or other
improvements that no longer
exist, which can be helpful in
finding lot locations. Many of
the old towns were lost to fire or
flood, but with careful study usually useful evidence
can be found.
I have lived in one of the old mining and railroad
towns for fifty-plus years and we have over 200 lively
ghosts here. I may not have some of the benefits of
living in a larger community, but I have a deep-rooted
history, of which I am very proud, of four generations
that have lived and worked in the Sumpter-Granite
area. I sometimes wonder if we should have more old
ghost towns to help train new surveyors in finding
and evaluating evidence, a process that could cause
us all to be more observant.
The Myers Family Cabin is not as rustic as Bob Taylor’s
Cornucopia cabin, but Bob and I have come from similar roots.
