Lot Whitcomb
| Lot Whitcomb | |
|---|---|
Lot Whitcomb
|
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| Born | April 24, 1807 Vermont |
| Died | March 31, 1857 Oregon |
| Resting place |
River View Cemetery 45°27′50.25″N 122°40′26.50″W / 45.4639583°N 122.6740278°W |
| Citizenship | U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Irene Chamberlain |
| Children | 4 |
Lot Whitcomb (1807–1857) was an American commercial entrepreneur and politician who established the city of Milwaukie, Oregon. After making a fortune milling and shipping lumber and timber for California gold miners, Whitcomb launched the first steamship in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Lot Whitcomb was born in Vermont on April 24, 1807. He married the former Irene Chamberlain in 1828, and together they would have four children, all daughters. Around 1830 Whitcomb moved to Michigan, where he began work as a contractor. He subsequently moved to Illinois, where he served a term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
In the spring of 1847 Whitcomb and his family were part of a party of 13 families leaving Illinois for Missouri in order to take the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Territory, a location which was then receiving considerable attention in the contemporary press. This group met up with others seeking to pioneer in Oregon and a massive train of 114 animal-drawn wagons ensued. The party reached Oregon City in November 1847, where Whitcomb would remain for the rest of the year.
Early in 1848 Whitcomb made a donation land claim and made use of parts brought with him on the journey to establish a water-powered sawmill at the confluence of Johnson Creek with the Willamette River. On his claim he platted the town of Milwaukie in 1848.
In the summer of 1848 news that gold had been discovered in California made its way to the Willamette Valley and an exodus of fortune-seekers from Oregon ensued. Whitcomb decided that a surer path to fortune lay with the manufacture and supply of lumber to the boomtowns of Northern California, however, and he built a schooner, the Milwaukie, and bought a brig, the Forest, to carry lumber and other goods to markets in California. Whitcomb's mill turned out 6,000 board feet of rough 3-inch planks every day in two 12-hour shifts — material which brought $300 per thousand board feet in San Francisco, triple the prevailing price in Oregon.
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